Erin Del Conte

Chicago, Rocky River

Editor-in-Chief at Convenience Store Decisions

Editor-in-Chief for CStore Decisions @CStoreDecisions, WTWH Media @WTWH_Media • Expert Writer on the C-Store Industry • Thought Leader in Retail Marketing

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Articles

Customers Seek Value in Candy & Snacks

1 month ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

As inflation has pushed prices higher, customers are feeling the pinch in the candy and snack aisles. Customers are “absolutely looking for value,” said Randy Adams, category manager for Martin & Bayley Inc., which operates more than 130 Huck’s Market locations across Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. While he expects the economy to steadily improve in 2025, he pointed out that customers are still struggling financially, which means some luxuries remain out of reach.
Country Fair to Debut City Market Concept

1 month ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

As Country Fair celebrates its 60th anniversary, it’s set to open a new flagship location in downtown Erie, Pa., at the start of April. “We call it the Country Fair flagship store, because Erie, Pa., is known to the world as the ‘Flagship City,’” said Steve Seymour, director of personnel for Country Fair, which operates 73 c-stores in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. The city of Erie got its nickname due to its connection to CommodoreOliverHazard Perry and the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813.
EG America, AtoB Launch Alloy Fleet+ Card

1 month ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

EG America, the fifth-largest convenience store and fuel retailer in the U.S., has introduced a new-to-industry business fleet card in partnership with AtoB, the fintech payments platform modernizing the fleet and trucking industry’s financial systems.
Tracking the Rise of NA Beer

2 months ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

Non-alcoholic (NA) beer is continuing to grow in popularity, moving from a niche product to a more mainstream customer demand. The continued momentum of the “sober-curious” movement and the popularity of Dry January (where customers abstain from alcoholic beverages in the month of January) and Damp January (where customers significantly reduce their alcohol consumption in January), are helping to drive the surge in demand for NA beer and beverages.
Petition Aims to Stop Denver’s Pending Flavored Tobacco Ban

2 months ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

After the Denver City Council voted to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products within the city this past December, a flavored tobacco ban is set to go into effect on March 18, but opponents of the ban have launched a crusade to overturn it. The ban is set to prohibit flavored tobacco products, including flavored vape, chews, pouches and menthol cigarettes.
Layoffs Hit FDA’s Food Safety, Tobacco Divisions

2 months ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

As the Trump administration continues to shrink the size of the federal workforce, its firings have reached the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Over the weekend of Feb. 15, layoffs at the FDA affected employees responsible for reviewing food ingredient safety and those working in the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), according to a report by AP News. About 89 people were let go from the FDA’s food division, which oversees food safety.
Layoffs Hit FDA’s Food Safety, Tobacco Divisions

2 months ago | foodsafety.einnews.com | Erin Del Conte

As the Trump administration continues to shrink the size of the federal workforce, its firings have reached the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Over the weekend of Feb. 15, layoffs at the FDA affected employees responsible for reviewing food ingredient safety and those working in the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), according to a report by AP News. About 89 people were let go from the FDA’s food division, which oversees food safety.
Making Connections

2 months ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

February marks CStore Decisions’ annual foodservice issue where we detail the trends, innovations and challenges shaping convenience store foodservice in 2025. It’s no secret that today’s customers expect more sophisticated offerings from convenience stores than they did pre-pandemic. Meanwhile, as shoppers face mounting costs due to inflation, they are increasingly demanding value.
Lisa Dell’Alba, CEO of Square One Markets, Passes Away

2 months ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

Lisa Dell’Alba, president and CEO of Square One Markets, passed away on Sunday, Feb. 16, at the age of 46. Dell’Alba, a second-generation leader, joined her family’s business, Bethlehem, Pa.-based Square One Markets, in 2004. The company, founded by her father, Gary Dell’Alba, operates 11 convenience stores in Pennsylvania. In 2009, at just 29 years old, she took the helm as president and CEO after her father’s passing.
500 Stores In Sight: Major Oil Unveils Bold Growth Vision

2 months ago | cstoredecisions.com | Erin Del Conte

Major Itule, the CEO of Major Oil, got his start in the c-store industry at the age of 15 when he began working as a gas station attendant. Little did he know that decades later he’d be launching his very own convenience store concept. Indeed, he’s set out to change the c-store industry by rolling out 500 autonomous convenience store portable above-ground stations (CPAGs) under the retail banner Joltz. Listen to the podcast interview with Major Itule.