OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Boulder, Col. -- QuikTrip is the nation’s most popular convenience store, according to a new study by Market Force Information. QuikTrip was voted the most popular c-store chain among the more than 7,600 study participants, followed by Wawa, RaceTrac, Speedway and Arco/ampm.

San Jose, Calif. -- The majority (61%) of global consumers are open to shopping at a ‘self service’ fully automated store with vending machines and kiosk stations offering virtual customer service, according to a new survey by Cisco.

Corpus Christie, Texas -- Susser Holdings Corporation announced that its Striples LLL brand has Sid Keswani as senior VP store operations. Keswani brings to Stripes more than 18 years of retail operations experience with Target, most recently as senior VP for the Southeast region of the United States.

Stripes announced that company veteran Richard Sebastian has taken on the role of senior VP of facilities, construction and will be responsible for the company's maintenance, new store and capital expenditure programs.   

Columbus, Ohio -- Value City Furniture and American Signature Furniture are launching a social media contest to promote their new e-commerce sites. Customers can win prizes for sharing favorite items from the retailers’ websites and sharing them on the Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram and/or Pinterest accounts. Customers can enter through any or all of these social networks through July 1. The retailers, owned by American Signature Inc., are giving away up to $10,000 in free furniture as part of the contest.

Chatsworth, Calif. -- Provision Interactive Technologies has entered into a multi-year partnership with Rite Aid Corp. to install Provision’s 3D Reward Centers kiosks inside select Rite Aid stores. The kiosks will generate 3D holographic videos as well as exclusive wellness+ information and Rite Aid promotions.

Fort Worth, Texas – RadioShack Corp. has promoted Marty Amschler to senior VP of franchise.

Amschler, who has been with RadioShack since 2009, will continue overseeing dealer franchise operations and also provide senior leadership to the company's commercial sales division and B2B sales team. He has close to 40 years of retail executive experience and previously held sales and franchise positions at companies including Kinney Shoe Corporation, The Athlete's Foot and NexCen Brands.

Lubbock, Texas -- United Supermarkets has completed a transaction to acquire Llano Logistics. Llano has operated United’s two distribution centers – in Lubbock and Roanoke – since their opening.

The deal closed May 31 and means Llano, which had been owned by Exel, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL, is now owned by United.

It is the company’s third subsidiary operation in addition to its 52-store supermarket/ convenience store chain. United purchased R.C. Taylor Distributing in 2007 and added Praters Foods in 2009.

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. has appointed Sharon Price John, 49, as CEO, effective immediately. John, who previously served as president of Stride Rite Children’s Group, a division of Wolverine Worldwide, succeeds company founder Maxine Clark, who is retiring as CEO. Clark will remain on the board of directors.