Beverages

New York retailers face record tobacco license fee, while Maine may require ethanol-free premium gas. New Hampshire food stores lobby to sell liquor, and Vermont mulls tax on flavored malt beverages.

With economy slumping, gross profit dollars generated by new items becomes more important than sales volume to c-store retailers.

Quarterly sales expected to be off by at least $600 million, but chief executive remains confident.

The flavored water brand Fruit2O is gearing up to launch Fruit2O Essentials, a fortified water that blends fruit's nutrients and refreshment with water.

Alien Energy Jerky is a new caffeinated beef jerky snack, currently available in four flavors -- Honey Teriyaki, Peppered, Hot and Sweet & Spicy.

New formula promises to deliver better-tasting product with fewer calories.

Free coffee, doughnuts, customer awards, and Wally and the Honkers mark Somers Point, N.J., Wawa store's 25th anniversary.

Ad bloggers and irate e-mail influence parent PepsiCo to scrap the new design and do an about-face within eight weeks.