LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- When Jerry Meiners and his family decided to open a Meiners Market in Lee's Summit, Mo., five years ago, they knew there was a significant opportunity to be had in wine. Today, the store is one of the largest sellers of wine in the greater Kansas City, Mo., area.

The location sits right in front of a 280-unit apartment complex, with a demographic of young professionals. "These young apartment dwellers are the ones that really buy the wine," Meiners, one of the partners in the family-owned company, told CSP Daily News.

WICHITA, Kansas -- Construction has begun on two pilot Kwik Shop expansions in northwest Wichita, Kansas, as the division of Kroger targets underserved fresh food and prescription niches in its battle with QuikTrip for c-store market share.

The expanded stores should be open sometime in May, Kwik Shop president Jeff Parker said. The Kwik Shop expansions are driven by the success of a similar layout in Florida, in Kroger's Tom Thumb division, he said.

NEW YORK -- FOX Business' John Stossel featured a segment last Thursday on his show, Stossel, concerning energy independence that included an interview with investor, oilman and billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who championed his Pickens Plan that focuses on natural gas. Offering counterpoint was Robert Bryce, author of Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusion of Energy Independence.

Stossel concluded that America does not need energy independence and that there is nothing wrong with energy "interdependence."