Daily Archives: December 24, 2013
At Sheetz, Gas Is Secondary To Food Sales
Sheetz located in Frostburg, Maryland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Gasoline may bring them in the door, but everything about a Sheetz store is geared toward filling customers’ bellies after they top off their tanks.
“We look at ourselves as primarily a purveyor of food,” Stan Sheetz, chairman of Altoona-based gas-and-convenience store chain Sheetz Inc., said this month during a tour of one of his company’s stores in Blairsville.
Sheetz, who was CEO from 1995 until October and oversaw growth from 195 stores when he took the helm to more than 460 today, waved a hand across the expanse of the store, pointing to shelves stocked with snacks, coolers full of drinks, and the kitchen where workers prepare made-to-order sandwiches, coffee drinks and other food.
Nearly everything sold inside a Sheetz store can be consumed within minutes of walking out the door.
Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/5270418-74/sheetz-stores-convenience#ixzz2oPartSJi
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Just Born Taps Into Christmas Candy Market
Pink Marshmallow Peeps (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When people hear Peeps, they generally think of Easter.
Matthew Pye, Just Born’s vice president of corporate affairs, said that’s why large retailers mostly carry the marshmallow treats through the early spring.
But with a candy gold mine in the winter holiday season sitting untapped after 60 years in business, the Bethlehem-based company has made a media push this year to make Peeps a Christmas treat, too.
Pye said the “Santa Hop” campaign has put a large focus on social media and commercial airtime since Nov. 25. One of Just Born’s newest additions, candy cane-flavored marshmallow chicks dipped in chocolate, has taken center stage in the campaign, he said.
Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2013/12/just_born_taps_into_christmas.htmlhttp://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2013/12/just_born_taps_into_christmas.html
Target Still Feeling Effect Of Security Breach
English: Logo of Target, US-based retail chain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Target Corp., the nation’s second-largest discount chain, continued to reel from its disclosure last week of a huge data breach that compromised 40 million credit- or debit-card accounts during the holiday season.
Shoppers posted comments last weekend on Target’s Facebook page saying the retailer needed to reissue its REDcard credit and debit cards. There were also mentions of long waits for customer service.
Craig Johnson, president of the retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners, said Monday that REDcard usage fell over the weekend and more Target shoppers bought with cash. Saturday, he noted, was a “terrific” sales day generally, although Target transactions declined slightly.
Target offered a 10 percent discount to placate angry customers Saturday and Sunday, hoping to salvage the busy weekend.
Historic Rail Car Coming Home To Pennsylvania
Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
BOYERTOWN, PA — A relic from the golden age of Pennsylvania’s railroading past is coming home.
Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) cabin car (known as a “caboose” on other railroads) #477768 was built in Altoona in 1941.
For the last six years, members of the Rivanna Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) have been restoring it at a location in Virginia, far from the car’s home.
Now it is being donated to the non-profit Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust in Boyertown. There it will be maintained and kept in operation on The Secret Valley Line tourist trains that will begin running on the eight mile track between Boyertown and Pottstown in the fall of 2014.
Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20131224/historic-rail-car-coming-home-to-pennsylvania
Ady Cakes Opens Second Location In Manheim Township
The owner of Ady Cakes in West Reading is perhaps best known for having won “Cupcake Wars,” a Food Network baking-competition show in May 2012.
Even though she made a name for her business on television, owner Ady Abreu, 35, West Reading, is now branching out in a first step toward creating an easily-recognizable brand.
After seven years in business on Penn Avenue, Abreu has decided to open a second location in a new shopping center in Manheim Township, Lancaster County.
“I do a lot of wedding cakes for customers in Lancaster County, and I have always had interest in my cakes from that area,” Abreu said. “So naturally the idea came out to open a store here.”
Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article/20131224/MONEY/312249965#.UrmxhvRDsxI
Wyomissing Family Wins $50,000 On ABC’s ‘Great Christmas Light Fight’
Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tim and Katie Macrina of Wyomissing can finally mail their Christmas cards.
The ABC-TV crew came to their door weeks ago to let them know they’d won $50,000 on the network’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” a five-episode series. In each episode, four families battle to create the best Christmas lights display for a prize of $50,000.
The Macrinas couldn’t leave the news off their Christmas cards, but were sworn to secrecy until the show aired Monday night.
“Tim sent them out today,” Katie, 35, said Monday night.
Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article/20131224/NEWS/312249910#.UrmwSvRDsxI
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