The industry’s largest trade show has named CSNews its official convenience store media partner.

The Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) and Stagnito Media have entered into an exclusive partnership whereby Convenience Store News will be the official convenience store media sponsor of the trade show for tobacco industry professionals. As part of the sponsorship, Convenience Store News will spread awareness of the Tobacco Plus Expo across the entire convenience store industry through its industry-leading print and online products throughout the year.

Held February 1-2 in Las Vegas, TPE 2012 was a rousing success, with record numbers of attendees and a sold-out exhibit floor (see TPE 2012 Highlights, p. tk). Next year’s show promises to be even more spectacular, with the alliance with CSNews bolstering the ranks of both retail attendees and exhibitors and bringing additional networking and learning opportunities to the event.

New tobacco industry-relevant content for CSNews’s convenience store retail readers will include a series of TPE Showcase reports offering information on new tobacco products, suppliers, wholesalers and distributors, a pre-show planner, expanded tobacco category coverage on CSNews.com with links to TPE, and more in-depth coverage of the 2013 Tobacco Plus Expo in CSNews and Convenience Store News for the Single Store Owner magazines, as well as online.

Held annually, TPE International has been steadily evolving to meet the changing needs of its exhibitors and attendees, says Edward O'Connor, president and CEO of TMG International, the parent company of TPE. "Each year we make improvements geared toward helping exhibitors and attendees place orders, network and learn better business strategy that will increase their bottom lines," he said. “We are all about offering the industry business opportunities.”

For more information about Tobacco Plus Expo International, visit www.tobaccoplusexpo.com.