Insight forecourt and petroleum event promises international line up

Top players from the global forecourt and petroleum industry will present international best practice at the Insight NACS Forecourt, Petroleum & Technology conference, sponsored by Epta, on 23 September. (Click to see speaker details)

Insight’s second conference day will be chaired by Jon Arnold, former head of trading for Sainsbury’s convenience division. Arnold helped develop the store blueprints for all Sainsbury’s Local formats and was also head of petrol forecourts, responsible for format development and fuel supply.

Arnold will chair an impressive international retail line up spanning America, Chile, South Africa and Ireland.

From the US, Stan Sheetz, president and CEO of Sheetz, one of America’s fastest growing, family-owned and operated convenience store chains, will present.

Sheetz joined the business in 1981 and served as director of finance and then vice president of operations prior to being named president and CEO in 1995.

The company operates over 365 convenience locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina, and employs 11,000 staff. In 2007 revenues topped $3.9bn.

Sheetz will share the stage with compatriot Scott Hartman, president and CEO of Rutter’s Farm Stores, the Pennsylvania-based convenience chain.

Rutter’s has recently launched an electronic coupon feature via its iPhone application, which it claims it is a first for c-stores in the US and is available as a free download from the company’s web site. Hartman will present the technology and other innovations at the Insight conference.

Rodrigo Adolfo Zavala, retail market director, Petrobras Chile Distribuición, has a background in economics and as a financial analyst at multi-national companies including Shell, where he was a unit market manager. Zavala joined Petrobras in 2001, working across disciplines ranging from refining logistics to retail. In his current role he has defined the strategy and commercialisation of services and products in the retail market.

Representing South Africa is Garth Fourie, national convenience manager, Woolworths SA. Fourie joined Woolworths South Africa in 1993 where he has been responsible for developing strategy and formats for franchising Woolworths Foods in the South African and broader African markets. Within the borders of South Africa, the Woolworths Foods franchise business comprises 42 stores and there are 15 stores across border food markets in Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Mozambique and Ghana with new markets opening in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda shortly. Fourie has been instrumental in Woolworths Foods teaming up with the oil company Engen South Africa to create a groundbreaking format to sell Woolworths fresh foods on Engen’s forecourts. This convenience network of Woolworths Food Stops now spans 41 sites nationally and is one of the key drivers in introducing new customers to the Woolworths Foods brand.

The conference will also welcome, Frank Gleeson, retail director of Topaz, Ireland’s leading forecourt retailer with over 300 service stations. Gleeson joined Topaz from Statoil Ireland and has spent most of his career to date working in the retail sector. Gleeson was responsible for the launch of the Topaz brand in Ireland, which re-branded the Statoil and Shell businesses during 2008.

In addition to insightful retail presentations, delegates will hear from leading experts in retail design and branding, refrigeration technology and fuel pricing.

Speakers include Joe Bona, president of CBX USA. Bona has more than 25 years’ experience as a retail branding and design professional and has directed a range of strategic and creative initiatives for global companies including Stop & Shop Supermarkets, Chevron Texaco, Daiei Supermarket, Frito-Lay, Nestle and Petro-Canada.

Conference sponsor, Epta, is represented by John Austin-Davies, group product marketing director. Austin-Davies worked for refrigeration company George Barker & Co before its acquisition by Epta.

Austin-Davies reports to Epta’s Milan head office and has international responsibility in a number of product areas. He maintains close contact with the UK market and is chairman of the British Refrigeration Association group concerned with cabinets & cold rooms.

Fuel pricing technologies will be presented by Robert Stein, president and CEO of KSS, and Ryan Mossman, vice president/and general manager of FuelQuest’s Fuel Services.

KSS is the global leading provider of pricing software, analytics and consulting services to fuel retailers and wholesalers in the oil and gas, convenience store and retail industries. Stein joined KSS in October 2004 after three years as founder member of KSS’ advisory board. Prior to his appointment Stein consulted to the retail and convenience store industries. His experience includes 18 years at Dairy Mart Convenience Stores, a 700-store convenience retailing chain based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Mossman leads FuelQuest’s outsourced fuel services divisions; Fuel Center, a fuel management service and AMS, an environmental alarm management service.

Mossman's FuelQuest experience includes leading large scale supply chain optimisation, technology and business process implementations at large fleet and energy companies including UPS, US Freightways and Chevron.