The BARS Program Blog Page 2>

At least 10 states, including California and Wisconsin , endorses national non-profit, We Card this month with formal government-issued designations naming September We Card Awareness Month . At The BARS Program, we believe this moniker to be a rather fitting milestone as nearly a quarter of the country 1 adjusts (or will soon adjust) to newly established “under 30” mandates for the sale of tobacco and vapor products. Devoted to boosting compliance with federal, state... Read More

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced in early September that Michigan will become the first state to ban flavored vape products. Whitmer says this move is designed to protect youth, stating that ”companies selling vaping products are using candy flavors to hook children on nicotine and misleading claims to promote the belief that these products are safe. That ends today. Our kids deserve leaders who are going to fight to protect them. These bold steps will... Read More

As we announced last month, The BARS Program now offers Checker Visits for Cannabidiol (CBD) purchases. These visits ensure employees are at “the ready” to act upon responsible selling techniques. Just like establishments selling alcohol and tobacco, CBD retail outlets are subject to sting operations conducted by state-authorized enforcement agencies. Failure to follow local selling practices can result in significant fines and even revocation of licensing. In this edition of the blog, we re taking... Read More

Walk into a convenience store anywhere in Ohio, Arkansas or Delaware to purchase tobacco and you ll come out empty handed if you re younger than 21-years of age. 13 additional states have adopted similar legislation for the lawful purchasing of tobacco products, while across the country more than 475 cities and counties in 29 states enforce the heightened age requirement. 1 These measures are part of an initiative, minimum legal sales age (MLSA) 21... Read More

The annual National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) State of the Industry Summit (SOI) traveled to The Windy City this spring, and we re recapping a few highlights to assist with benchmarking practices among retailers. Key Takeaways: According to inside sales figures presented at SOI, tobacco; beer and other tobacco products (OTP), such as chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes, represent three of the top-four in-store sales items requiring proof of identification to complete purchase. Although cigarettes... Read More

Rumor has it, while the overall number of tobacco-associated stings hasn t increased, the number of e-cigarette and vaping product stings is on the rise. This increase appears to be justified, especially when we take a closer look at the numbers. According to the U.S. Surgeon Generals website devoted to educating the public about risks associated with e-cigarettes and young people, the use of e-cigarettes is higher among high school students than adults, and higher... Read More

Last Fall, we took an in-depth look at alcohol delivery services and varying state rules and regulations for legal delivery (read Door-to-Door Alcohol Delivery ). This time, we re shining light on food delivery services and their plight to make groceries/meals and alcohol delivery a simultaneous occurrence. The rise of smartphone apps and web-based platforms, like GrubHub, UberEats and Instacart, make fresh food delivery a reality for many mom and pop, local and national restaurants... Read More