MANCHESTER, Mo. - Wine tastings and gasoline pumps might seem like an odd pairing, but not at the Energy Express Conoco in Manchester, Mo. The convenience stores offers customers wine and beer tastings of some of its more than 120 varieties of wine, along with its craft and domestic beers, the Town-and-Country Manchester Patch reports.

With gasoline sales accounting for only 26 percent of a retailer??s pretax profits, according to the NACS, getting customers inside the stores is top priority. The Energy Express Conoco has an open floor plan decorated like a coffeehouse. The store also has an extensive snack foods section.

The store received a special license to hold wine and beer tastings, said John Geisz, director of retail for Energy Marketing. The Energy Express Conoco opened soft in November, but recently held a grand opening, which featured DJs, product sampling and t-shirt freebies.

Also during the celebrations, the store posted a worker at the pumps to hand out information about store specials and sampling by wine and beer vendors. "Some of this craft beer no one??s ever heard of," said Geisz. The weeklong sampling introduced customers to the store??s wide selection of beer and wine, which is sold at competitive prices, said Mike Taylor, who manages the store.

The store will host other wine and beer tastings on a regular basis. "Even if we don??t have a rep, we can pop open a six pack and do the samples ourselves," said Geisz. In addition, the retailer offers a daily "happy hour" sale on a certain beer.