DALLAS — Sunoco LP has named Joe Kim as CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2018. As previously announced, Kim has been president and COO since June following the announcement that current CEO Bob Owens would retire on Dec. 31.

Prior to his most recent appointment, Kim was executive vice president and chief development officer for Sunoco from October 2015 to June 2017, where he was responsible for all business development and merger-and-acquisition activities across the company.

Previously, Kim held the position of COO at Pizza Hut, Plano, Texas, where he was responsible for management of all operations, with an emphasis on speed to market and restaurant excellence. Before that, he worked for 15 years at Valero Energy Corp., San Antonio, where his most recent position was senior vice president of strategy and growth. He also held roles in field and franchise operations, strategic planning, merchandising, development and investor relations. He began his career with Arthur Andersen Business Consulting.

Owens announced his retirement in June. He will continue to serve as a consultant to Dallas-based Sunoco LP through 2019. He joined Sunoco in 1997 and has been president and CEO since 2012.

“I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Bob for his more than 20 years of service to Sunoco. We are grateful for his strategic leadership and wish him well as he embarks on his new endeavor,” said Matthew S. Ramsey, chairman of Sunoco LP. “Bob is leaving Sunoco in good hands. Joe is an exceptionally talented leader, and he is poised to successfully complete the transformation of the partnership from a retail-based business into the premier U.S. fuel supplier.”

Sunoco is a master limited partnership (MLP) that operates 1,346 convenience stores and retail fuel sites and distributes motor fuel to 7,898 c-stores, independent dealers, commercial customers and distributors in 30 states. Its parent, Energy Transfer Equity LP, owns Sunoco’s general partner and incentive distribution rights (IDRs).

Sunoco is selling about 1,100 company-operates sites to 7-Eleven Inc. in 18 states—approximately 110 in Florida, 450 in New York and 550 in Texas—for $3.3 billion, the companies announced in April. Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven is also acquiring the trademarks and intellectual property of the Stripes c-store brand and the Laredo Taco Company foodservice brand, which Sunoco gained when it purchased Susser Holdings Corp. for about $1.9 billion in 2015.

Sunoco ranked No. 6 on CSP’s 2017 Top 202 list of the largest convenience-store chains in the United States.

SEATTLE and ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — Starbucks and Unilever have entered into a definitive agreement for Unilever to acquire the Tazo tea brand from Starbucks, including its signature recipes, intellectual property and inventory, for $384 million. Starbucks will implement a single tea brand strategy and focus with its Teavana brand.

Tazo had sales of $112.5 million over the past year, it said. It offers specialty black, green and herbal teas, as well as liquid concentrates focused in the chai latte segment.

Starbucks purchased Tazo in 1999 for $8.1 million. It sells the brand primarily in grocery, mass merchandise and convenience-store channels, offered in formats including packaged teas, K-cup pods and bottled ready-to-drink (RTD) teas.

“With its strong appeal to millennials, Tazo is a perfect strategic fit for our U.S. portfolio that includes exciting new brands such as Seventh Generation, Dollar Shave Club and Sir Kensington’s,” said Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. “Tazo’s solid position in the fast-growing specialty-tea segment, coupled with Unilever’s tea expertise, presents a fantastic growth opportunity.”

Seattle-based Starbucks announced in July that it would close all 379 of its Teavana stores by the end of 2018. It said that the “principally mall-based Teavana retail stores have been persistently underperforming.”

The company will continue to invest in the growth, innovation and development of the Teavana brand of teas in its stores and in channels outside its stores, it said.

In the past 12 months, Starbucks has sold more than $1.6 billion of Teavana beverages in Starbucks stores and launched RTD Teavana Craft Iced Teas through its partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev. It plans to enter the packaged-tea category in 2018.

“Over the past five years, we have established Teavana as our primary global brand focused on the premium-tea segment. With our growth strategy for premium tea exclusively focused on Teavana, we are pleased to transition our Tazo business to Unilever,” said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of Starbucks. “We continue to see significant growth in our tea business through our Teavana brand, and this transition supports our strategy to elevate the premium-tea experience for our customers.”

Starbucks and Unilver said that they expect the Tazo transaction to close during fourth-quarter of 2017, with a complete transition between the two companies by the end of 2018, subject to regulatory approval.

Unilever supplies food, home care, personal care and refreshment products. In the United States, its portfolio includes brands such as Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Country Crock, Good Humor, Hellmann’s, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Klondike, Lipton, Magnum, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Seventh Generation and Vaseline, among others.

SEATTLE and ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — Starbucks and Unilever have entered into a definitive agreement for Unilever to acquire the Tazo tea brand from Starbucks, including its signature recipes, intellectual property and inventory, for $384 million. Starbucks will implement a single tea brand strategy and focus with its Teavana brand.

Tazo had sales of $112.5 million over the past year, it said. It offers specialty black, green and herbal teas, as well as liquid concentrates focused in the chai latte segment.

Starbucks purchased Tazo in 1999 for $8.1 million. It sells the brand primarily in grocery, mass merchandise and convenience-store channels, offered in formats including packaged teas, K-cup pods and bottled ready-to-drink (RTD) teas.

“With its strong appeal to millennials, Tazo is a perfect strategic fit for our U.S. portfolio that includes exciting new brands such as Seventh Generation, Dollar Shave Club and Sir Kensington’s,” said Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. “Tazo’s solid position in the fast-growing specialty-tea segment, coupled with Unilever’s tea expertise, presents a fantastic growth opportunity.”

Seattle-based Starbucks announced in July that it would close all 379 of its Teavana stores by the end of 2018. It said that the “principally mall-based Teavana retail stores have been persistently underperforming.”

The company will continue to invest in the growth, innovation and development of the Teavana brand of teas in its stores and in channels outside its stores, it said.

In the past 12 months, Starbucks has sold more than $1.6 billion of Teavana beverages in Starbucks stores and launched RTD Teavana Craft Iced Teas through its partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev. It plans to enter the packaged-tea category in 2018.

“Over the past five years, we have established Teavana as our primary global brand focused on the premium-tea segment. With our growth strategy for premium tea exclusively focused on Teavana, we are pleased to transition our Tazo business to Unilever,” said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of Starbucks. “We continue to see significant growth in our tea business through our Teavana brand, and this transition supports our strategy to elevate the premium-tea experience for our customers.”

Starbucks and Unilver said that they expect the Tazo transaction to close during fourth-quarter of 2017, with a complete transition between the two companies by the end of 2018, subject to regulatory approval.

Unilever supplies food, home care, personal care and refreshment products. In the United States, its portfolio includes brands such as Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Country Crock, Good Humor, Hellmann’s, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Klondike, Lipton, Magnum, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Seventh Generation and Vaseline, among others.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Double-digit increases this past week in California’s fuel excise taxes have triggered efforts to recall them and their legislative supporters.

The state’s Democrat-led legislature passed Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), a bill that increased the excise tax on gasoline by 12 cents per gallon (CPG) to 41.7 CPG on Nov. 1, and the diesel excise tax by 20 CPG to total 36 CPG. The bill, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D), also increased the sales-tax rate on diesel from 9% to 13%. The tax increases are expected to raise $5.2 billion each year for infrastructure repairs, Los Angeles Times reported.
 

The bill will also raise annual vehicle fees in 2018, and introduces a $100 annual fee for electric-vehicle (EV) owners to pay, beginning in 2020. The California Department of Transportation estimated that the average Californian would pay about $10 per month more in increased fuel taxes and vehicle fees.

“These investments will create good-paying jobs, improve traffic safety and expand public transit access in communities across the state—without burdening our future generations with debt,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León (D).

However, Republicans who opposed the bill slammed the tax increases. “The price we pay to fill our tanks is not so much the cost of gasoline itself—now in abundant supply—but is calculated for the benefit of power-hungry politicians,” said U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in a statement. Republicans are hopeful the large fuel-tax increases will be a powerful tool in the upcoming 2018 elections, the Times reported. 

Rohrabacher was one of 11 Republican legislators to sign a letter saying they supported repealing the fuel-tax and vehicle-fee increases. They have proposed two initiatives to repeal the bill. One initiative that aims to get on the Nov. 6, 2018, ballot would repeal the fuel-tax and vehicle-fee increases and amend the state constitution so that voters must approve any future tax increases. 

Meanwhile, The California Independent Oil Marketers Association (CIOMA), which opposed the bill, noted on its Facebook page that the timing of the fuel-tax increases is hiding their full impact from consumers.

“Don’t let prices fool you,” CIOMA’s Facebook post stated. “Lawmakers cleverly coincided the increase with the day we switched to our cheaper winter fuel blend. Even if you didn’t see a spike, you are paying more for your gas today thanks to your elected officials.”

CIOMA further pointed out that higher diesel prices will also make every commodity that relies on the fuel for distribution more expensive too.

Meanwhile, efforts are underway to recall supporters of SB 1. According to the Times, Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City Council member who now hosts a conservative radio talk show, is collecting signatures to trigger a recall election of state Sen. Josh Newman (D), who voted for the bill. 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Double-digit increases this past week in California’s fuel excise taxes have triggered efforts to recall them and their legislative supporters.

The state’s Democrat-led legislature passed Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), a bill that increased the excise tax on gasoline by 12 cents per gallon (CPG) to 41.7 CPG on Nov. 1, and the diesel excise tax by 20 CPG to total 36 CPG. The bill, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D), also increased the sales-tax rate on diesel from 9% to 13%. The tax increases are expected to raise $5.2 billion each year for infrastructure repairs, Los Angeles Times reported.
 

The bill will also raise annual vehicle fees in 2018, and introduces a $100 annual fee for electric-vehicle (EV) owners to pay, beginning in 2020. The California Department of Transportation estimated that the average Californian would pay about $10 per month more in increased fuel taxes and vehicle fees.

“These investments will create good-paying jobs, improve traffic safety and expand public transit access in communities across the state—without burdening our future generations with debt,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León (D).

However, Republicans who opposed the bill slammed the tax increases. “The price we pay to fill our tanks is not so much the cost of gasoline itself—now in abundant supply—but is calculated for the benefit of power-hungry politicians,” said U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in a statement. Republicans are hopeful the large fuel-tax increases will be a powerful tool in the upcoming 2018 elections, the Times reported. 

Rohrabacher was one of 11 Republican legislators to sign a letter saying they supported repealing the fuel-tax and vehicle-fee increases. They have proposed two initiatives to repeal the bill. One initiative that aims to get on the Nov. 6, 2018, ballot would repeal the fuel-tax and vehicle-fee increases and amend the state constitution so that voters must approve any future tax increases. 

Meanwhile, The California Independent Oil Marketers Association (CIOMA), which opposed the bill, noted on its Facebook page that the timing of the fuel-tax increases is hiding their full impact from consumers.

“Don’t let prices fool you,” CIOMA’s Facebook post stated. “Lawmakers cleverly coincided the increase with the day we switched to our cheaper winter fuel blend. Even if you didn’t see a spike, you are paying more for your gas today thanks to your elected officials.”

CIOMA further pointed out that higher diesel prices will also make every commodity that relies on the fuel for distribution more expensive too.

Meanwhile, efforts are underway to recall supporters of SB 1. According to the Times, Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City Council member who now hosts a conservative radio talk show, is collecting signatures to trigger a recall election of state Sen. Josh Newman (D), who voted for the bill. 

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — An Exxon-branded Cruizers convenience store in Wake Forest, N.C., has successfully enabled EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) chip payments on Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s FlexPay payment terminals across the First Data network on its Encore fuel dispensers.

Holmes Oil—which operates 25 Cruizers convenience stores in North Carolina—is an early participant in updating its forecourt equipment for EMV.

“Gilbarco has been a long-term partner of ours,” said Edward Holmes, CEO of Holmes Oil. “They have been leading the industry on EMV—both indoor and outdoor—and we’re excited to be among the very first to turn on chip payments at the pump, just as we were among the first to turn EMV on inside the store with their Passport point-of-sale system. It’s our feeling that as consumers become used to paying with chip cards for indoor transactions, and the news continues to highlight payment security risks, sites with EMV ‘turned on’ will be preferred to those that don’t accept chip cards.”

“Holmes Oil’s drive to enable EMV at its forecourts will ultimately set them apart from the competition,” said Mark Williams, vice president of North America marketing for Gilbarco. “Gilbarco is happy to be their one-stop shop to help provide safe and efficient payment transactions for its customers, both inside the store and at the pump.”

With headquarters in Chapel Hill, N.C., Cruizers Convenience Marketplace is a division of the Holmes Oil Co. and a distributor of ExxonMobil and Valero fuels. It operates 25 Cruizers Convenience Marketplace locations in central North Carolina.

Greensboro, N.C.-based Gilbarco Veeder-Root supplies retail and commercial fueling operations, offering a range of integrated technology solutions, from the forecourt to the convenience store and head office. Major product lines include fuel dispensers, pump media, POS systems, payment systems, tank gauges, software development and integration, fleet-management systems, and nozzles.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — An Exxon-branded Cruizers convenience store in Wake Forest, N.C., has successfully enabled EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) chip payments on Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s FlexPay payment terminals across the First Data network on its Encore fuel dispensers.

Holmes Oil—which operates 25 Cruizers convenience stores in North Carolina—is an early participant in updating its forecourt equipment for EMV.

“Gilbarco has been a long-term partner of ours,” said Edward Holmes, CEO of Holmes Oil. “They have been leading the industry on EMV—both indoor and outdoor—and we’re excited to be among the very first to turn on chip payments at the pump, just as we were among the first to turn EMV on inside the store with their Passport point-of-sale system. It’s our feeling that as consumers become used to paying with chip cards for indoor transactions, and the news continues to highlight payment security risks, sites with EMV ‘turned on’ will be preferred to those that don’t accept chip cards.”

“Holmes Oil’s drive to enable EMV at its forecourts will ultimately set them apart from the competition,” said Mark Williams, vice president of North America marketing for Gilbarco. “Gilbarco is happy to be their one-stop shop to help provide safe and efficient payment transactions for its customers, both inside the store and at the pump.”

With headquarters in Chapel Hill, N.C., Cruizers Convenience Marketplace is a division of the Holmes Oil Co. and a distributor of ExxonMobil and Valero fuels. It operates 25 Cruizers Convenience Marketplace locations in central North Carolina.

Greensboro, N.C.-based Gilbarco Veeder-Root supplies retail and commercial fueling operations, offering a range of integrated technology solutions, from the forecourt to the convenience store and head office. Major product lines include fuel dispensers, pump media, POS systems, payment systems, tank gauges, software development and integration, fleet-management systems, and nozzles.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Attendance at the 2017 NACS Show surged 7% to a record 24,940 attendees from 63 countries, according to figures from industry association NACS.

In addition, buyers attending the NACS Show—classified as retailers and convenience distributors, including Petroleum Equipment Institute registration—grew 3.3% to 8,502.

The NACS Show is the premier event of the year for the convenience and fuel retailing industry. It featured four days of general sessions, 60 education sessions and 1,263 exhibiting companies in a record-setting 425,800-net-square-foot expo.

The NACS Show general-session speakers featured industry, business and leadership experts, and the Ideas 2 Go program, a fast-paced video program of emerging concepts that redefine convenience, made its 2017 debut.

Attendees could also choose from education sessions covering relevant industry topics such as foodservice and food safety, leadership development, marketing, technology and fuels. Reflecting the growing international opportunities offered at the NACS Show, select education sessions were translated into Portuguese and Spanish, and the general sessions were translated into Portuguese, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

Extending the value of the expo, the Cool New Products Preview Room showcased 312 new products and services from 186 companies. Visitors to the Preview Room used handheld scanners to capture product and booth information of the exhibitors they were interested in, producing nearly 20,000 total product scans. The New Exhibitor area was also a popular destination for attendees, featuring 200 exhibitors new to the convenience and fuel retailing industry and NACS Show.

TechEdge at the NACS Show, in its fourth year, attracted 470 industry technology professionals participating in the program’s specialized education sessions on topics ranging from data security to how to improve overall operational efficiency. This year, the TechEdge Center at the expo displayed three future technologies—in action—that address mobile payments, connected commerce and “internet of things” monitoring.

TechEdge was cosponsored by Alexandria, Va.-based Conexxus, one of four co-sponsors of the NACS Show in addition to NACS. The others were the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, Petroleum Equipment Institute and, new in 2017, the National Grocers Association.

Attendees also experienced the new brand identity of NACS, which focused on the “C” in convenience.

“I love the versatility of the ‘C’ with our rebrand. It certainly stands for convenience—but it can stand for so many other aspects of our industry,” said NACS President and CEO Henry Armour, highlighting some of the other unique industry facets that the C represents. For example, the C stands for customers: The U.S. convenience-store industry serves more than 160 million customers per day—half of the country’s total population.

C also stands for community, and that message was highlighted in donations to local food banks both before and after the NACS Show. Prior to the NACS Show, Tyson Foods Inc. and NACS partnered to donate a truckload of protein totaling 36,060 pounds to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to help fight hunger in the Chicago area. The Food Depository will distribute the donated food, which is equivalent to 144,240 meals, through its network of partner agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens and shelter services across Chicago and Cook County.  

At the conclusion of the NACS Show, more than 52,000 pounds of refrigerated and frozen-food product were collected by Greater Chicago Food Depository volunteers; the Ronald McDonald House collected 70,000 pounds of shelf-stable goods for use in their local facilities and other charities.

“We truly believe that c-store doesn’t just stand for convenience store—it also stands for community store, and we are proud to join Tyson Foods in supporting the Chicagoland community that we call home this week during the NACS Show,” said Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives for NACS.

The NACS Show is also a business meeting, and NACS elected new members to its Retailer and Supplier Boards. Joe Sheetz, president and CEO of Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz Inc., was named the 2017-18 NACS chairman, and Jay Ard, vice president of national sales, convenience retail, for The Coca-Cola Co., was named 2017-18 chairman of the NACS Supplier Board.

Sheetz talked about the industry’s focus on communities during his Oct. 20 NACS Show speech. “Our industry’s commitment to the communities we serve is truly amazing. We collectively contribute $1 billion a year to charities,” said Sheetz. “But it’s not about just stroking checks. It’s about volunteering time, donating product and supporting first responders. There is no industry more grounded in their communities than we are.”

The 2018 NACS Show will take place Oct. 7–10 in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Highlights from the 2017 NACS Show and information on next year’s event can be found at nacsshow.com. NACS has a complete listing of 2018 events posted at convenience.org/calendar.

This year marked the 25th annual NACS Show, which has attracted more than 500,000 attendees over the past quarter century. However, NACS has held an annual meeting since its founding in 1961. It wasn’t until 1976 that the meeting even included a true exhibition. While NACS continued to hold annual meetings, the expo was part of the event only every two or three years. From 1986 on, the annual meeting included an expo, although those early years featured a greatly scaled-down expo every other year until what is known today as the NACS Show debuted in 1993. Today, the NACS Show rotates between three cities: Chicago, Las Vegas and Atlanta.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Attendance at the 2017 NACS Show surged 7% to a record 24,940 attendees from 63 countries, according to figures from industry association NACS.

In addition, buyers attending the NACS Show—classified as retailers and convenience distributors, including Petroleum Equipment Institute registration—grew 3.3% to 8,502.

The NACS Show is the premier event of the year for the convenience and fuel retailing industry. It featured four days of general sessions, 60 education sessions and 1,263 exhibiting companies in a record-setting 425,800-net-square-foot expo.

The NACS Show general-session speakers featured industry, business and leadership experts, and the Ideas 2 Go program, a fast-paced video program of emerging concepts that redefine convenience, made its 2017 debut.

Attendees could also choose from education sessions covering relevant industry topics such as foodservice and food safety, leadership development, marketing, technology and fuels. Reflecting the growing international opportunities offered at the NACS Show, select education sessions were translated into Portuguese and Spanish, and the general sessions were translated into Portuguese, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

Extending the value of the expo, the Cool New Products Preview Room showcased 312 new products and services from 186 companies. Visitors to the Preview Room used handheld scanners to capture product and booth information of the exhibitors they were interested in, producing nearly 20,000 total product scans. The New Exhibitor area was also a popular destination for attendees, featuring 200 exhibitors new to the convenience and fuel retailing industry and NACS Show.

TechEdge at the NACS Show, in its fourth year, attracted 470 industry technology professionals participating in the program’s specialized education sessions on topics ranging from data security to how to improve overall operational efficiency. This year, the TechEdge Center at the expo displayed three future technologies—in action—that address mobile payments, connected commerce and “internet of things” monitoring.

TechEdge was cosponsored by Alexandria, Va.-based Conexxus, one of four co-sponsors of the NACS Show in addition to NACS. The others were the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, Petroleum Equipment Institute and, new in 2017, the National Grocers Association.

Attendees also experienced the new brand identity of NACS, which focused on the “C” in convenience.

“I love the versatility of the ‘C’ with our rebrand. It certainly stands for convenience—but it can stand for so many other aspects of our industry,” said NACS President and CEO Henry Armour, highlighting some of the other unique industry facets that the C represents. For example, the C stands for customers: The U.S. convenience-store industry serves more than 160 million customers per day—half of the country’s total population.

C also stands for community, and that message was highlighted in donations to local food banks both before and after the NACS Show. Prior to the NACS Show, Tyson Foods Inc. and NACS partnered to donate a truckload of protein totaling 36,060 pounds to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to help fight hunger in the Chicago area. The Food Depository will distribute the donated food, which is equivalent to 144,240 meals, through its network of partner agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens and shelter services across Chicago and Cook County.  

At the conclusion of the NACS Show, more than 52,000 pounds of refrigerated and frozen-food product were collected by Greater Chicago Food Depository volunteers; the Ronald McDonald House collected 70,000 pounds of shelf-stable goods for use in their local facilities and other charities.

“We truly believe that c-store doesn’t just stand for convenience store—it also stands for community store, and we are proud to join Tyson Foods in supporting the Chicagoland community that we call home this week during the NACS Show,” said Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives for NACS.

The NACS Show is also a business meeting, and NACS elected new members to its Retailer and Supplier Boards. Joe Sheetz, president and CEO of Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz Inc., was named the 2017-18 NACS chairman, and Jay Ard, vice president of national sales, convenience retail, for The Coca-Cola Co., was named 2017-18 chairman of the NACS Supplier Board.

Sheetz talked about the industry’s focus on communities during his Oct. 20 NACS Show speech. “Our industry’s commitment to the communities we serve is truly amazing. We collectively contribute $1 billion a year to charities,” said Sheetz. “But it’s not about just stroking checks. It’s about volunteering time, donating product and supporting first responders. There is no industry more grounded in their communities than we are.”

The 2018 NACS Show will take place Oct. 7–10 in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Highlights from the 2017 NACS Show and information on next year’s event can be found at nacsshow.com. NACS has a complete listing of 2018 events posted at convenience.org/calendar.

This year marked the 25th annual NACS Show, which has attracted more than 500,000 attendees over the past quarter century. However, NACS has held an annual meeting since its founding in 1961. It wasn’t until 1976 that the meeting even included a true exhibition. While NACS continued to hold annual meetings, the expo was part of the event only every two or three years. From 1986 on, the annual meeting included an expo, although those early years featured a greatly scaled-down expo every other year until what is known today as the NACS Show debuted in 1993. Today, the NACS Show rotates between three cities: Chicago, Las Vegas and Atlanta.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul, Minn., City Council voted Nov. 1, 2017, to follow sister city Minneapolis in restricting the sale of menthol, mint and wintergreen tobacco products to tobacco shops and liquor stores, according to the Star Tribune. The new rule would take those products off convenience-store shelves when it goes into effect in a year on Nov. 1, 2018.

St. Paul council members delayed their initial vote for a month to hear additional public comment, which led to the final 6-1 vote in favor of the restrictions. Both sides of the debate were in full force, the newspaper reported, with comments ranging from residents who lost family members to cancer to c-store owners saying the restriction will cost them their businesses.

The goal of the restrictions is to further limit access to tobacco products, with a particular concern for young people who advocates say have an attraction to flavored tobacco products. According to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press, Council President Russ Stark acknowledged that the restrictions are “not a silver bullet” but an attempt “to make sure the next generation of kids growing up in St. Paul are less likely to get hooked on tobacco products.”

This past summer, the Minneapolis City Council voted on similar restrictions, allowing only tobacco shops and liquor stores to sell menthol products beginning Aug. 1, 2018. San Francisco banned the sale of menthol products earlier this year, though a signature campaign that followed will bring the ordinance to a citizen vote.