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RNCOS reports on 'expanding reach' of U.S. convenience stores
As retail sales in the U.S. are increasing year by year, so are sales through convenience stores, according to the research firm RNCOS. In 2006, convenience store sales constituted around 13% of total retail sales and this share is expected to rise in future, according to the researchers.
Total convenience store sales in the U.S. include motor fuel sales and in-store sales. Motor fuel sales made up 71.3% whereas in-store sales accounted for approximately 28.7% in total sales in 2006, the researchers said March 28 in announcing the release of a report of their findings. (Full Story)
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Houston and Hartford adopt laws to curtail crime at convenience stores
Under a new ordinance designed to combat crime, every convenience store in Houston must install color, digital surveillance cameras, according to news reports. A similar ordinance went into effect this month in Hartford, Conn.
The Houston ordinance was adopted March 26 by the city council. Store operators have 18 months to comply, according to news reports. Some of the other requirements, according to a report by Lee McGuire of KHOU-TV in Houston, are: (Full Story)
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Special Announcement
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Get The Data That Drives The Petroleum & Convenience Industry Today!
Order your copy of the 2007 NPN MarketFacts today for the introductory price of only $195 (plus shipping and handling).
To order your print copy and/or CD version of the 2007 NPN MarketFacts edition, please click here
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News Items
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EIA: gasoline prices rise to new record; diesel prices drop
Reversing the drop of last week, the U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline rose by 3.1 cents to reach a new all-time high of 329.0 cents per gallon, surpassing the previous high set two weeks earlier, according to the April 2 issue of "This Week in Petroleum," published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). (Full Story)
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Registration open for PEI Purchasing & Inventory Conference
The Petroleum Equipment Institute announced that registration is now open for its upcoming Purchasing & Inventory Managers Conference, May 16-17 at the Wyndham O'Hare in Chicago. (Full Story)
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Tobacco Plus Expo: April 24-25 in Las Vegas
Retailers can register to attend the 2008 Tobacco Plus Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 25-25, by visiting the show's Web site at tobaccoplusexpo.com and clicking on "Attendees" or calling the toll-free registration hotline at 1-888-825-2299. (Full Story)
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House committee approves bill for FDA authority over tobacco industry
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill April 2 that would give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over the tobacco industry, clearing the way for a House floor vote on the legislation, which has long been sought by anti-tobacco activists, Stephanie Saul reported in The New York Times. (Full Story)
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In a Massachusetts town: c-store's license to sell alcohol decried
A White Hen Pantry soon will become the only convenience store in Saugus, Mass., to sell beer and wine, upsetting members of an anti-substance-abuse committee who believe it will weaken their efforts to discourage underage drinking, reported Kathy McCabe in The Boston Globe. (Full Story)
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Congress, eying high fuel prices and big profits, calls Big Oil on the carpet
Executives from Chevron Corp. and four other major oil companies defended their record profits April 1 before a hostile Congress, reported Zachary Coile of The San Francisco Chronicle. (Full Story)
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NPRA blasts House for global warming committee for targeting Big Oil
In taking oil companies to task for high fuel prices and high profits, Congress is looking in the wrong place for answers to the nation's energy challenges, said Charles T. Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA). (Full Story)
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QuikTrip to open stores in Tucson
QuikTrip is preparing to open stores in Tucson, Joe Pangburn reported for Inside Tucson Business. It's the first expansion into a new market for Tulsa-based QuikTrip in more than seven years, according to the March 28 article. (Full Story)
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NYACS calls for 'full and fair' tax collection on cigarettes and motor fuel
New York State is failing to enforce a March 1, 2006, state law mandating collection of taxes on Indian sales of tobacco and motor fuel to non-Indian New Yorkers, despite public promises to do so, said the New York Association of Convenience Stores. (Full Story)
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NACS withdraws opposition to House tobacco bill
After working with House Energy and Commerce Committee members to include provisions that address retailer concerns, NACS has withdrawn its opposition to H.R. 1108, a bill that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco manufacturing and retailing, the association reported in its April 1 online Daily News. (Full Story)
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Wawa encourages customers to pay for gas with cash
Wawa has started a program it hopes will encourage its customers to pay for fuel with cash, according to a March 30 article by Gretchen Metz in DailyLocal.com. (Full Story)
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Western Refining removes gasoline fouled with diesel
Western Refining is removing gasoline mixed with diesel fuel from a number of gasoline stations in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M., and replacing it with the proper fuel, a company spokesman said, according to a March 27 article in the online edition of The El Paso Times. (Full Story)
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Tesco executive's blog: 'We're pausing for breath...'
Tesco executive Simon Uwins, who writes a blog on the Web site for Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Markets, posted the following explanation, dated March 26, for the pause in store openings. (Full Story)
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Analyst: Fresh and Easy has a long-term future in the U.S.
Tesco's decision to pause its expansion in the U.S. "clearly means the performance hasn't been stellar," said Christopher Hogbin, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in London, according to an article by Loveday Morris of Bloomberg News. (Full Story)
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Gas station owners say they feel pain of price hikes
As the price of gasoline rises, many gas station owners say they're being priced nearly out of business, according to an article by Gordon Fraser in The Eagle-Tribune, a newspaper in Massachusetts. (Full Story)
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In Grand Forks, BP Amoco gas stations rebranded to Cenex
BP Amoco gas stations in Grand Forks, N.D., are in the process of being rebranded to the Cenex brand as BP pulls out of the North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota markets, according to a March 31 business news item in the online edition of The Grand Forks Herald. (Full Story)
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Product of the Week
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Fuels pricing and performance management in the palm of your hand
KSS a global leading supplier of pricing analytics, execution and optimization systems to the petroleum industry, announces two new additions to its range of fuels pricing solutions, PriceNet Mobile and KSS Visualizer. PriceNet Mobile, available as a stand-alone system or as an add-on for customers already using PriceNet, delivers real-time pricing via handheld mobile devices such as PDAs and Blackberry® smartphones. KSS Visualizer is a Web-based data visualization tool intended to draw attention to significant changes in performance measures such as volume, running rates, margin, competitor price position and more, at any level of their business from individual grade/store to overall network. Using color to indicate deltas to user-configurable goals or measures, KSS Visualizer allows users to instantly identify issues demanding their attention without the need to analyze tables of numbers in spreadsheets or make sense of data coming from multiple data sources. Users can easily configure the tool to represent their network hierarchy and drill-down into the detail with a click of a mouse.
KSS
www.kssg.com
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Calendar of Events
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Atlantic Regional Energy Expo - AREE08
April 22-24
The Atlantic City Convention Center
Atlantic City, N.J.
(973) 467-1400
E-mail: info@areetradeshow.com
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NACStech 2008
May 5-7
Grapevine, TX
Gaylord Texan
(800) 966-6227
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NYACS Trade Show & Convention
May 14-15
The OnCenter
Syracuse, NY
(518) 432-1400
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SIGMA 2008 Spring Convention
May 18-20
Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa
Two Grasslawn Ave.
Hilton Head Island, SC
(703) 709-7000
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NAOHSM's 55th Annual Convention & Trade Show
May 18-22
New Conn. Convention Center
Hartford, Conn.
www.naohsm.org
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For a complete list of industry events, go to NPN's calendar web page.
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Published By NPN Group | © 2008 NPN Group | All Rights Reserved
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For more information on NPN MarketPulse, contact:
Gary Bevers, group publisher
M2MEDIA360
Retail Distribution Group
Ph: 832-444-7675
Fax: 800-430-3446
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Keith Reid, editor-in-chief
M2MEDIA360
NPN Group
Ph: 630-739-0280
Fax: 630-739-0321 |
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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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