745 



,,riJ 20, 1994 



Mr. James W. Johivstoo /^iiLT* " 



Chairman and Chief Executive Officer UulKlnp 



R J ReynolcU Tobacco Company 

 Winston-Salem, NC 27102 



Dear Mr. Johniton: 



We received your letter about Mr. Synar's statements concerning our company. QuikTrip works diligently to be a 

 responsible tobacco retailer and arc very sorry a program we ran was so misunderstood. 



On March 14, 1994, sample cigarette products were placed on checkstands in our stores. The sole intent was to allow adult 

 customers who choose to smoke to try another brand. We would never condone the selling or sampling of cigarettes to 

 minors in our store. It's morally wrong and also illegaL 



The sample products were placed near the employee on duty for continual supervision. Signs from the corporate oSicc 

 clearly labeled the display, 'For our adult customers who choose to smoke." The sign also prominently carried the Surgeon 

 General's warning. If any stores lacked signage or had incorrect signage it was corrected in a very short time. We feci we 

 conducted this program in a fiilly professional manner completely within the law. 



Being a responsible retailer, we discontinued the program when some of our customers complained. The program was 

 discontinued in Oklahoma on March 3Ist and in our other market areas on April Sth (the program was never conducted in 

 our Iowa stores). It's noteworthy that QuikTrip voluntarily discontinued the program roughly two weeks prior to Mr. 

 Synar's comments, and Mr. Synar never contacted our oGGces for information or facts about the program. 



We do not intend to provide nor sell cigarettes to minors, and have steps in place to ensure this and to enforce the law. We 

 thoroughly train responsible tobacco retailing procedures to all employees and have prominent signs displayed in the stores 

 which indicate the legal age to purchase tobacco products. 



There are no current cigarette sampling programs at QuikTrip nor do we presently anticipate future cigarette wimp l ing 

 programs. 



We are codoslng a copy of the Tulsa World newspaper article dated Saturday, April 16th, about Mr. Synar's comments. 

 The article quotes a spokesperson for the American Lung Assodatioa in Tulsa as saying they were pleased with QulkTrip's 

 actions in halting (he program. Obviously our timing was bad on this program but to say our intent was to get cigarettes to 

 minors is totally false. 



I am sorry we put you in an embarrassing situation during the hearings and appreciate your help in setting the record 

 straight. 



Chester Cadicux 



President and Chief Executive Oflicer 



Enclosure 



QuikTrip Corporation/ 901 Nonh Mingo Road / PC Box 3475 /Tulsa Oklahoma 74116/(918) 836-8551 



