Tops Daily Laguna Village, GS25, uSmile and 7-Eleven Malaysia’s U-Ming Tan were honored in Tokyo this week.
NACS announced its Convenience Retail Awards Asia-Pacific winners during the 2025 NACS Convenience Summit Asia, which took place this week from February 25-27 in Tokyo.
“Industry progress is not only driven by innovative companies, but by the energies, determination and inspiration of the individuals who lead them,” said NACS President and CEO Henry Armour, adding, “These awards recognize and honor the contributions of successful and influential industry leaders who represent excellence, dedication and influence in the convenience retail community.”
NACS Convenience Retailer of the Year Asia-Pacific: Tops Daily Laguna Village
Tops Daily Laguna Village is a small-format brand by Central Food Retail Co. Ltd.
Central Food Retail is the leading food retailer in Thailand.
The company operates the supermarket brands Tops, Tops Food Hall and Tops Fine Food, as well as the convenience store brand Tops Daily in the highly competitive Thailand retail market.
In 2024, the company launched a new hybrid store concept called Tops Daily X Tops Wine Cellar at its Laguna Village location in Phuket, Thailand.
The hybrid model combined a convenience store with a dedicated section for wine and chilled beer and features wines from 13 countries, with on-site chillers to quickly chill room temperature beer and wine for customers.
The Wine Cellar features an in-store wine specialist who helps customers with selections and comfortable seating where customers can relax and enjoy their drinks and food.
The concept has changed Tops Daily from a traditional convenience store to a spot to also relax and socialize. In the six months after it was launched, sales at the store exceeded projections by 37%.
The hybrid store also combines Tops Daily’s signature category areas including snacks, beverages, cooking supplies, cafe and bakery, meat and produce and health and beauty products.
NACS Convenience Retail Technology Award Asia-Pacific: GS25
Operated by parent company GS Retail in South Korea, GS25 is the top convenience store brand in the country.
For 16 consecutive years, GS25 has been named “Korea’s Most Respected Company.”
Today, GS25 boasts an independently developed brand and operating system that offers a differentiated online and offline experience based on the principle that “the success of individual franchise owners should come first.”
GS25 opened its first store in Vietnam in 2018 and now operates 120 stores in the country and recently expanded into Mongolia.
The company’s smart store format, called GS25 DX Lab, is a 190-square-meter space that relies completely on artificial intelligence technology.
Customers can purchase products through facial recognition software and receive information on wine with the touch of their palm, as well as view customized advertisements through AI sensors that recognize a person’s gender and age.
2025 NACS Convenience Retail Sustainability Award Asia-Pacific: uSmile
Headquartered in Beijing, China, there are nearly 20,000 uSmile convenience stores in provincial capitals, coastal cities and municipalities throughout the country.
PetroChina uSmile’s approach to sustainability is focused on reducing the environmental impact of its service station operations.
The company aims to achieve carbon neutrality (net zero emissions) within its business activities under the time frame specified in the Paris Agreement.
In 2024, uSmile treated 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxides and cut CO2 emissions by 100,000 tons.
By the end of 2024, uSmile built 2,000 new EV charging stations with 30,000 chargers, bringing the total to 4,000 EV charging stations with 59,000 chargers.
The company’s charging volume reaches 600 million kWh.
To promote multiple energy supplies, PetroChina introduced and expanded its network of alternative fuels, including LNG, hydrogen, EV charging and battery swap.
By 2024, PetroChina had built 1,400 new photovoltaic (PV) stations and now operate 3,000 PV stations in China.
PetroChina is also focused on using water and other resources more efficiently throughout its operations, as well as improving its environmentally friendly private label products by reducing bottled water usage in corporate offices.
A 2019 NACS Ideas 2 Go video profiled uSmile during a new retail in China segment.
NACS Convenience Industry Leader Asia-Pacific: U-Ming Tan
NACS previously announced that U-Ming Tan, co-chief executive officer and executive director of 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd., was named the 2025 recipient of the NACS Convenience Industry Leader Asia-Pacific Award.
With 2,400-plus stores, 7-Eleven Malaysia is the largest convenience store operator in Malaysia.
In 2021, it debuted its 7CAFÉ concept, combining a convenience store and café in one location, offering seating for customers to enjoy ready-to-eat meals, snacks, coffee and desserts.
More than 550 stores already have the concept, which features locally sourced, fresh ingredients.
Tan was named co-CEO of 7-Eleven Malaysia in 2020.
He joined 7-Eleven Malaysia as director in 2008, overseeing the merchandising, procurement and marketing functions.
Tan was promoted to executive director in 2011 and appointed to the Board of 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings in 2013.
He is also on the board of eight other companies.
For more than a decade, the NACS Convenience Summit Asia has offered an immersive look into the future of convenience retailing that is emerging in Asia.
The event also shares insights from other regions of the world and includes extensive store tours of some of Asia’s most iconic brands.
The NACS Convenience Retail Awards Asia-Pacific highlight standout retail store design, exceptional industry leadership, progressive sustainability initiatives and effective technology innovations, providing one of the greatest benchmarks of global convenience retailing excellence.
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