Retail Better Recap: NACS Day on the Hill - GSP

This year’s NACS Day on the Hill was held March 10-11 at the Four Seasons in Washington, D.C. Formerly known as the Government Relations Conference, this two-day event gives convenience store industry vendors and retailers the opportunity to engage with legislators on key issues such as alcohol, tobacco and fuel.  

Congress Is Changing in 2020

With 2020 being a presidential election year, it was more important than ever to connect with Congress. Keeping convenience and fuel retail industry issues top of mind with U.S. legislators is vital as they campaign in their home states this year. “There’s a lot happening on Capitol Hill right now, which gives retailers an exciting opportunity to influence decisions that will impact their business,” NACS explained on their website.

Day on the Hill gives industry leaders an interesting behind-the-scenes look at how government decisions are made and addresses common c-store challenges with members of Congress who can become champions for our industry. What’s helpful is that NACS staff provide tips on how vendors and retailers can continue engaging with Congress both during and after the event.

United We Stand

What’s unique about Day on the Hill is that, retailers who are often in competition with each other, spend two days banding together to ensure that the convenience industry leaders are heard by law makers at the highest levels.

The recent crackdown on the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was one of the biggest challenges tackled at Day on the Hill.  This year’s event gave retailers time to share how their thoughts regarding the FDA targeting convenience stores. The FDA announced it would limit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes to adult-only stores or stores with an adult-only section, which would essentially ban the products from most convenience stores.

Hot Topics

Together attendees and legislators, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Rick Scott and U.S. Rep Charlie Crist, discussed hot trending topics including electric vehicles, privacy policies and payment security.

State of the Industry Statistics

About the Author

Kevin Farley is GSP’s Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the NACS Supplier Board. Learn more about Kevin here.