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Politicians, financial chiefs and economic commentators are saying that, finally, we are emerging from recession. But what do retailers say? Our exclusive survey reveals what retailers think about the long-term [...]

C-Store's Chilled Champions partners have put their heads together to give you some category-wide insight about how to manage your chilled food offer. Follow their tips to be a champion [...]

Sunil Malhotra (above) and his brother Arun are self-confessed retail novices. Which is why the support and discipline of a One Stop franchise proved to be an ideal platform to [...]

Shelley Goel and wife Anu were worried about the future of their community post office in Birmingham. That is, until they joined the One Stop franchise programme This story will [...]

If you've been putting your heart and soul into your store for the past year and are proud of the results and the success that you are having, then the [...]

Progressive convenience retailers recognise the need to have a chilled offer at the heart of their business. In the latest of our Chilled Champions features we talk to store owners [...]

You've heard it before, but now is the time to really look hard at your chilled food offering to see if it matches your customers' requirements. The expansion of multiple [...]

2014 could be a watershed year for the convenience sector. It faces challenges on every side and its core strengths may no longer be enough In one sense, the signs [...]

With 3.1 billion breakfasts being consumed out of home each year, breakfast on the go represents a great sales opportunity. And a lucrative one, too, with out-of-home making up 19% [...]

Chilled is a vitally important part of the product mix for a modern convenience store. It's a category where wastage is a possibility, and it is time-consuming to manage as [...]

At first, he thought it was a cough. But with three busy Budgens stores, four pharmacies and a chain of Costa coffee franchises about to open, Dee Patel didn't have [...]

Sales to Premier retailers are increasing by 14% a year, according to Booker's interim results for the 24 weeks to 12 September. The symbol group now has 3,089 stores, and [...]

Recent investment by the big four multiple supermarket chains has not been able to arrest their decline in performance, according to analysis by Booker chief executive Charles Wilson. Speaking at [...]

The management at Musgrave have pressed the reset button and it is to be hoped they can get the group's performance, and its relationship with retailers, back on track. For [...]

They say that one swallow doesn't make a summer, but it is looking like the summer of 2014 will turn out to be a flying one for the c-store industry [...]

Convenience stores have successfully arrested the decline in top-up shoppers and started to win them back again during 2014, according to the latest data from HIM Research & Consulting. The [...]

The Cheema family, who operate three stores in the West Midlands under the Malcolm's Stores banner, have resigned from Costcutter and signed a supply deal with Nisa. The Cheemas were [...]

I've said before that we will probably look back on 2014 as a year of great significance, and the changing retail landscape is further revealed by ACS's decision to reconsider [...]

Some of the great work that trade associations can do is demonstrated by the Scottish Grocers' Association's agreement with the Scottish government to partner with its Good Food Nation initiative, [...]

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is to vote on whether to change its constitution to let multiple grocers become members. The proposal has been agreed by the association's board [...]

Being neither Scottish nor living in Scotland, I am wary of having too strong an opinion on the independence issue, but I am glad that the referendum took place. I [...]

With the Scottish referendum completed, it took just hours for the main political parties to start manoeuvring towards next May's general election. Labour was quick out of the blocks with [...]

Service levels to Costcutter members have improved in recent weeks, according to retailers contacted by Convenience Store. Since the expiry of the previous supply deal with Nisa in July, retailers [...]

One Stop has passed the milestone of 50 franchised stores. The 50th store in the programme is Tahir Mahmood's store on Mosley Common Road, Boothstown, Manchester. Currently trading as Spar, [...]

Booker's Premier symbol group is celebrating its 20-year anniversary with the first TV advertising campaign in its history. The ads, which aired for the first time on 10 September, focus [...]

I am sure that most of you have, at some stage, encountered someone advocating the need to embrace fresh and chilled foods more widely. So if you are already sold [...]

I enjoyed catching up with leading Premier retailers and the Booker team at an event last week to mark the 20th anniversary of the group. But what made the day [...]

The Association of Convenience Stores has launched the 2014 edition of its Local Shop Report, which is used to give politicians, campaigners and suppliers a quick reference guide to the [...]

Nisa chief executive Neil Turton is to join forces with industry research veteran Tom Fender when he leaves the organisation next spring. Turton, Fender and William Reed Business Media, owner [...]

This year has already proven to be one of significant flux and uncertainty for the convenience retailing industry, but a new question has emerged in recent months: what is happening [...]

In business terms, the Post Office has had a troubled recent history, but the integration of PO counters into convenience store sites has been a major success for both parties. [...]

Leading retailer Paul Cheema has called on Costcutter's senior management to fix the crisis in the group's supply chain 'for the sake of the convenience store industry'. Multi-award winner Paul, [...]

The fate of the pound and uncertainty over business costs have emerged as the main concerns of Scottish retailers ahead of the country's referendum on independence on 18 September. In [...]

Another way in that our industry is being transformed is its relationship with tobacco. It's still a vital category for footfall and regular till ring, but progressive tides of legislation [...]

As I write this it's pouring with rain and I spent most of yesterday driving through the remnants of an Atlantic hurricane, but that doesn't alter the fact that, by [...]

One Stop is claiming that independent stores recruited into its franchise scheme have increased their turnover by an average of 40% compared with their previous level of trading. The scheme [...]

A group of councils have asked the government for new powers to tax large retail outlets in England with the resulting funds, they suggest, available to support high streets and [...]

As the fallout from the switch to the new Costcutter buy and supply system continues, members are becoming increasingly impatient with the ongoing issues, despite signs of improvement in recent [...]

One month on from the end of Costcutter's distribution link with Nisa, what have we learned? The picture is mixed, but one way to look at it is to balance [...]

The Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD) has commissioned a study into the contribution made by the independent supply chain to the UK economy. The study, to be carried out by [...]

Delaying the inevitable Sometimes it is important to make views heard, however slim the chances of changing the outcome. Standardised packaging for tobacco is a case in point. The government [...]

The introduction of a compulsory 5p charge for single-use plastic bags in England was included in the Queen's Speech --although small retail businesses will be exempt. The charge is scheduled [...]

Following a new path The government is now officially in a pickle about plain packaging for tobacco. Having committed to it, they have prioritised legislation in other areas between now [...]

Booker's successful integration of the Makro estate will enable it to scale up its delivery services and improve the support available to retailers stocking fresh and chilled produce, according to [...]

The huge and growing use of the internet and mobile technology for every aspect of people's lives has had a huge knock-on effect for the business of shopping, and grocery [...]

Nearly 200 stores have switched from Costcutter to Nisa since the new buy and supply arrangement with P&H was announced in March 2013, Nisa Retail has announced. The group claimed [...]

One area where the multiple sector has always been in advance of independents is in own-brand, but here too it seems the gap is closing. Looking at some of the [...]

Ed Miliband has pledged to increase the National Minimum Wage (NMW) to align it more closely to average earnings. The figures to back up his argument won't be revealed until [...]

Wherever you are in the country, I'm sure you get the feeling there must be a new multiple-owned c-store springing up every week. Having looked at the latest IGD/WRBM market [...]

Costcutter chief executive Darcy Willson-Rymer maintains that the migration of Costcutter retailers to the new delivery contract with Palmer & Harvey is on track. The new contract takes effect from [...]