Speedway SuperAmerica, Fearless Farris Honored

VIENNA, Va. -- Speedway SuperAmerica was named the winner in the Regional/National category in the Newspaper Association of America's third annual Retailer of the Year awards competition. Fearless Farris Stinker Stations won in the Local category.

Winners were announced during the NAA 2002 Marketing Conference in San Diego. The awards were established to acknowledge retailers that execute highly effective partnerships with newspapers in their markets.

Kmart Corp., on the day it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, was named Best Overall operator.

Speedway SuperAmerica, which operates approximately 2,300 convenience stores, was nominated by The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky., and the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, for its regional initiative to position newspaper racks in more prominent locations near checkout areas.

Beginning as a local program with the Courier-Journal, the newspaper initiative resulted in increased traffic in Louisville Speedway convenience stores. The Enon, Ohio-based company expanded the program to other markets, including Lexington. The newspapers also praised Speedway for several other programs including a promotion placing coffee mugs and coupons for a free cup of coffee at Speedway inside newspaper racks.

Fearless Farris Stinker Stations Inc. was nominated by The Idaho Statesman for a number of successful in-store promotions, including one where customers received a complimentary copy of the paper when purchasing eight gallons of gas at Fearless Farris.

Through the store promotion, the Statesman increased sales of the daily paper by a remarkable 239 percent over the same period a year earlier and 94 percent on Sunday.

The Boise, Idaho-based company operates 10 convenience stores.