ODESSA, Texas -- Alon USA intends to file its paperwork this month with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to begin the process of spinning off its convenience store arm, Southwest Convenience Stores (SCS), as a separate public entity. "We will be filing our S1 for the Alon brand's IPO in November such that we will be prepared to move forward quickly when the opportunity arises," company president and CEO Jeff Morris said Thursday during a conference call.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Convenience stores may be rebounding from an unprecedented first-half of the year, if late second- and third-quarter figures are to be believed, according to one research firm. Trip frequency is up slightly in the second and third quarters for c-stores after declines in the first quarter, according to Kurt Orr, vice president of consulting and innovation with the Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI), who spoke exclusively to retailers at the CSP Consumer Insights Forum in Scottsdale, Ariz., earlier this week.

WASHINGTON -- With President George Bush no longer a "roadblock," health officials can expect to gain new powers to control tobacco, from cigarettes to the recently introduced smokeless products called snus, reported the Associated Press. President-elect Barack Obama, a former smoker struggling to avoid relapse, is a sponsor of legislation giving the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to control, but not ban, tobacco and nicotine.