Experts foresee plenty of opportunities for retailers to separate themselves this year, driven by consumer demands for quality and an evolving digital landscape. Delivery will continue to be an area of focus for c-store operators this year, experts say. Retrieved from 7-Eleven press release. Jeff Lenard is longing for some normalcy in the c-store industry.  NACS’ vice president of strategic initiatives said he’d “love a boring year” in 2023, as the past couple have been riddled with challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and other socioeconomic issues. This past year, especially, retailers dealt with increased labor and supply chain shortages, rising gas and merchandise costs and even an increase in crime in some areas. “You could argue 2023 will be the first year of normalcy in a while,” Lenard said. “You could also argue 2023 will continue to force retailers to pivot and react quickly to things few saw coming.” While 2022…

Food-delivery apps see customers use different tactics to save money as these companies evolve post pandemic. The food-delivery market is changing, as the industry evolves from pandemic-induced growth and Americans grapple with economic conditions that put a strain on their wallets, reports the Wall Street Journal. Industry experts say that although consumers are still spending more on Uber Eats and DoorDash, they are cautious about how much they spend, changing what and how much they order and are migrating to in-store pickup. DoorDash Chief Financial Officer Prabir Adarkar said in an interview that “most people have a budget,” but that delivery “continues to remain part of their daily life. They are just adjusting their behavior.” He added that some consumers are trading down to fast-food from expensive restaurants or they are cutting back on how much they order. Pickup is becoming a way for customers to save a few extra dollars by…

The c-store today is the resultant of smart entrepreneurship and its ability to adapt to the environment it ’lives’ in. The red line throughout the history of c-stores is that retailers kept innovating to meet major societal and cultural changes. When a network of regional and interstate roads was built in the 50s in the U.S., c-store owners chose to be situated along those corridors. In the 60s, people across Europe and the U.S. started to migrate to suburban areas as there was more space, and c-stores opened up there as well. In the same decade, more and more convenience stores stayed open 24 hours a day to support the working suburban families, meeting the needs of people working late night or early morning shifts. And during the 70s, c-stores started selling gasoline as self-service at the pump, responding to an increased need for fuel on-the-go as more people now…

OTR has entered into an agreement with Chevron Australia Downstream to acquire its Puma branded service stations in the Northern Territory. In addition, Mogas Regional, which is owned and operated by OTR’s parent company Peregrine Corporation, has entered into an agreement to acquire Directhaul Pty Ltd and related commercial supply and haulage business assets. As part of the agreement, Mogas Regional will own and manage Directhaul and work closely with Chevron Australia Downstream to distribute its products to customers in the Northern Territory. The sale is expected to be completed by March 2023. ABOUT OTR OTR is proudly Australian-owned and operated. The parent company, Peregrine Corporation, is South Australia’s largest private employer, employing more than 6,500 staff. OTR is the state’s most innovative and leading convenience retailer with more than 180 stores across metropolitan and regional South Australia, metropolitan and regional Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia.

Thomas Ennis, the award winning Dublin retailer, is an entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word but it’s not a term with which he’s entirely comfortable. “I work for myself,” he smiles, self-effacingly; adding: “Retail is one of the few industries where, without much education, you could succeed very well with hard work and common sense.” Entrepreneur or “street smart” owner operator, Ennis has learnt the ropes of convenience retail from the bottom up, beginning his career as an apprentice butcher in 1990 and culminating in the opening of his first Spar store in Merrion Row in 2005. He’s gone on to build a growing convenience retail network, all the while applying the fresh food skills and management expertise he learnt at Ireland’s leading grocery retailers and from some of the Irish retail industry greats. Life lessons His journey began unceremoniously when he was asked to leave school aged…