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Lucy just signed an NBA Hall of Famer to take on the pouch giants — while quietly locking up Wawa, Sheetz and Circle K

The nicotine-pouch challenger brought in Gary Payton as the face of a new campaign. The more important number in the announcement: retail agreements with six of the biggest US convenience chains, with 2026 revenue targets on pace to be beaten.

PouchDaily Desk·
LUCYGary Paytonconvenience retailUS marketNACS Showchallenger brands

Lucy Goods, the US nicotine-pouch challenger, announced a partnership with NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton today — but the campaign is arguably the smaller half of the news. The same announcement confirms Lucy has landed retail agreements with six of the biggest convenience chains in the country, including Circle K, Wawa, Sheetz, RaceTrac, Kwik Trip and Maverik, and says current numbers put it on pace to beat its 2026 revenue targets.

What happened

The campaign pairs Payton — one of the most notorious trash-talkers and defenders in NBA history — with Lucy CEO David Renteln across digital and social content. Payton's quoted pitch is exactly what you'd expect: "I don't play nice. Big tobacco's had this on lock too long. I'm coming for them. LUCY's coming for them."

The partnership is already live in practice: Payton appeared at Power Slap in Las Vegas on July 10 and at his own charity golf tournament on August 3 before today's formal announcement. Next up is retail, with Payton confirmed at the NACS Show in Las Vegas, October 7–9 — the convenience industry's main annual event, which is precisely the channel Lucy has been locking down. Fans can shop the collaboration at lucy.co/GLOVE.

Why it matters

Two things stand out. First, Lucy has been running a deliberate challenger strategy — most visibly with the Twitch-streamer integration we covered earlier — and signing a Hall of Famer with a built-in "I'm coming for the giants" persona continues it. Second, and more consequential for the market: convenience retail is where US pouch volume actually happens, and a brand that has named Circle K, Wawa, Sheetz, RaceTrac, Kwik Trip and Maverik among its agreements is no longer just a DTC story. The claim that it's on pace to exceed 2026 revenue targets is the company's own and unaudited, but the direction of travel is clear: the challenger brands are buying distribution and mainstream sports credibility at the same time as the incumbents (PMI's ZYN, BAT's Velo) defend share.

For a category that spent years being carried by one dominant brand, competition in the aisle — with marketing budgets to match — is the real signal here.

What's next

The NACS Show appearance on October 7–9 is the nearest checkpoint: if Lucy is serious about convenience-channel momentum, the show is where new chain commitments would surface. Comparing prices across retailers at PouchFinder is the easiest way to see how challenger brands are positioned against the big names.

SOURCES