"convenience stores" news and stories

Look out Two-Buck Chuck. The home of the Slurpee and the Big Gulp is launching a line of value-priced wines targeting consumers looking for a boozy bargain during these tough economic times.

7-Eleven plans to sell a $3.99 Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay under the proprietary "Yosemite Road" label at its stores in the United States and Japan.

"The consumer is really pinched as far as discretionary income," Kevin Elliott, senior vice president of merchandising and logistics of Dallas-based 7-Eleven, Inc., told the Associated Press. "We're seeing a lot of success in products that really resonate on a value basis."

More and more stores are stocking the shelves with private label goods. This is especially evident in grocery stores, but it is spreading to convenience stores, as well. 7-Eleven has just introduced its own "Big Gulp" brand of sodas and candy bars, all marketed as "value priced" alternatives to major brands. The soda is sold in 2L bottles and comes in five flavors: cola, root beet, lemon lime, orange and cranberry-raspberry. The first four will clearly compete with national brands, but the cran-raspberry might be positioned to compete with juice drinks, despite the fact that it is carbonated. The chocolate bars will be available in milk chocolate and in dark chocolate with rice crisps. The company is also planning 20-oz bottled drinks and energy/sports drinks in the near future.

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7-Eleven stores are releasing a new sandwich this week - the P'EatZZa sandwich. This crazy hybrid is a cross between pizza and a deli sandwich. The sandwiches, which come in two flavors with a third to be released in May, are flat breads stuffed with deli meats and other fillings and topped with a combination of baked-in pizza sauce and cheese. They are served as pie wedges that can be eaten with a fork and knife or by hand, but the driving force behind the concept is that is is pizza (with extra meats) that is not meant to be served hot. No need for heat means that customers can be in and out quicker and the sandwiches are easier to store. The flavors are turkey and pepperoni on pepperoni flat-bread with parmesan ranch spread and romaine lettuce; and ham and salami on a cheddar flat-bread with red and yellow peppers, oil and vinegar dressing and romaine lettuce. They are $3.69 each.

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Strangely enough, I always thought that bananas were the ultimate single-serve food. They're conveniently packaged in their own skin and fit easily in your hand. The waste is minimal, not to mention biodegradable, and the fruit is filling and tasty. Chiquita is rolling out a new line of single-serving bananas for convenience stores, presumably to compete with packaged snack foods. Not only will the bananas be retailing at much higher prices than they do at the grocery store, but they will be packaged. A single serving, packaged banana is a concept that is so unnecessary it is difficult to find words to describe it further. Fortunately, only one word is needed: ridiculous.

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The City of Oakland, located just across the bay from San Francisco, has passed legislation to place a tax on the businesses that it believes create the most trash. The tax will not be determined on waste created in the ordinary operation of a store or restaurant, but on the amount of litter that is generated by the sale of goods. The city's legislators agree that fast food restaurants and other stores that sell convenience foods need to be held socially responsible for the litter that is caused by patrons failing to properly dispose of the wrappers and other food packaging. The tax would pay for crews to remove litter, mainly from areas around schools and bus stops. A council woman said, "You can see the paths students take to lunch by the trail of litter."