C-store chain upset that tobacco makers raise prices early..

April 1, 2009 - Sheetz upset cigarette maufacturers raised prices before the official start of the federal tax increase. (Sheetz has 350 convenience store locations throughout Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina,

Sheetz: "The cigarette manufacturers think they're pulling an April Fools' trick on their customers. "Consumers were expecting an increase April 1, but the tobacco companies actually raised the prices as early as March 11, which forced us to raise our retail prices. Now, they're just pocketing that extra money. Add to that the fact that in the past few weeks, they've also raised their own prices, and so now they're taking in an extra seven bucks per carton. In my book, that's more than an April Fools' trick; that's just wrong."

Reference: Sheetz's Tobacco Promise
Pa. chain "calls out" cigarette companies on price hikes are FET increase kicks in, CSP (Convenience Store/Petroleum) Daily, 4/1/2009.