NACS Recognizes Winners of Convenience Retail Awards Europe

At the 2026 NACS Convenience Summit Europe in Warsaw, Poland, the global convenience retail industry celebrated winners of the prestigious NACS Convenience Retails Awards Europe.

The NACS Convenience Retail Awards recognize and promote convenience retailing excellence in the global retailing community.

This year’s winners are:

Maxol Long Mile Road: NACS Convenience Store of the Year Award

Located on a major commuter route in southwest Dublin, Maxol Long Mile Road has been transformed into a modern, sustainable retail destination thanks to a €4.5 million investment. The flagship site features an expanded Maxol Deli, Zambrero, Burger King with drive-thru, digital ordering, ROSA Coffee, seating for 48 people, an ATM and upgraded restrooms.

The redevelopment of the Long Mile Road store showcases Maxol’s digital innovation strategy. Every touchpoint has been enhanced, from refueling on the forecourt to foodservice with digital ordering kiosks, dynamic menu screens, back-office platforms and in-store loyalty to deliver a seamless, frictionless customer experience.

Established in 1920, Maxol is Ireland’s largest family-owned convenience forecourt retailer with a network of 247 branded service stations.

Debbie Robinson, CEO of OurCoop: NACS Industry Leader of the Year Award Europe 

OurCoop is the U.K.'s largest independent co-operative society, with more than 1 million members and 13,000 colleagues operating in communities nationwide. It was formed by bringing together Central Co-op, the Midcounties Co-operative and Chelmsford Star Co-op societies.

Robinson is a seasoned leader in the cooperative sector with over 40 years of experience in retail. Under Robinson's leadership, OurCoop's values reach beyond the U.K., through its Malawi partnership; its role in Cooperative Mutuals 50 (CM50) and the Fund for International Cooperative Development, which she chairs; and a 2026 King's Award for Enterprise for promoting opportunity through social mobility, one of the U.K.'s most prestigious business accolades.

"Debbie has shown what bold, values-driven leadership can achieve—bringing three societies together to create the U.K.'s largest independent cooperative and driving innovation that strengthens the movement well beyond her own organization," said Henry Armour, NACS chairman emeritus and CEO international. "Her ambition for cooperatives, and the growth she has delivered, are exactly why she is this year's Industry Leader of the Year recipient.”

Read more about Robinson here.

Marks & Spencer: NACS Convenience Innovation of the Year Award (supported by Conexxus)

Marks & Spencer (M&S) launched a viral social media campaign to actively participate in its TikTok communities. The British retailer operates an extensive network of convenience stores, primarily under the M&S Simply Food brand. The campaign strategy was built around zeitgeist M&S products that tapped into trends and popular culture, making them something customers would immediately want to buy, share on social media or tell their friends and family about. The goal: inspire users to create their own content around M&S brand products and go viral with millions of views on social from the user-generated content.

BWG Foods UC: NACS Convenience Cares Award (supported by The Coca-Cola Company)

As part of its store development strategy, BWG Foods introduced Climate Flow, a system that reduces reliance on traditional air conditioning by reusing hot and cool air already generated in-store. Instead of creating new hot and cold air that work against each other, it captures existing airflow and redistributes it to maintain optimal temperatures efficiently. First installed at the Eurospar Meakstown store, Climate Flow has delivered strong energy savings and demonstrates BWG’s commitment to practical and scalable sustainability solutions.

BWG Foods UC is one of Ireland’s leading food retail and wholesale companies. BWG Foods works in partnership with more than 1,000 independent retailers, serving more than 1 million shoppers every single day.

Wumart: Smartest Store in the World

Also announced on June 17 at NACS Convenience Summit Europe was the inaugural winner of the Smartest Store in the World contest, hosted by Insight Research and NACS. The winner, Wumart, was recognized for transforming its Xueqing Road store in Beijing, China, into an AI-powered convenience store, where AI acts as digital employees that can perceive, decide and execute tasks. The store delivers a frictionless, highly consistent and value-for-money shopping experience, according to the company. Wumart operates more than 1,500 stores across multiple formats across China and serves nearly 3 billion customer visits annually.

The competition also recognized two runners up: second place went to FairPrice Finest, Punggol Coast Mall, in Singapore and third place was Kavanagh’s Belsize Park in London.

The 2027 NACS Convenience Summit Europe will take place in June in London. The global convenience retail event attracts more than 150 senior leaders from over 20 countries to participate in thought-provoking sessions and store tours of progressive retailers in the host city.

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