ALEXANDRIA, Va.—NACS (the National Association of Convenience Stores) announced that Frank Gleeson, former president and CEO of Aramark Northern Europe and 2018-2019 NACS Chairman of the Board, will serve as its new president and CEO beginning January 1, 2026. Gleeson will succeed current NACS President and CEO Henry Armour and be only the fourth CEO in the organization’s 64-year history.

Armour has served as NACS president and CEO since July 2005. Following his tenure as CEO, Armour will provide support to Gleeson and continue to lead international activities at NACS for several years.

“I am honored to follow the successes of Henry Armour and excited to lead NACS, which has a stellar reputation both in the United States and around the world. Henry has been a driving force behind making NACS into a truly global organization with members in over 50 countries, as well as developing its executive education offer, its leadership in moving the industry forward with new technology solutions like TruAge® and THRIVR, and its advocacy on issues critical to our industry. I look forward to building upon these successes and the great culture that Henry has led at NACS and throughout the industry,” said Gleeson.

Gleeson has deep experience in foodservice and convenience retailing. As president and CEO of Aramark Northern Europe from 2017 to 2024, he oversaw a team of over 20,000 employees across 2,800-plus locations in the United Kingdom, Ireland and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), which served an estimated 1 million meals a day. Prior to Aramark, Gleeson was retail director at Topaz Energy Group, the largest importer, distributor and retailer of transportation fuel in Ireland with over 330 convenience stores and service stations, 60 distribution deports and 4 import terminals. He also served as vice president of retail at Statoil Ireland (now Equinor), where he led the development of the first American-style convenience store in Ireland. Most recently, he served as chairman of the National Oil Reserve Agency in Ireland.

Gleeson also has been extremely active in NACS and other trade associations. He previously served on the NACS International Board for 19 years and was on the NACS Board of Directors for 11 years, including his term as 2018-19 NACS Chairman of the Board. In addition, he was a board member and chairman of Retail Ireland (the leading business organization representing the retail sector in Ireland), a board member and president of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation and a board member of the Irish Transport Authority.

In October 2024, NACS initiated the process to transition its leadership from Armour to a new leader in 2026 by forming a five-member search committee to identify candidates and assist in the selection of the next CEO, which was comprised of Joe Sheetz, chairman of Sheetz Inc.; Ken Parent, former president of Pilot Flying J; Brian Hannasch, former CEO of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.; Annie Gauthier, CFO/co-CEO, St. Romain Oil Company LLC; and Natalie Morhous, CEO of RaceTrac Inc.

The search committee focused on four attributes for the next CEO as part of the selection process:

• Deep familiarity with convenience retailing and the innovation process that is driving it forward.
• A focus on foodservice, which has more than doubled from 11.9% of in-store sales in convenience stores in 2004 to 28.7% in 2024.
• Leadership in technology and digitization, which is essential for operational efficiencies and reinventing the future offer of convenience to customers.
• Extensive experience in advocacy at all levels.

“We are excited about what Frank brings to NACS. He met all the criteria that we were seeking—and then some. Most of all, his passion for nurturing a great culture and building and growing winning teams is a critical component to continue the culture that Henry Armour has built at NACS over the past 20 years,” said Sheetz.

“For all of my career, I have considered myself a convenience retailer—not an association executive—and that means constantly listening to the customer and responding to their unmet needs. I’m proud of what we have built at NACS over the past two decades through aggressive advocacy and strong financial management. We have shown that by creating and constantly nurturing a positive culture we can accomplish extraordinary things together. I’m committed to turning over the best team and resources possible to Frank and continuing to support the organization over the coming years,” said Armour.