24/7: The NACS Blog

10/7/2008

We all know that customers today are time-starved and strapped for extra cash. Gas prices have been at record highs for some time now, and margins are razor thin. To make up for this, many retailers are focusing more on in-store categories, like foodservice.

Just one trip around the expo at this week’s NACS Show states the case for foodservice. And ironically, Technomic released a report today that says three out of five consumers prefer prepared meals from a supermarket – citing “convenience” as the reason for purchasing more “retailer meal solutions.”

Like I said, just one trip around the expo floor proves how important a category foodservice is for today’s convenience store operator. From hot pizza, hot dogs and chicken salad sandwiches to wraps, fresh-prepared and hot breakfast sandwiches, ethnic foods, roller grill items and fried chicken – to name a few – this industry is more than prepared to take foodservice to an exciting level.

For all of the Clark Griswolds out there – you can absolutely have a great meal from a gas station.

Posted at 11:32 AM by cblasinsky | Category: NACS Show | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/6/2008

Show Attendees Rate What’s “Cool”

The Cool New Products Preview Room is generating a lot of buzz at the NACS Show expo. Here are the top 10 scanned products by attendees as of October 5:

1. LiveGuide Digital Beverage Center (IMI Cornelius Inc., booth 3204)
2. Grab N' Go! Mini Cookies (J & J Snack Foods Corp., booth 1115)
3. Hot Logic - Model 1000 (Hot Logic, booth 3662)
4. Hot Logic Souper (Hot Logic, booth 3662)
5. Tobacco Products (Philip Morris USA Inc., booth 806)
6. Burger King, Boulder Canyon, TGI Fridays Snacks (The Inventure Group, booth 4905)
7. Totino's Pizza Rolls (General Mills Inc., booth 551)
8. Snap Capp (United Distributing/Snap Capp, booth 537)
9. Special K Bliss Orange, Special K Bliss Raspberry, Bear Naked All Natural Granola 2oz (4 flavors), Bear Naked All Natural Granola (Kellogg's Convenience Store Team, booth 5508)
10. Pretty Pump Pump Cleaner (Professional Supply Co., booth 7525)

Be sure to stop by the CNP Preview Room in then entrance of the North Hall.

Posted at 10:17 AM by cblasinsky | Category: NACS Show | Email this Post | Comments (3)

10/5/2008

Duty Calls...

I've been walking the expo floor for less than an hour, and my obligatory journalistic sampling of energy drinks (11 and counting) has triggered a unique heart arrhythmia that's a unique Hip-Hop/Polka cadence.

I rest near the Little Debbie booth, and a handful of brownies alleviates a dizzy spell. Time to get back on my feet again...ooh, head rush. Nothing that a perfectly chilled draft beer can't cure. I spot the A-B booth and make myself comfortable. Talk about calculated booth location. Well done, NACS.

--Jerry Soverinsky

Posted at 6:56 PM by cblasinsky | Category: NACS Show | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/4/2008

It's Show Time!

Welcome to the NACS Show here in Chicago! From now until Tuesday, we have an exciting event in store...be sure to check NACS Daily and the NACS Blog for exclusive coverage of workshops, general sessions, hot new trends and products on the Show floor and more. Visit www.nacsshow.com for all of your NACS Show information.

Posted at 8:41 AM by cblasinsky | Category: NACS Show | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/30/2008

Supply Problems Persist in the South

Retailers and consumers alike remain frustrated over motor fuels supply issues in the south. While some elected officials seek to point fingers and identify “bad guys,” typically at the retail level, the problem really comes down to distribution. In 2002, NACS published a series of graphs that show how vulnerable the south is to supply disruptions from the Houston area.

Here is an overlay map of the country’s refineries and pipelines.

And this chart best shows the movement of gas throughout the country, and clearly shows the south’s vulnerability.

How long will the problems persist? With fuel moving through the pipelines at about 4 mile per hour, that means that new shipments go about 100 miles a day in the pipelines.

--Jeff Lenard (jlenard@nacsonline.com)

Posted at 9:52 AM by cblasinsky | Category: Motor Fuels | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/25/2008

Wal-Mart Goes Small...Format

Plans are underway for four of Wal-Mart’s Marketside small-format grocery stores to open on October 4 (the first day of the NACS Show) in the metro Phoenix, Arizona, area, writes Progressive Grocer.

According to the Marketside Web site, the new retail format is: “designed for the quick grocery trip — when you're looking for an inspiring yet easy meal solution, or need to pick up last-minute ingredients...”

The Marketside locations set to open include Gilbert, Mesa, Chandler and Tempe, “where they will directly challenge Tesco, Plc, and its Fresh & Easy units in the market,” notes Progressive Grocer.

Posted at 3:25 PM by cblasinsky | Category: Operations | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/23/2008

U.S. House Passes Credit Card Reform Bill

Today on Capitol Hill, the U.S. House passed legislation that would rein in unfair and deceptive credit card company practices: H.R. 5244, the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act. This bill does not address interchange fees, but it is a great step towards shedding more light on the deceptive tactics that the credit card companies are using on consumers and retailers.

A great champion of credit card reform, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), also an avid supporter of the H.R. 5244, the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act, made the following statement on the House floor in support of credit card company reforms and urged subsequent legislative action on credit card interchange fees:

"This bill is the beginning of important reforms in credit cards — the beginning of increased protection for consumers of credit card companies. The other side of the coin, which we’re not taking up today but will hopefully get to, is for merchants who pay fees to credit card companies for every single credit card transaction — the so-called interchange fees.

Mr. Speaker, in the United States, our credit card interchange fees are the highest, the highest, in the entire world accounting for as much as 2 percent of the cost of every credit card transaction, in some cases a good deal more. These bloated interchange fees are passed on to the consumer. The average American family in fact pays an extra $300 a year in items they purchase as a result of credit cards.

I have introduced legislation, H.R. 6248, the Credit Card Interchange Fees Act, which would require credit card companies to disclose their interchange rates, terms, and conditions to consumers, businesses, and the public. In addition, the bill would empower the Federal Trade Commission to review these rates and rules and prohibit any practices that violate consumer-protection or anti-competitive laws. Chairman John Conyers also has important legislation — the Credit Card Fair Fee Act — that has been passed out of the Judiciary Committee and would give merchants a seat at the negotiating table to determine the fees assessed for every sale made by credit card.

In the next Congress, I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on the Financial Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee to pass legislation into law that protects both the consumer and the merchant from credit card companies."

Posted at 3:47 PM by cblasinsky | Category: Credit Card Fees; Government Relations | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/19/2008

Cashing In on Convenience

Grocery retail chain Supervalu Inc. is testing a smaller format in hopes of luring “upscale professionals who don’t want to dine out, but don’t want to cook much either,” according to Reuters. While grocers lessening their footprint to lure new consumers is nothing new, their game plans are worth watching — particularly as they seek to capitalize on what our industry serves up: convenience.

A tight economy, less discretionary income, looking for ways to save on meals...are these the reasons why larger grocery chains are going from big to smaller — convenient formats — to broaden their appeal to time-starved and cash-strapped consumers?

If so, our channel of trade is in luck, and well positioned to beat out the competition to the punch. But the grocery retailers are also going for fresh prepared foods, a concept some convenience retailers do really well, while others may be struggling.

Here are two suggestions for operating a successful foodservice program: attend the NACS Show. Also, plan to attend the NACS|ECRM foodservice “matchmaking” event (learn more in the October issue of NACS Magazine), which takes place February 8 to 11, 2009, at the Renaissance Houston Hotel in Greenway Plaza, Texas.

Foodservice – when executed well – could ultimately be the differentiator that changes how your customers shop your stores...and don’t shop the competition.

Posted at 12:35 PM by cblasinsky | Category: Operations | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/17/2008

The Mess From Ike

As gas prices continue to be impacted by the damage caused by Hurricane Ike, while at the same time oil prices drop, the retail gas market is under increased scrutiny.

If you need assistance in talking to reporters or customers, perhaps the information in the NACS Gas Price Kit can assist you. You can also contact Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of communications, at (703) 518-4272/jlenard@nacsonline.com, or John Eichberger, NACS vice president of government relations, at (703) 518-4247/jeichberger@nacsonline.com for assistance.

Industry expert Tom Kloza also has a useful and timely blog with relevant industry information.

NACS is continuing to monitoring the situation and communicate the industry’s voice, including stories in each of the past two days’ issues of USA Today (September 16 and September 17).

Also, if you have any information to share with NACS about the situation in your area, please let us know.

Posted at 1:06 PM by cblasinsky | Category: Motor Fuels | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/16/2008

NACS Testifies on Pre-Paid Calling Card Legislation

Today at 10:00 a.m. eastern time, NACS VP of Government Relations John Eichberger will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committe's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection regarding H.R. 3402, the Calling Card Consumer Protection Act. If your company is a distributor of pre-paid calling cards, there are provisions in this bill that could negatively affect your business.

H.R. 3402 and its Senate companion bill (S. 2998), seeks to address consumer concerns regarding deceptive practices within the pre-paid calling card industry. Reports of cards containing fewer than the advertised minutes or subject to hidden or poorly communicated fee structures have led to state and Federal Trade Commission investigations and enforcement. These are issues with which you might be familiar.

Here is a short summary of key provisions of H.R. 3402 and our NACS position:

Establishes more robust disclosure requirements on the cards themselves or their packaging, on Internet sites and on point of sale advertising.
NACS Position: Supports additional disclosure and transparency. We believe consumers should receive the product they believe they are purchasing and deceptive practices should be prosecuted.
Exempts retailers from liability associated with consumer protection provisions, but holds distributors potentially liable.
NACS Position: Third party distributors who do not service the pre-paid calling cords nor manufacture any of the packaging or advertising materials should not be held liable for compliance with the legislation. NACS is asking Congress to exempt such distributors from liability.
Requires proper disclosure of terms and conditions on point of sale materials.
NACS Position: Educating consumers about terms and conditions is critical and should be a requirement. However, the legislation should specifically exempt retailers and third party distributors from liability associated with inaccurate or non-compliant point of sale material unless they were the producer of such materials.

Be on the lookout for tomorrow's NACS Daily for more on the hearing. If you have any questions concerning the legislation or NACS position, contact John Eichberger at jeichberger@nacsonline.com.

Posted at 9:10 AM by cblasinsky | Category: Government Relations | Email this Post | Comments (0)

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