Convenience Stores

Atlanta -- Burger King Corp. has launched a mobile payments pilot program in partnership with Firethorn Mobile, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Inc.

The BK Mobile Crown Card allows consumers to pay for their purchase by using an Android or iOS-based phone to scan a QR tag placed on counters or drive-up windows of participating restaurants. The pilot is taking place in approximately 50 Burger King restaurants in Salt Lake City, and surrounding metropolitan areas.
 

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DALLAS — Three weeks after being named the first civilian director/CEO in the nearly 117-year history of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, Tom Shull officially took the reins today of the $10-billion military retailer. Shull replaced the Exchange’s last uniformed Commander, Brig. Gen. Fran Hendricks.

Dallas -- 7-Eleven said Thursday it has completed its previously announced transaction with convenience store operator Strasburger Enterprises and has acquired 23 c-stores in Texas, mostly under the Quix banner.

Terms of the deal, which brings 7-Eleven’s Texas store count to 570, weren’t disclosed.

An “extremely unusual circumstance,” is how police described the situation that unfolded this week in a Walmart parking lot where a Chicago couple was arrested after several of their children were discovered bound and blindfolded.

With Target set to open its first stores in Canada in less than a year, one source of competition will come from the rapidly growing Dollarama chain.

The 721 unit Montreal-based Dollarama chain said its first quarter same-store sales increased by a weather-aided 8.1%, and total first quarter sales increase 14.9% to $398 million for the period ended April 29. Earnings per share increased 40% to 56 cents from 40 cents. The gross margin rate increased to 36.3% of sales from 35.7% and expenses declined to 18.5% of sales compared to 19.7%.

New York -- Staples and Starbucks Coffee Co. have joined a voluntary national initiative to reduce energy consumption. Under the Better Buildings Challenge, companies commit to reducing the energy use in their facilities by at least 20% by 2020, and to post their annual power consumption and information on their conservation projects on a U.S. Department of Energy website.

Staples, with 43 million sq. ft., joined the Better Buildings Challenge with a commitment to reduce energy intensity by 25% by 2020 and reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2025.

CINCINNATI — Fuel sales at Kroger helped drive the company's total sales up 5.8% to $29.1 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 from $27.5 billion for the same period last year. Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 4.3% over the same period last year.

Identical supermarket sales, without fuel, increased 4.2% in the first quarter over the same period last year, marking the 34 consecutive quarters of positive identical supermarket sales for Kroger.