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Convenience Stores

‘Wal-Mart’s Worst Nightmare’

British megaretailer Tesco is challenging Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, on its home turf, the US—though Wal-Mart is fighting back using Tesco’s own tactics, writes BusinessWeek.

Wal-Mart countered Tesco’s Nov. 2007 launch of Fresh & Easy—a chain of 10,000 sq. ft. convenience stores in California, Nevada, and Arizona—with its own similar-format Marketside, in Arizona.

Still, “Tesco is...
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Retailers Beware: Worst Is Yet to Come, but Hope on Horizon

Retailers that survived the 2008 holiday season shouldn’t pin their hopes on the new year, as retail sales will remain weak throughout 2009 and won’t rebound until 2010, TNS Retail Forward forecasts.

For 2009, sales growth for the year (excluding automobiles and gasoline) is forecast to approach 2% compared with the 2.3% average growth for 2008 through November, based on data reported by the US...
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7-Eleven Stocks up on Holiday Gifts

Consumers who pop in to a 7-Eleven store for coffee or a lottery ticket might find that they can take care of their holiday gift-buying too, writes CSNews.

The convenience-store chain is stocki up on common gift items, such as entertainment (DVDs, CDs) and electronics (videogames, GPS devices, digital picture frames). For instance, 7-Eleven is carrying the latest album from Hannah Montana...
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Category Focus: Energy Shots

Energy shots such as the 5-Hour Energy brand are one of the fastest-growing product segments in convenience stores, pushing some to put more effort into increasing their number of SKUs and promoting the products, reports Convenience Store News.

Energy shots used to be an impulse buy but are becoming more of a destination item, said Rick Reddick, national category manager for ConocoPhillips,...
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JCPenney, 7-Eleven Partner to Promote Each Other

Retailers are getting more creative in getting frugal consumers to part with money, and they are often enlisting each other’s assistance to generate customer traffic.

In a test across Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami, 7-Eleven and JCPenney are cross-promoting each other to see whether they can generate incremental sales, reports the Dallas Morning News.

At JCPenney stores, sales...
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7-Eleven Expands Private-Label Selection

Convenience store 7-Eleven has joined grocery and drugstores across the US in the trend of developing and marketing more private-label, or store-branded, items to cater to the price-conscious consumer.

The 32 items are marketed under the name “7-Eleven Select” and include cookies, candy, nuts, potato chips, beef jerky, trail mix, chocolate-covered pretzels, raisins, and peanuts. Suggested retail...
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7-Eleven Tests Centralized Beverage Delivery System

7-Eleven plans to knock down the number of beverage deliveries that an average store receives per week - from 18-20 to just one, reports Convenience Store News.

A centralized distribution system for bottled and canned beverages from manufacturers such as Anheuser-Busch and Coca-Cola will be tested at 300 stores in Los Angeles next year.

The goal is to reduce the number of delivery mistakes,...
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‘Must-Have’ Products Still in Demand

Sales of discretionary items have been steadily falling since the beginning of the year, but brands that you “eat, drink, smoke, or wash yourself with” are faring well in the downturned economy, writes Brandweek.

More consumers are choosing to save money by shopping at grocery stores and cooking at home, leading to diminishing restaurant sales and increases in the grocery category.

For example,...
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Growth Opportunities for Private Label in Convenience Stores

Private-label products, or store brands, are growing faster in convenience stores than other stores and represent a tremendous growth opportunity for the convenience channel, according to research by The Nielsen Company.

Sales of private-label products rose over the last year nearly 20%, to $826 million, in convenience stores, compared with the 15% increase in drug stores and just under 10% in...
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7-11 Expands Hot Food Offerings

Convenience store chain 7-Eleven is moving quickly into the hot fast-food service market, one of the few industries to be benefiting from tighter consumer spending, writes Convenience Store News.

With the new program, 7-11 will offer hot foods -  pizza, chicken wings, chicken tenders, Jamaican beef patties, and cinnamon churros. Most of the items are prepared using high-speed TurboChef...
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