Fran Duskiewicz Leaving Nice N Easy & CST Brands

CANASTOTA, N.Y. — Fran Duskiewicz, who became president/CEO of Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes last July following the death of the convenience store chain's founder John MacDougall, will step down from that post officially on Sunday, Jan. 11, after 30 years with the company.

Duskiewicz has worked for the 81-store Nice N Easy chain since 1985, serving in various capacities including store manager, district manager, director of training and education, vice president of operations, chief financial officer, and senior executive vice president.

He steered the central New York c-store chain through a difficult year in 2014, coping with the illness and death of its highly charismatic founder, and Duskiewicz' close friend, MacDougall, and the completion of the company's sale to San Antonio-based c-store chain, CST Brands Inc. in October.

"CST is a great company and they've been everything we wanted and expected them to be," said Duskiewicz in an email to the CSNews Online. He emphasized that the decision to leave is more about his own feelings than it is about CST. "They have bent over backwards to accommodate our people and I have nothing but respect for Kim Lubel [CST's CEO] and her management team."

The executive said he plans to take an undetermined amount of time off "to recover from a very difficult 2014. At some point, I'll return to the industry in some capacity, but that will be when I'm re-energized and ready to do so. Who knows, that might be sooner than later."

In addition to his work at Nice N Easy, Duskiewicz has been an advocate for the entire convenience store industry, holding various positions with NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing. He was a member of the NACS board of directors, served as vice chairman of research, chaired the annual State of the Industry Summit conference, and chaired the NACS Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council.

Before joining Nice N Easy, Duskiewicz taught seventh and eighth grade English for eight years. He holds degrees in both English and education from Colgate University.