WASHINGTON, D.C. — SIGMA is encouraging its members to make their voices heard in opposition to a new proposal to add more tolls to the U.S. interstate highway system.

According to a message to its members, the national trade association representing fuel marketers and chain retailers said the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is considering an expansion of tolling on existing interstates in legislation to extend the Highway Trust Fund. Further, the committee may permit states to divert toll revenue to unrelated projects, according to the note.

The Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates (ATFI), of which SIGMA is a member, has prepared a message to urge House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and the other members of the committee to protect interstates from the burden of new tolls. It reads, in part: “Tolling existing interstates would have serious negative consequences. Businesses would face higher operating expenses and pass those costs on to consumers. Commuters and travelers would face steep cost increases and hourly employees might have to work an extra hour per day just to pay the toll to and from work. Traffic diversion around tolls onto secondary routes is a proven phenomenon, causing congestion, increased accidents, higher road-wear and repair costs for local governments, and slower first-response times.”

The Highway Trust Fund is a transportation fund in the United States that receives money from a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel and related excise taxes, including highway tolls.

The text of the Committee’s bill is expected to be released as early as this week, according to SIGMA, which is urging its members to send an email to Chairman Shuster and the House Transportation Committee.

ATLANTA — RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. has extended the bid deadline on the sale of 29 of its RaceWay convenience stores by two weeks.

Originally announced in July, RaceWay is selling the 29 convenience stores with gasoline, including nine locations in Tennessee, five each in Alabama and Florida, four in South Carolina, three in Georgia, and one each in Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas. A second Texas store that was part of the original announcement has been removed from the sale.

The bid deadline, originally set to expire Tuesday, Sept. 15, will now conclude Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 3 p.m. Central.

The lots, which are no longer a fit for RaceWay’s business model, range in size from approximately 15,200 square feet to 3.9 acres; 17 stores range in size from 2,000 to 4,990 square feet, seven stores are 1,000 square feet or larger, while the balance are small stores with one kiosk. All of the properties are fee-owned.

As previously reported in CSP Daily News, all the sites are being sold without convenience store or fuel branding. Sites are also being sold without fuel supply.

The properties will be sold with a deed restriction that prohibits the sale of petroleum products including gasoline on the property under any brand other than Shell, Chevron, Texaco, BP, Exxon, Amoco or Mobil.

RaceWay has retained NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC, Chicago, to handle the sale.

The properties will be sold using NRC’s “buy one, some or all” sealed-bid sale process. Property-specific packages (PSP) are expected to be available in mid-August, with a bid deadline of Sept. 15, 2015.

RaceWay dealers operate more than 300 convenience stores with gasoline in 12 states. The brand is owned by Atlanta-based RaceTrac Petroleum Inc., which has more than 370 RaceTrac locations in five states.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An upstream energy company is aiming to make a splash in the downstream world with its pending acquisition of 11 convenience stores in Alabama.

The deal, reported yesterday in a 21st Century Smoke/CSP Daily News Flash, comes five months after First Colombia Gold Corp. purchased the Triangle Restaurant Group and its collection of quick-service restaurants under varied brands, including Pete’s Hot Dogs, Captain Cooks Sub Shops, Hum Dinger Burgers and Shakes, and Maryland Fried Chicken.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based company announced yesterday that it has acquired Enterprise Partners Inc. and is “in possession of final contracts to acquire” the 11 convenience stores.

The goal now is to combine the QSRs and c-stores through the talents and knowledge of c-store veteran Pete Iodice, president of Triangle Restaurant Group.

“The company has been looking for creative ways to work the quick-serve restaurant concept into our business model,” said Jason Castenir, CEO of First Colombia Gold Corp. “This is the unveiling of that strategy, one that we believe will become highly profitable for the company.”

Iodice, a c-store developer since 1978, according to his LinkedIn profile, has developed and operated and sold more than 75 convenience stores in the southeast. Over the last 10 years, he has focused on developing QSRs. And with the Alabama c-store deal, he’ll help First Colombia bring the two together.

“These convenience stores will allow Triangle Restaurant Group and First Colombia Gold to expand operations in ways never seen before in this company,” said Iodice, president of Triangle Restaurant Group. “Four of these stores are prime targets for the operation of our Maryland Fried Chicken franchises, and with these multiple revenue streams in place, we should be able to expand operations quickly.”

Castenir added, “With 30-plus years of experience in owning and operating convenience stores, Mr. Iodice brings a wealth of knowledge to the company. His expertise has helped make this acquisition a reality, and we applaud him for his efforts and are very excited to have him a part of First Colombia Gold.”

First Colombia Gold Corp. is a capital company focused on acquiring, developing and advancing natural resource, energy, and real-estate projects in Europe, North America and South America. Its business model is to acquire undervalued assets combining potential for building asset values and cash flow through leverage to improved operational efficiency and development.

LONDON — The 2015 edition of the United Kingdom’s Association of Convenience Stores’ Local Shop Report provides a comprehensive look at the convenience store sector, including a deep and wide ranging look at the people who run, work and shop in the U.K.’s local c-stores.

With a slightly larger independent-retailer based—75% of its 51,500 stores are run by independent retailers, compared to 63% of the U.S.’ 152,800—it may come as little surprise that 25% of U.K. c-store retailers work more than 70 hours per week, and one in five take no annual holiday, according to a new study.

Here are some other highlights from the study:

• The convenience-store sector is continually expanding. There are 51,524 local shops in mainland U.K., up from 50,747 in 2014.
• The local shops provide flexible employment for thousands of people. In 2015, the convenience sector employs over 407,000 people, with 69% working less than 31 hours per week.
• Sales are ever-increasing. The total value of sales in convenience stores was £37.7 billion (about $57.94 billion U.S.) through April 2015, with a 5% overall growth in annual turnover compared to last year.
• Convenience stores are an active part of their local community. Eighty-three percent of independent retailers have engaged in some form of community activity over the last year.
• Convenience stores are an entrepreneurial platform. Three quarters of local shops are run by small business owners, and over seven in 10 retailers are the first in their family to own or run a convenience store.
• Customers love shopping at their local store, Eighty-three percent of the public visit a convenience store at least once a week, with 25% of customers visiting at least once a day.

Click here to download the complete report.

The 2015 Local Shop Report is developed with help from research organizations such as him! Research and Consulting, the Institute of Grocery Distribution, Nielsen, ComRes and William Reed Business Media with new research designed and commissioned by ACS.

ANKENY, Iowa — Casey’s General Stores Inc. continues to prove it’s a strong player in the pizza industry as its online ordering takes off.

Online ordering was one of three major growth opportunities the convenience-store chain planned to focus on during fiscal 2016, with pizza delivery and 24-hour stores also on the list.

And although Casey’s did not convert any stores to the pizza-delivery format during the first-quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, the company plans on adding about 100 stores to the pizza-delivery program by the end of the fiscal year, said Bill Walljasper, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Casey’s, during the first-quarter earnings call.

Click here to read a review of Casey’s first-quarter results.

Part of the reason for the pizza delivery program’s slow start is because of the focus on online ordering.

Online ordering is currently available at about 600 locations, but Casey’s is on track to convert all of it stores to the format by the end of the calendar year, Walljasper said. Casey’s reported having 1,887 stores at the end of the first quarter, which ended July 31.

When introduced in late 2014 exclusively in and around the Des Moines, Iowa, market, customers could only order pizza and 2-liter sodas for pickup or delivery. Now, they also can order appetizers, such as breadsticks and Buffalo wings, and made-to-order subs and wraps.

“One of the things we have noticed in the recent data we’ve seen is not so much the pickup in number of whole pies sold, but on the add-ons,” Walljasper said. “We are seeing a significant uptick in the add-ons with respective things like breadsticks, Buffalo wings and even extra toppings on the pizza.”

To further promote its pizza offerings, the chain will once again roll out its Pizza-to-Pump Program. The program, which gives customers 10 cents off a gallon of gas when they purchase a large pizza, will launch in October in states including Indiana, North Dakota, Kentucky and Tennessee.

“[The program has] been very successful for us, and we are excited about rolling that out again,” Walljasper said.

Casey’s also continues to move toward 24-hour locations, converting 89 stores to the format during the first quarter. The company also opened eight new stores, acquired one store and replaced seven existing stores and four replacement stores. The company’s annual goal is to build or acquire 75 to 113 stores, replace 10 existing locations and perform major remodels on 100 existing locations.

“Major remodels, 24-hour conversions and pizza delivery continue to deliver impressive sales gains,” Walljasper said.

DALLAS — More details have come out about 7-Eleven’s newest delivery-service offer, including “convenience packs” temptingly titled the “Date Night Pack” or the “Hangover Pack,” for example.

Working in partnership with DoorDash, 7-Eleven began the program Sept. 1 at more than 200 7-Eleven convenience stores in three major cities: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Washington, D.C., and Boston will begin participating in coming months.

In Chicago, the $20 Date Night Pack—subtitled “DoorDash & Chill”—brings Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, a Hershey bar, an 8-ounce can of Red Bull, an 18-piece pack of Trident gum and a 3-pack of condoms to your door in less than 45 minutes.

The $15 Hangover Pack—“Last night was fun …”—includes 7-Select extra-strength Acetaminophen, a 29-ounce Gatorade, a large pepperoni pizza and a smoked turkey and pepperjack sandwich.

Other convenience packs include the $22 Gameday Pack, the $25 Sniffles Pack and the $10.50 Endurance Pack (an energy drink, 5-hour energy and a Clif bar).

À la carte options are available, as well, ranging from a 1-liter smartwater for $3.59 to a Tide To-Go Stain Pen for $5.49. Each delivery includes a $2.99 service fee.

“By working with DoorDash, we can bring on-demand delivery to more people and more places,” Raja Doddala, 7-Eleven’s vice president of innovation and omnichannel strategy, previously told CSP Daily News.

Although alcohol and Slurpees are not currently available for delivery, that could change, according to 7-Eleven spokesperson Margaret Chabris. “We’re working toward that, but we’re not there yet,” she told the Chicago Tribune.

Unlike the vast majority of state legislatures that meet for a limited number of months in any given year, local governments like city councils and town boards meet year round. This means that local governments consider proposed tobacco regulations throughout the year and the number of cities and towns that have enacted tobacco regulations has been increasing not only in number, but also in degree of restrictiveness.

In many cases, advocates will urge local city councils and town boards to adopt a particular kind of tobacco regulation and then take the issue to the state legislature after local governments have set a precedent for imposing the restriction. This is why it is so important for tobacco retailers to oppose a local tobacco regulation because it could become a statewide issue.

The kind of local ordinances that NATO has monitored and responded to include raising the legal age to buy tobacco products, imposing minimum cigar package sizes and minimum cigar prices, banning flavored tobacco products, attempting to ban all tobacco product sales, restricting tobacco advertisements, prohibiting the sale of tobacco products within a certain number of feet from schools and playgrounds, and limiting the number of retailers in a city that can sell tobacco. Sometimes, many of these restrictions are all included in a single local tobacco proposal, making the impact on retailers that much more negative.

The best method for retailers to effectively respond to local tobacco regulations is to take action even before a proposal is brought to local government officials. First, retailers should determine the names of the local elected officials by searching the city or town’s website. Then, retailers need to invite elected officials to visit their store, explain how their retail business operates, tell them the kind of laws and regulations that your employees need to comply with, and reassure them that responsible compliance with the law is an on-going effort. Establishing personal contact with elected officials helps ensure that they will listen to your concerns when a local regulation is proposed.

If a tobacco regulation has already been proposed, retailers need to obtain a copy of the proposal directly from the city or town clerk, and determine if and when a hearing will be held on the proposal. Then, the proposed regulation should be reviewed to thoroughly understand what the impact will be on a retail store.

The next important step is to personally speak with or send a letter or e-mail message to local elected officials and described how the regulation will the impact sales, employees’ jobs, and your business overall. While it may go without saying, a retailer should request that the elected officials oppose the ordinance or regulation because of the negative impact on local stores.

Also, retailers should contact any state or national trade associations that they are a member of and request assistance in responding to the proposed ordinance or legislation. NATO focuses all of its resources on local, state and federal tobacco legislation and assists retailers respond to proposed regulations at every level of government.

To expand the grassroots effort to oppose a regulation, retailers should provide the telephone number and e-mail addresses of local elected officials to employees and customers and encourage them to call and send e-mail messages to the elected officials to express their concerns about the proposal. Finally, it is very important to attend the city council or town board meeting and testify in opposition to the local restriction. 

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that will prohibit the sale of any powdered or crystalline alcohol product, also known as “palcohol,” in New York State.

“This dangerous product is a public health disaster waiting to happen,” Cuomo said. “I am proud to sign this legislation that will keep powdered alcohol off the shelves and out of the wrong hands.”

This powdered, freeze-dried alcohol is sold in small bags and is intended to be mixed with water to create alcoholic drinks. It is readily portable and easy to conceal in its powdered form, increasing the ability for underage youths to gain access to it. Additionally, mixing incorrectly or ingesting it in its powdered form can lead to unsafe levels of intoxication.

With the signing of this measure, New York joins more than 20 other states that have banned the substance.

Senator Joseph Griffo, who sponsored the legislation in the Senate, said, “For every substance or drug that has been abused by people in our communities, we often look back and ask ourselves if there is anything we could have done differently to prevent a wave of addiction from reaching the point of no return. By now making it illegal to sell powdered alcohol in the state of New York, this law signed today gives us that rare proactive opportunity to avoid exposing our most vulnerable to one more substance that could have a detrimental impact on their lives.”

LOS ANGELES — Even as the Wall Street Journal shined a spotlight on credit-card skimming in recent weeks, reports of card data being collected at gasoline pumps seemed to come from every corner of the United States.

In Richmond, Va., investigators reported a jump in skimming devices targeting credit cards at gas stations, according to a WWBT NBC12 report. And in Grand Rapids, Mich., five people were charged in connection with skimming incidents at West Michigan gas stations, according to FOX17.

These reports comer as the credit-card industry and gas-station owners are deploying everything from sophisticated software to heavy-duty padlocks to combat the epidemic of fuel-related theft and fraud, WSJ reported.

The crackdown is gaining additional momentum because many gas stations will be among the last merchants to install equipment accepting a new generation of fraud-resistant cards. While many big merchants will have equipment in place by Oct. 1 to accept the new chip-based cards, tougher guidelines set by Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. don’t apply to gas stations until 2017.

That delay could exacerbate what analysts, card companies and law-enforcement officials say has been a recent surge in fraud at the pump.

“The concern is that this is still a gaping hole that has not been well addressed and now there are conditions that are going to make it worse,” Al Pascual, a director of fraud and security at Javelin Strategy & Research, a unit of Greenwich Associates LLC, told WSJ.

Gas stations make easy targets for those who want to make fraudulent purchases using stolen numbers, since pumps are usually unattended.

In addition, law-enforcement officials say it is increasingly common for crooks to rig pumps with “skimming” devices, which captures data from the magnetic strip on customers’ cards. Thieves can use that data to create counterfeit cards.

In May, Florida state officials conducted a series of sweeps that found more than 100 skimmers at gas stations.

In recent weeks, law-enforcement officials in California for the first time found devices that skim card data from unsuspecting gas-station customers and then relay the information to crooks via text message, Steven Scarince, a U.S. Secret Service agent in Los Angeles who runs a task force that specializes in gas-pump-skimming investigations, said in the newspaper report.

“Their technology keeps improving year after year,” he said. “Boy, are we busy.”

Credit and debit cards account for more than half of all U.S. gasoline purchases, according to Nilson Report, a Carpinteria, Calif.-based newsletter that tracks the payments industry.

Gas stations also are being hit by criminals who use counterfeit cards to fill up tanks hidden inside vehicles called “bladder trucks” that can hold hundreds of gallons of gas. The criminals then sell the stolen fuel to unscrupulous gas-station owners or construction sites.

“It’s frustrating how many times it’s happening. We spend a lot of time chasing it and trying to prevent it,” says Brian Decker, operations manager for SC Fuels, an Orange, Calif.-based distributor that also operates retail gas pumps.

Click here to read the complete Wall Street Journal report.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Labor Day holiday gasoline prices hit their lowest level in more than a decade this month.

According to Washington, D.C.-based AAA, the national retail average price fell to $2.40 per gallon on Labor Day, or $1.04 per gallon below this same time last year. As of Sept. 8, the average had fallen 22 consecutive days to rest at $2.39 per gallon, amassing a 28-cent-per-gallon (CPG) decline along the way.

At $2.39 per gallon, the national average was 7 CPG lower than a week ago, and 20 CPG vs. a month ago, AAA reported. Year over year, the national average was $1.05 per gallon lower.

U.S. drivers saw gas prices this summer driving season—Memorial Day to Labor Day—an average of 89 CPG lower than last year.

More To Come

AAA expects prices to keep falling into autumn as demand hits a seasonal decline, assuming that crude prices stay low and routine refinery maintenance runs smoothly. According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, refineries were experiencing above-average utilization rates, and had more maintenance planned for 2015 vs. previous years. While this might slow gas prices’ expected decline this autumn, it should not stop or reverse it, says AAA.

A seasonal switch to less-expensive winter-blend gasoline in parts of the United States beginning Sept. 16 should also weight down the price average.

South Carolina enjoyed the lowest state average for retail gasoline prices at $1.97 per gallon on Sept. 8. The highest averages hit Alaska ($3.35 per gallon), California ($3.26), Nevada ($3.10), Hawaii ($3.03) and Washington ($2.88), according to AAA.

State retail averages fell in almost every state on a week-over-week basis, with 26 states seeing a 5-CPG or greater savings. Five states—four of which were hit by a recent refinery outage—enjoyed double-digit declines. They include Indiana, where prices fell 17 CPG week-over-week, as well as Ohio (-15 CPG), Illinois (-14 CPG) and Michigan (-12 CPG). Delaware and Utah were the only two states to see increases, up 4 CPG and a fraction of a penny week-over-week, respectively.

On a month-over-month basis, the average retail price for gasoline fell by 10 CPG or more in 43 states and Washington, D.C., according to AAA. Eight states enjoyed a 25-CPG or greater savings, led by California (-33 CPG), Oregon (-29 CPG) and New Jersey (-27 CPG).

And on a year-over-year basis, average retail gasoline prices were down at least 75 CPG in 47 states and Washington, D.C. The three states that did not see that big of a decline: Alaska (-67 CPG), California (-56 CPG) and Nevada (-59 CPG). In 33 states, gas prices were off $1 or more per gallon, with Indiana (-$1.28), Michigan (-$1.26) and Ohio (-$1.26) seeing the biggest declines year over year.

Below $2 Per Gallon?

According to data from GasBuddy, Gaithersburg, Md., the national retail average dropped almost 7 CPG over the last week to hit $2.391 per gallon the morning of Sept. 8. Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, said motorists should be enjoying $1.99 or lower prices by the end of the year.

“Better than one in 10 stations in the country now offer gasoline prices at $1.99 per gallon or less, and gas prices in 48 of the nation’s 50 states fell in the run-up to the [Labor Day] holiday itself, showing that holidays aren’t always a catalyst for price increases,” said DeHaan. “As we begin to near the terminus for summer gasoline, I expect prices to continue moving lower, with our projections aiming at a sub-$2-per-gallon average by Christmas or perhaps even earlier.”