N.Y. Convenience Store Hall of Fame to Induct Trio of Leaders

ALBANY, N.Y. — Three new members are ready to take their places in the New York Convenience Store Hall of Fame.

Earning the honors for the Class of 2016 are Peter Tamburro, Kevin Kenyon and Josh Altman, according to the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS). The association will recognize these latest inductees at its annual Chairman's Banquet on May 12 in Syracuse. 

Tamburro is general manager of convenience store operations for Clifford Fuel Co. Inc. The Utica-based company is the operator of 17 Nice N Easy franchise stores and three full-service gas stations in central New York.

Tamburro has served on the NYACS board of directors for 10 years, two of them as chairman, and is on the Executive Committee and Convention Committee. He is also a long-time board member of the c-store industry's National Advisory Group.

He previously worked for Valley Oil Co., a Nice N Easy franchisee, from 1983 to 1993, rising to vice president of store operations. At the company, he helped develop 10 Nice N Easy locations, and several CITGO and Mobil Marts in the Hudson Valley. 

In 1993, Tamburro was hired by John MacDougall, former president and founder of Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes in Canastota, as director of franchise operations, providing support to 18 owners operating 75 stores combined. Four years later, he became vice president of franchise operations and was later promoted to senior executive vice president. Tamburro joined Clifford Fuel after Nice N Easy was sold to CST Brands Inc. in 2014.

Kenyon is a partner in Lockport-based Kenyon's Variety, a family-run chain of six convenience stores in Niagara County. He served on the NYACS board for 10 years and on the Legislative Committee.

He operates the c-store chain with his brothers Bill and Tim. Their late father William and mother Delores started the business as a single-store enterprise in 1960. The Kenyons were named one of "New York's Foremost Convenience Store Families" by NYACS in 2014.

Altman is vice president of Mountain/Service Distributors and the third generation of his family to own and operate the business headquartered in South Fallsburg. The broadline convenience products distributor services approximately 1,000 retail locations in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Since joining the company full-time in 1992 as a sales representative, Altman has assumed increasing responsibilities. In 2014, NYACS named the Altmans one of "New York's Foremost Convenience Store Families."

Altman was elected to the NYACS Associate Board in 2006, and volunteered for the office of secretary at his first meeting. He later served as chairman from 2008 to 2009.

He has also served on the board of the Convenience Distribution Association since 2008, and is a board member and current chairman of Peer Marketing Associates.

The trio will be the 43rd, 44th and 45th inductees into the New York Convenience Store Hall of Fame, which was founded by NYACS in 1996. 

Headquartered in Albany, NYACS is a private, not-for-profit member organization that leads, safeguards and forges a favorable environment for New York State's diverse community of neighborhood convenience stores. It is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.