At Your Convenience

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Chuck Ulie talks with John Pszeniczny, director of operations at Nouria, Worcester, Massachusetts, at the Outlook Leadership conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

On this podcast, Pszeniczny talks about Nouria being a finalist in the 2025 CSP Intouch Insight Mystery Shop audit, before the convenience-store chain learned at the conference that it won top honors for the second straight year.

He talks about the importance of having well-stocked restrooms, courteous cashiers, why Nouria competes in Mystery Shop and more.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Chuck Ulie talks with Eric Hildenbrand, chief strategy and administrative officer at Temple, Texas-based convenience-store distributor McLane Co., about the Food Safety Modernization Act, also known as FSMA 204. 

On this podcast, Hildenbrand  talks about the goal of the act, which is to make traceability much faster than it is today. He also discusses some of the foods that will be affected and what c-stores should be doing now to get ready.

InConvenience Inc. is doing things differently in the convenience-store industry. In this episode of At Your Convenience, CSP Executive Editor Hannah Hammond talks to InConvenience CEO Tiffany Fraley, who runs The Gas Spot and The Goods Spot c-store brand. 

The chain has 25 locations, picked up from shuttered Mountain Express and SQRL Service Station locations. Seventeen of those are currently up and running now in Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas. 

Fraley talks about what she’s learning about the c-store industry, the chain’s new mascot, having a nearly all-female c-suite team and more. 

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editors Diane Adam and Chuck Ulie discuss labor and hiring challenges that convenience stores are facing. They share examples of how c-stores are integrating artificial intelligence (AI), robots and other technology tools to perform duties formerly tasked by humans.

Look out for CSP's August cover story which delves into this topic. 

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Diane Adam talks with Mike Maraldo, who leads the business unit of GetGo Cafe + Market as vice president of operations. 

Laval, Quebec-based Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard acquired GetGo Cafe + Market in June. On this podcast, Maraldo explains why Couche-Tard a great fit for GetGo, what makes GetGo’s food and loyalty program so successful and more.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Chuck Ulie talks with Jennifer Loper of C3 Brand Marketing, Overland Park, Kansas, who spoke at CSP’s C-Store Foodservice Forum June 18 in Schaumburg, Illinois. At the forum, she presented with Julia Foley, C3’s senior insights and strategy supervisor.

On this podcast, Loper talks about what kid-friendly convenience-store foodservice offerings look like, how to get started, the importance of communication with customers, knowing safety standards and more.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Rachel Gignac talks with Brian Ferguson, chief marketing officer at EG America, Westborough, Massachusetts. Ferguson talks about EG's loyalty program, SmartRewards, the chain's investment in retail media and artificial intelligence and its foodservice offerings.

In the latest episode of CSP's "At Your Convenience" podcast, Vice President of Content Strategy Abbey Lewis sits down with Marc Walkin, Head of Marketing at Qsic. Walkin makes a compelling case for why convenience stores represent an ideal environment for strategic audio: "What makes c-stores so unique is first, they're highly impulse-driven relative to other channels," Walkin explains. "Any audience that is more impulse-driven is obviously more susceptible to ads that could change behavior."

Sandie Deas Ray, Nadine Lim and Elsa Storts are three consumer-packaged goods (CPG) leaders who are all at different stages of their careers. They’re also all part of the same power team, a group of industry members who attended CSP’s Convenience-Store Women’s (CSW) Event and who meet throughout the year to solve challenges that women in the workplace face. 

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” Lim, e-commerce manager at Temple, Texas-based McLane Co. Inc.; Deas Ray, vice president of foodservice sales and marketing at Frisco, Texas-based Ruiz Foods Inc.; and Storts, trade show and event manager for Austin, Texas-based BeatBox Beverages, get candid about mentorship.

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” CSP Editor Chuck Ulie talks with Liza Salaria, merchandising and foodservice practice lead at Chicago-based W. Capra, from CSP’s C-Store Foodservice Forum in Schaumburg, Illinois, in June.

Salaria discusses correcting foodservice margin leakage, touching on gross margins, open rings, known loss, unknown loss, supplies and more.