Thursday February 15, 2007 FEATURES More questions about ethanol as 'the answer' Consumer Reports published an article last fall concluding that ethanol was not the answer to energy independence for the United States (see Sept. 14, 2006, NPN MarketPulse). Now U.S. News & World Report arrives at a similar conclusion in the cover story of its Feb. 12 issue. (Full Story) Temperature compensation on the NCWM agenda in July The merits and demerits of automated temperature compensation continue to occupy center stage for many players in the petroleum-marketing business, but whether such technology will be put into practice remains an open question, observers and experts told NPN MarketPulse in interviews. The National Conference of Weights and Measures sponsored in-depth discussions and presentations on temperature compensation at its Interim Meeting in Jacksonville, Fla., in January (see "Temperature compensation issue heats up," NPN MarketPulse, Jan. 25). (Full Story) Sign up for a FREE subscription to NPN, the magazine that has been reporting news and trends in the petroleum and convenience store industry since 1909. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT Get The Data That Drives The Petroleum & Convenience Industry Today! To order your print copy or CD version of the 2006 NPN MarketFacts edition, please click here NEWS ITEMS Coca-Cola quarterly net profit falls on charge Coca-Cola Co. on Feb. 14 reported lower fourth-quarter net profit, citing a $2.9 billion impairment charge at its largest bottler, but the results exceeded Wall Street estimates, Reuters reported. (Full Story) Giant Eagle bags a bigger share of Pittsburgh metro market Competition for the region's grocery dollar appears to be intensifying, and although Giant Eagle swoops higher than all others, retailers such as Wawa take their share too, according to a Feb. 14 article in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (Full Story) Susser completes store re-branding to Stripes banner Susser Holdings Corporation, Corpus Christi, Texas, announced Feb. 13 that it has completed the re- branding both of its convenience stores to the Stripes brand and its retail fueling islands to the Valero brand. (Full Story) In New Mexico: bill to ban beer sales at gas stations founders Republican state Sen. Joe Carraro of Albuquerque vowed Feb. 12 to keep pushing a bill to stop gasoline stations from selling alcohol. So far, however, he hasn't had the votes to get the bill out of committee, The New Mexican reported Feb. 13. (Full Story) BP and Chicago Urban League join in $6.25 million employment effort BP and BP Foundation on Feb. 9 announced an investment of $6.25 million over three years in a collaborative effort with Chicago Urban League. BP and Chicago Urban League will work together to enhance and positively impact economic development and job creation for minorities in the Chicago area. (Full Story) Georgia lawmakers add proposals to allow liquor sales on Sundays Georgia lawmakers who support Sunday beer and wine sales filed new bills on Feb. 9 to let voters decide whether to allow stores to sell liquor on Sundays as well, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (Full Story) Famima!! opens second location in downtown Los Angeles Famima!! - the popular Japanese convenience store chain that offers sushi, panini sandwiches and magazines - opened the doors of its second Downtown spot on Feb. 7, Downtown LA Scene reported Feb. 10. (Full Story) Police in Burlington, Vt., to hold safety forum following robberies Burlington police planned to meet Feb. 12 with shopkeepers, managers, employees and the public to address a sharp increase in armed robberies in the city and state, The Burlington Free Press reported. (Full Story) Consumers' check use drops sharply, replaced by debit cards Check writing has declined sharply since 1995. The Federal Reserve estimates that 49.5 billion checks were paid in the United States in 1995; that figure dropped to 36.6 billion checks paid in 2003, according to the most recent Fed studies, The Associated Press reported Feb. 9. (Full Story) ConocoPhillips restarts 190,000 barrel per day Trainer refinery ConocoPhillips Corp. on Feb. 11 restarted its 190,000 barrel per day Trainer refinery near Philadelphia, Reuters reported. (Full Story) Gas prices rise slightly; may rise further in coming weeks, says analyst The average price of a gallon of gasoline increased slightly in the past three weeks and could increase further, according to an industry analyst, Reuters reported. (Full Story) Delek US Holdings to purchase 107 stores from Calfee Company Delek US Holdings,Inc., announced Feb. 12 that MAPCO Express, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, signed a definitive agreement for the purchase of 107 retail fuel and convenience stores from Calfee Company of Dalton, Inc., for approximately $65 million (excluding inventory). (Full Story) TIO Networks appoints Randy Overturf new COO TIO Networks Corp. (TIO), Burnaby, B.C., an automated bill payment and financial services network, announced Feb. 8 the appointment of Mr. Randy Overturf as TIO Networks' new chief operating officer. Mr. Overturf succeeds James Sanders. (Full Story) Court rules BP chief must testify in lawsuit stemming from refinery blast The chief executive of BP must give sworn testimony in a lawsuit filed by workers injured in a 2005 explosion at the company's largest refinery, a Texas appellate court ruled, according to Bloomberg News. (Full Story) An Ohio city considers a tax on beer to support public safety services Consumers in Kent, Ohio, would pay another 4 cents for every beer at a bar or neighborhood grocery under a proposal that officials are considering. (Full Story) Rudy Beverage to showcase new lines at RBG convenience store expo Rudy Beverage, Inc. (RBI), a portfolio company of Global Beverage Solutions, Inc., announced RBI will present its new line of healthier alternative beverages to an expected meeting of more than 5,000 convenience store business representatives at the Royal Buying Group's National Independent Convenience Store Expo on Feb. 15. (Full Story) EIA: retail gasoline and diesel prices both increase After five consecutive weekly declines, retail gasoline prices were up for the week of Feb. 5, rising 2.6 cents to 219.1 cents per gallon, according to the Feb. 7 issue of "This Week in Petroleum," published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). (Full Story) Kum & Go, TransFund expand ATM program in convenience stores Convenience-store chain Kum & Go L.C. announced Feb. 8 the placement of 21 TransFund ATMs in its stores in Nebraska. (Full Story) Reynolds American reports 39 percent profit drop in fourth quarter Reynolds American Inc., said Feb. 8 that fourth-quarter profit fell 39 percent as it wrote down the value of some trademarks and shipped fewer cigarettes to wholesalers, The Associated Press reported. (Full Story) Exxon to shut refinery units near L.A. for overhaul Exxon Mobil Corp. said it plans to shut units at its 150,000 barrel per day refinery in Torrance, Calif., for a two-month overhaul beginning this weekend, a refinery spokeswoman said Feb. 8. (Full Story) Imperial buys Commonwealth Brands, 4th biggest U.S. cigarette maker Britain's Imperial Tobacco agreed to buy Commonwealth Brands, the fourth-biggest cigarette maker in the United States, Reuters reported Feb. 8. (Full Story) In Georgia: proposed plant would use pine waste to make ethanol A California billionaire said Feb. 7 that he plans to build a wood-to-ethanol factory in Soperton, Ga. (Full Story) Toledo City Council mulls extension of moratorium on new c-stores A six-month moratorium on applications for new convenience stores in Toledo, scheduled to expire Feb. 19, could be extended another two months, The Toledo Blade reported Feb. 7. (Full Story) Tesco announces store openings in Phoenix metro market Tesco has picked spots for its first 20 stores in the Phoenix area, The Arizona Republic reported Feb. 8. (Full Story) Consumer Reports rates McDonald's coffee better than Starbucks Consumer Reports has declared McDonald's coffee the winner of a taste test against three rivals, including Starbucks. (Full Story) PRODUCT OF THE WEEK Image Vault PRO-Command DVR represents next generation PRO-Command is a DVR-with-POS-interface solution that represents the next-generation in DVR retail applications. Image Vault PRO-Command DVR provides a business value that goes beyond combating shoplifting, robbery and internal theft. The PRO-Command system with enhanced reporting capabilities can enable senior executives to oversee operations, review current information and data, and make command decisions that go far beyond issues of security and loss prevention. PRO-Command includes software features capable of monitoring the amount of viewing-time to determine precisely when and how often specific employees and managers are using the PRO-Command DVR. This product's features include MPEG-4 Compression for enhanced image quality and smaller image file sizes, a frame rate increase ranging from 120 fps to a maximum of 480 fps, and increased video resolution (In addition to video resolutions of 320x240 and 640x480, PRO-Command will also offer 352x240 and 704x480 video resolution.) FireKing Security Group - Image Vault www.image-vault.com CALENDAR OF EVENTS WPMA Convention & Convenience Store Expo The Mirage Convention Center Las Vegas February 20-22 (801) 263-9762 www.wpma.com AWMA REAL DEAL EXPO Las Vegas Hilton Las Vegas February 21-23 (703) 208-3358 www.realdealexpo.com   PetrolWorld Africa Middle East Business Forum 2007 Malelane Resort, Kruger Park, South Africa February 24-27 www.petrolworld.com NASM Convention & Exposition World Golf Village and Renaissance Resort St. Augustine, Fla. March 5-8 (703) 922-9784 www.nasmonline.com   The Southeast Petro-Food Marketing Exposition Myrtle Beach Convention Center Myrtle Beach, S.C. March 7-8 (919) 782-4411 www.sepetro.org Human Resources Forum Sheraton Hotel New Orleans March 13-15 (703) 684-3600 www.nacsonline.com   For a complete list of industry events, go to NPN's calendar web page.  Published By NPN Group |  © 2007 NPN Group | All Rights Reserved For more information on NPN MarketPulse, contact: Gary Bevers, group publisher M2MEDIA360 Retail Distribution Group Ph: 832-444-7675 Fax: 800-430-3446 Chris Traczek, editor-in-chief M2MEDIA360 NPN Group Ph: 630-739-0280 Fax: 630-739-0321 This newsletter is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, re-disseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of M2MEDIA360.

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