By Ben Nussbaum, Editor-In-Chief & Publisher, NACS Media
It’s hard to pick favorites. That said, a few NACS Magazine articles rise to the top for me as I look at everything the NACS Media team published in 2025. My mission was to pick a top five … but I had to expand the list to eight.
Celebrating state associations. I loved writing this article. I spoke with state and regional association executives from Arizona, Arkansas and New England. These are the folks on the frontlines in their communities, working hard to advance and defend convenience retailing, sometimes on a townhall-by-townhall basis. My conversations were a great reminder of the diversity across the 150,000+ locations that make up the convenience retailing industry in the United States.
An inside look at ‘the 7-Eleven airport.’ What is convenience retailing? What could it be? If you haven’t read this article yet … please do. It looks at a remarkable convenience industry success story and shows how convenience retailing can adjust to whatever the customer is looking for.
From convenience to Congress. How cool is it that one of our own is a Member of Congress? Big thanks to Congressman Tony Wied (R-WI) for making time to chat with NACS about his journey and the lessons he learned in almost 25 years as a store owner.
Merchandising on the forecourt. I look at forecourts differently thanks to this article, which dives into the forecourt as a selling space. Is it right for every retailer? Maybe not. But is someone out there selling kayaks on the forecourt? Absolutely.
Motivating frontline employees. The numbers are incredible. Something like 2.7 million Americans work in this industry, and about one in eight Americans have, at some point, earned a paycheck from it. That’s an astonishing reach. It’s better for everyone when frontline workers feel great about their jobs and become cheerleaders for convenience. This article is full of ideas for cost-effective ways to keep frontline workers fueled and reduce turnover.
Checking out the cannabis economy. This topic is just super interesting, and it gives you a lot to think about the next time you drive past a shuttered dispensary.
Parker’s Kitchen’s giving strategy. What’s in the DNA of your company? At Parker’s Kitchen, giving is fundamental—and lives are being changed. This is a great read that has insights about what makes a company tick and what makes customers keep coming back.
Celebrating Henry Armour. This one is personal for me, and everyone else at NACS. Henry led our organization so well for so long, and this tribute to him as he closes out his 20 year-chapter as CEO couldn’t be more fitting.