Education Sessions

Strong networks don’t happen by chance, they’re built with intention. In this interactive roundtable session, participants will connect with peers across the convenience industry while exploring strategies to grow their network, increase visibility, and create meaningful professional relationships. While centered on advancing and empowering women in the industry, all are welcome to join the conversation. Come ready to share, learn, and leave with connections that last beyond the session.

Family Express Corporation

Elizabeth Salceda

Director of Operations

PepsiCo, Inc.

Susie Engemann

Vice President of Sales

PepsiCo, Inc.

Bria Troy

Vice President of the Convenience, Gas and Drug Channel

New hires leaving within their first 90 days is costly and avoidable. This hands-on session will show you how to create a structured onboarding plan, deliver targeted training, and foster early engagement. Discover actionable tools and tips to keep new employees invested, confident, and contributing beyond their critical first three months.

Huck's Market

Alisha Black

Vice President of Human Resources

As GLP-1 medications and high-protein diets influence how consumers eat, foodservice strategies in convenience retail are evolving. In this session, attendees will explore how changing dietary habits are shaping menu development, including examples like Sheetz’s Eat Smart menu. Attendees will learn what today’s health-conscious consumers are looking for and discuss the winning formula for balancing nutrition trends, protein-focused offerings, and craveable convenience food.

Sheetz, Inc.

Matt High

Sr. Made to Order, Category Sales Manager

This session will provide an update on the key legislative and regulatory issues shaping the convenience retail industry in 2026. Industry experts will break down the latest developments in areas such as tobacco and nicotine regulation, labor policies, payments, and emerging product categories, and explain what they mean for retailers moving forward. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the current policy landscape and the issues likely to impact their businesses in the months ahead.

As EV adoption accelerates, many convenience retailers are deciding whether they should own their charging infrastructure or simply host it at their stores. This panel brings together a convenience retailer and an EV charging provider to walk through real-word case studies of deploying charging infrastructure at convenience stores. With a focus on practical insights, the discussion will cover key considerations for convenience retailers, as well as how to align charging investments with business goals and measure success. By sharing both successes and lessons learned, this session will

Electrify America

Aaron Young

Senior Manager of Commercial

Wawa, Inc.

Vince Cipollone

Director of EV Charging and New Fuel Business

Convenience Connect is an opportunity for our newest NACS supplier members to meet and learn from influential convenience retailers. During this 90-minute session, retailers representing a range of store sizes will host small groups of new suppliers to discuss industry topics relevant to their stores. Groups will rotate every 15 minutes to hear perspectives from other retailers. At the end of the third rotation, participants will continue informal conversations over light refreshments. Learn what’s top-of-mind for your customers and how you can help them improve their businesses.

Max Distributing

Chris Everson

Purchasing Manager

Matrix Brokerage

Webb Roberts

President

Burdette Beckmann

John Buehler

Vice President

Onvo

Ben Lucky

Senior Director of Foodservice

Murphy USA

Roland Larino

Category Manager- General Merchandise

CrossAmerica Partners

Tim Young

Senior Category Manager

Synergy Cooperative

Troy Strand

C-Store Operations General Manager

CHS Inc. (Cenex)

Bob Christopherson

Retail Solutions Manager

Pilot Travel Centers LLC

Nicholas Reed

Manager, Category

Business Accelerator Team

Kay Segal

Founder and President

The back bar is evolving rapidly as new nicotine products, alternative consumables, and emerging categories compete for limited space. In this session, industry experts will explore how retailers can strategically allocate back bar space across inhalable products, oral nicotine, traditional tobacco, and emerging categories like THC and other alternatives. Attendees will gain practical insights on merchandising different back bar sizes, balancing profitability with security concerns, and preparing for what the future of the category might look like.

7-Eleven, Inc.

Jasmeet Chawla

Vice President - Merchandising

Using insights from the State of the Industry (SOI) report, this session takes a deeper look at consumer spending patterns, operational variables, and what separates the top quartile from the bottom quartile within the data.

NACS

Jayme Gough

Director of Research & Development

How real-time reporting uncovers missed age verifications before they become violations.

TruAge

Lisa Rountree

Head of Customer Experience and Marketing

TruAge

Eddie McFarlane

Sales & Activation Specialist

Retailers know the next generation of shoppers will shape the future of convenience—but what does “convenience” actually mean to them? In this interactive session, we explore how Gen Z and Gen Alpha define convenience through surprising, funny, and insightful street-style interviews and real-world examples. Attendees will gain fresh perspective on emerging trends, technology expectations, and how younger consumers influence merchandising, branding, and the overall store experience.

NACS

Frank Gleeson

President & CEO

This session will showcase key findings from the NACS Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council’s latest study on trip drivers in convenience retail. Attendees will gain insight into what motivates consumers to visit stores, what influences purchase decisions, and how these behaviors are evolving. The discussion will highlight actionable strategies retailers can use to better align with shopper needs and increase trip frequency and basket size. Walk away with a clearer understanding of how to turn insights into in-store execution that drives growth.

Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council

Michael Sansolo

Research Director

Cadent Consulting Group LLC

Richard Bode

CEO

Cadent Consulting Group LLC

Gavin Stoecker

Principal

Casey's General Stores, Inc.

Tom Brennan

Chief Merchandising Officer

Sheetz, Inc.

Ryan Sheetz

EVP, Marketing & Supply Chain

As foodservice drives growth in convenience retail, competition with quick-service restaurants intensifies. Learn how to elevate food offerings through menu innovation, kitchen design, and digital integration to meet evolving consumer demands.

McKinsey & Company

Andrew Davis

Partner

McKinsey & Company

John Moran

Partner

Explore how convenience retailers in Asia and Europe are redefining the customer experience through technology, foodservice, store design, and sustainability. This session will highlight innovative concepts and emerging trends from global markets while offering practical ideas and inspiration that can be adapted for North American convenience retail operations.

NACS

Mark Wohltmann

Director

Liquid fuels will dominate transportation for decades to come, but competition for gasoline customers will become more intense as vehicle efficiency improves. Winning those customers and capitalizing on their visits is critical to the long-term profitability of your business. What will it take to become the fueling destination of choice and how can you get the most value from each customer? This session will explore options for generating customer loyalty and leveraging your forecourt to boost the profitability of your operations.

What makes certain leaders energizing to be around—and how can you become one of them? In this session, Emma Seppälä, faculty director of Yale’s Women’s Leadership Program, explores the science and practice of positively energizing leadership. She’ll share practical strategies to build resilience, strengthen relationships, and elevate team performance in today’s demanding workplace.

Yale School of Management

Emma Seppälä

Lecturer in Management

Interest in THC beverages is growing rapidly, creating both opportunity and uncertainty for convenience retailers. In this session, industry experts will explore the evolving regulatory landscape, what retailers need to know about selling these products responsibly, and how the category may fit into convenience retail. Attendees will gain insight into current state-level regulations, operational considerations such as age restrictions and product placement, and the potential role THC beverages could play in the future of the category as legislation continues to develop.

Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives

Diana Eberlein

Chair

The Spinx Company, Inc.

Hayley Thrift

Director of Public Relations

Drawing from extensive research beyond the industry's confines, the NACS/Conexxus Technology Roadmap outlines the technological and cultural shifts that continue to shape the retail landscape. The roadmap will help you navigate and thrive within the constantly changing technology landscape. Don't miss this opportunity to prepare today for the future.

NACS

Gray Taylor

Strategic Advisor, Strategic Initiatives

CHS Inc. (Cenex)

Donald Emery

Senior Manager, Product

Conexxus

Linda Toth

Executive Director

Yesway

Robert Hampton

Chief Technology Officer

See how mobile driver's licenses and digital IDs are changing in-store verification—and what retailers need to do next.

TruAge

Paul Ziv

VP Technology

Retail media networks are quickly becoming a powerful revenue and marketing tool for retailers—but what exactly are they, and how can operators take advantage of them? In this session, experts will define retail media networks and share real-world case studies showing how retailers are using them to create value for both brands and stores. Attendees will also learn practical strategies for launching or participating in a network, including how smaller operators can get started and ensure their media offerings deliver measurable ROI.

Circle K

Joell Robinson

Director Retail Media Network

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores

Tommy Greenberg

GM, Love’s Media Group

What if your store managers could spend less time on paperwork and more time leading people? This session highlights practical ways to lighten the load, including centralized recruiting models and streamlined administrative processes that cut hours of daily work. Hear how companies like TXB are redesigning responsibilities so managers can focus on hiring decisions, team development, and culture, not tasks.

TXB Stores

Nathan Graham

Director of Human Resources

Casey's General Stores, Inc.

Sherri Hart

VP, HR Field Operations

The NACS Leadership for Success Program brings the brightest industry supervisors together to develop their personal leadership skills and become better leaders. For the past five months, the participants have been working on reducing turnover, increasing employee engagement, and developing store managers by creating plans, setting goals, and tracking their progress. They are ready to share the results! Hear what worked (and what didn’t) as they sought to develop and strengthen their teams.

Among the most profitable customer segments of the convenience industry are the small fleet operators like the construction and landscape companies and the local and regional trucking companies. These fleets refuel several times each week and stock up on provisions from your stores. They also buy a lot of diesel fuel, which in 2025 generated average margins of 52 cents per gallon. How can you leverage your diesel fuel offer and gain the loyalty of these companies and their employees? It’s time to make diesel sexy again and capitalize on the profit opportunity.

This session equips retail leaders with a practical guide to evaluating and purchasing AI solutions without falling into costly traps. Attendees will explore common pitfalls such as hidden fees, usage-based pricing, subscription sprawl, and integration challenges that can undermine ROI. The discussion will break down total cost of ownership across on-prem and SaaS models while highlighting the critical questions to ask before making an investment. The key takeaway: without proper integration and strategy, AI can create more complexity than value—so smart buying decisions matter.

Atlantis Management

Rick Rigby

CTO

As consumer behavior continues to shift toward convenience integrated into everyday life, a new retail category is emerging: residential embedded convenience retail. This session explores how convenience operators can rethink traditional assumptions around traffic patterns, customer engagement, and retail placement by operating inside multifamily, mixed-use, student housing, and master-planned communities. Using real-world operational insights from Urban Value Corner Store, attendees will gain practical insight into: embedded convenience behavior, amenity-based retail operations, autonomous

Urban Value Corner Store

Steve McKinley

CEO/Founder