OMAHA, NE -- When the National Chapter of Pheasants Forever convention came to town, Bucky’s Express convenience stores and the Omaha World-Herald teamed to not only draw a crowd to the event, but to also boost in-store sales and sell more newspapers.

From January 14 to 16, 2005, an estimated 24,205 people traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, for the National Pheasant Fest. Before the event came to town, the businesses teamed to meet objectives. For the pheasant group, it was to sell out the event. For the newspaper, it was to increase readership and sales. And for Bucky’s, it was to increase gasoline and in-store sales, according to the National Newspaper Association (NAA).

Bucky’s Express, with 14 stores in the Omaha area, placed ballot boxes at each location to collect entry forms that would award convention-goers with free tickets. The entry forms were found inside the Omaha World-Herald.

The promotion proved to be a successful model for using newspaper sales to drive store traffic. During the promotional period, Bucky’s increased its newspaper sales by 8 percent, increased gasoline sales by almost 50,000 gallons and boosted in-store sales by nearly $9,000.
 
Last year Bucky’s Express was nominated for the NAA 2006 Newspaper Merchandiser of the Year Award. Convenience store chains 7-Eleven and Circle K were honored in the categories of “Best Creative Promotion” and “Best Partnership Promotion,” respectively.