At Your Convenience

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP editors Hannah Hammond, Heather Lalley, Rachel Gignac, Diane Adam and Chuck Ulie share highlights from CSP’s Convenience Retailing University (CRU) conference.

The event took place Feb. 24-26 in Nashville, Tennessee, and was filled with educational content in all convenience-store categories, from tobacco to center store to packaged beverages and more. 

Also, Hammond interviews five of the 2025 Category Manager of the Year winners: 

• Foodservice, large chain, winner Kevin Dixon of Circle K and small-chain winner Jamie Kennedy of Weigel's
• Alcohol, large chain, winner Jackie Pfeiffer of Circle K and small-chain winner Nick Triantafellou of Weigel's
• Loyalty + Tech/Operations, small chain, winner Jessica Starnes of Weigel's

They talked about what they love about their categories, what challenges they face and more. 

• Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard is No. 2 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Weigel’s Stores Inc. is No. 79.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Chuck Ulie talks with Ali Beydoun, foodservice director at Chillbox, owned by New Haven, Michigan-based Bazco Oil.

Beydoun talks about the launch of the first quick-service restaurant, BirdBox, launched in November by Chillbox in one of its Warren, Michigan, locations.

“It was definitely one of those, ‘Let’s make it happen,’ Beydoun said on the podcast. “We were all hands on deck and were able to do it in about a month and a half. It’s been launched for a couple of months now, and we’re very happy with the trajectory so far.”

BirdBox sells bone-in fried chicken pieces along with four chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, four sides, a house salad, two appetizers (fried corn ribs and tater tachos) and a burger. There also are strawberry, vanilla and chocolate milkshakes and six sauces.

“At Your Convenience” brings industry experts and analysts together with CSP editors to discuss the latest in c-store news and trends. From mergers and acquisitions to foodservice and technology, the podcast delivers the story straight to listeners in short-format episodes, perfect for the morning commute or a quick break at the office.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience”, guest host Art Sebastian sits down with Renee Caceres, head of retail media at StackAdapt, for a discussion on the evolution of retail media networks.

Sebastian is the founder of NexChapter, host of CSP’s Retail Media Network Forum and C-StoreTEC advisory board chairman.

The two talk about the evolution of retail media networks and dive into how StackAdapt’s programmatic advertising platform empowers convenience retailers to unlock new opportunities in retail media.

CSP’s 2025 Retail Media Network Forum will take place April 28-30 in Dallas. Request an invitation to the event by clicking here. 

“At Your Convenience” brings industry experts and analysts together with CSP editors to discuss the latest in c-store news and trends. From mergers and acquisitions to foodservice and technology, the podcast delivers the story straight to listeners in short-format episodes, perfect for the morning commute or a quick break at the office.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Diane Adam talks to Olivia Parker, outreach and communications manager at Parker’s Kitchen, Savannah, Georgia. They discuss  the success of the second-annual Convenience-Store Women (CSW) Event held Nov. 4-6 in Charleston, South Carolina. They also talk about working in the family business. Parker shared her career path on stage at CSW. 

Parker now serves as the outreach and communications manager for the retailer overseeing planning and implementing charitable programs that support Parker’s nonprofit partners, engaging company associates in community initiatives, and ensuring that philanthropic efforts align with Parker’s core values. 

“This is a good fit for me,” Parker said. “I am doing everything I can to continue to learn about the family business.”

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Rachel Gignac talks to three convenience-store retailers from Midwest Petroleum, Southwest Georgia Oil Co. and Loop Neighborhood Market, along with the managing director of Conexxus.

First, Kristina Anderson, chief services officer at Midwest Petroleum talks about how the company is striving to make better use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Then, Glennie Bench, president and COO of Southwest Georgia Oil Co., shares her perspective on women in leadership roles, especially in the technology category.

Varish Goyal, CEO of Loop Neighborhood Market, discusses the convenience-store chain's goals with inventory management, retail media and more.

Lastly, Linda Toth, managing director of Conexxus, talks about takeaways from the conference.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Chuck Ulie talks with Richard Poye, founder of Nashville-based Fresh Foods Think Tank.

Poye talks about the importance of execution and maintaining trust with one’s convenience-store customers—and ensuring messages are clear, concise and translatable. Poye also discusses flavor trends, from the early stages to proliferation to going mainstream.

Finally, he dives into the importance of food photography—lighting, angles and more—and how a customer’s first sensorial experience of a product is “probably on their phone or on a billboard.”

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Senior Editor Hannah Hammond talks to Mike Lawshe, the former president and CEO of Paragon Solutions, and Paragon’s new president and CEO Austin Burns. 

The father and son-in-law talk about their leadership transition and how the Fort Worth, Texas-based retail design firm helps convenience stores boost their brand and sales.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP’s Vice President of Content Strategy Abbey Lewis talks to Terri Micklin, president of GetGo Café + Markets convenience stores, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. They discuss the keys to her success and her strategic priorities, as a mother and businesswoman, that propelled her in her career.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Rachel Gignac talks to Mike LaVitola, the original founder of Chicago-based Foxtrot, about his decision to return to the company to reopen certain locations of the convenience-store chain. LaVitola talked about how the reopenings are going, what the team is focused on and aspects of operations that have changed.

Since Foxtrot’s parent company, Outfox Hospitality, closed all of its stores in April, the chain sold its assets to Further Point Enterprises. Days later, Foxtrot filed for bankruptcy. Then, Further Point invited LaVitola to return and help lead a revival.

Since September, Foxtrot has reopened five locations in Chicago in the Gold Coast, Old Town, Wicker Park, Fulton Market and River North neighborhoods. It is continuing its path of reopening about one of its previous locations every month, with a total of 10 of its original 33—mostly in Chicago and a couple in Dallas.

Foxtrot was founded in 2014 as a delivery company selling snacks, beer and wine, and grew into a corner store-restaurant hybrid that featured high-end package goods, prepared foods, coffee bars and wine bars. The chain, once billed as the “convenience store of the future,” raised more than $160 million to fuel its growth over its lifetime.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Rachel Gignac talks to Lisa N'Chonon, chief financial officer and treasurer of EG America, Westborough, Massachusetts.

N'Chonon joined Cumberland Farms in 2017 and transitioned with the company when EG America acquired the chain. She has held roles such as chief accounting officer and vice president of accounting operations.

After serving in the CFO role on an interim basis for 11 months, she will continue to lead all aspects of the finance organization, including accounting, financial planning and analysis, tax and treasury and risk management. 

N'Chonon talks about her career, EG's acquisition of Cumberland Farms, the recent leadership changes at EG and what it means to be a mentor.