C-store Retailers Help Customers Ring in the New Year

NATIONAL REPORT — As consumers across the country prepare to enjoy the New Year's holiday weekend with their friends and family, convenience store operators are ready to help them make their celebrations more festive and ensure safe travel following the first party of the new year.

Maverik — Adventure's First Stop is offering something special for the Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers who are the "unsung heroes" of New Year's Eve. From midnight to 5 a.m. on Jan. 1, the Salt Lake City-based chain will give a free energy drink, highlighting various PepsiCo partners, to anyone with a driver ID in order to fuel their early morning shift.

Drivers can visit their local Maverik c-store with a photo ID to grab a 16-ounce Mtn Dew Energy, 16-ounce Rockstar or 12-ounce Celsius in any flavor, limited to one drink per transaction. The promotion is available at all Maverik stores and seeks to celebrate the drivers who help members of Maverik communities get home safely.

"Maverik takes care of all sorts of road travelers and this New Year's, we want to offer a token of our appreciation to the many rideshare and taxi drivers working endless hours, every night getting thousands of people home safely especially after celebrating the holidays," said vice president of marketing Joey Hobson.

7-Eleven Inc. is contributing to the celebrations with a special pizza offer. On New Year's Day, members of the retailer's 7Rewards loyalty program can order a whole cheese or pepperoni pizza for $4.99. The deal is available in-store at participating 7-Eleven, Speedway and Stripes locations and via 7NOW, 7-Eleven's delivery app, with a limit of one pie per order.

The Irving, Texas-based chain's offer follows several other special pizza deals from 7-Eleven in recent months, such as a discount on National Pepperoni Day and a Halloween deal.

Shell Oil Co. and Professional Datasolutions Inc. are celebrating the end of 2022 and the last two months of the Fuel Rewards program's 10th anniversary by offering additional savings. Customers who sign up for Fuel Rewards between now and the conclusion of the anniversary campaign in February will save an additional 5 cents per gallon on each fill-up, stacked with any existing offer.

Additional Fuel Rewards offers include:

• Through Dec. 30, T-Mobile is continuing its collaboration with Shell and the Fuel Rewards program with double the savings to give customers an exclusive 20-cents-off per gallon of gas.
• Fuel Rewards members can also stack savings with in-store rewards from Emergen-C, Red Bull and more. For example, customers who buy three 8.4-ounce Red Bull drinks will earn an extra 10 cents per gallon in fuel savings through the end of the month.