As many as 700 people associated with convenience stores, grocery stores and the oil distribution industry in West Virginia will walk through an annual expo taking place this week at Stonewall Jackson Resort in Lewis County.
The West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association (OMEGA) is hosting the event. President Jan Vineyard says the theme of the expo, "Keeping You in the Race", is focused on helping the industry through what has been a difficult time in recent months. .
Vineyard says the industry has received a boost with the reduction in gasoline prices compared to last year's numbers. "We do better in our stores when the price of gas is down, only because when the price of gas is high people don't have any money to buy anything else," she said.
Vineyard says she realizes gas prices have gone up over the last few weeks, but it's still lower than last year at this time. "Crude oil has gone up and anytime that your base product goes up, your price goes up," she said. "Predictions are fairly moderate for the summer, but a lot less than last year."
Vineyard says the product expo with 100 vendors is scheduled for Wednesday. She says it will give storeowners a chance to see the latest products that can help draw more customers even if the changes cost money. "We're very customer-oriented and we think it's something that if our customers really like it and it will sell, we'll go ahead and take that risk and try it," Vineyard said.
