Where we are today

The traditional convenience store has expanded to include everything from kiosks centered around providing motor fuels and a few essential items to mini-convenience stores and the range of expanded formats that even include the “hyper-store” to use industry jargon.

U.S. store counts peaked in 2018 at around 155,000 stores, largely attributable to store consolidations and the elimination of many single store operators which make up roughly 60% of all c-stores. Fueled by an increase in single-store operators in 2023, U.S. c-stores increased for the first time since 2018, coming in at 150,200, up 1.5% from the prior year.

Even with a large number of national and regional players, the convenience sector is a fragmented business. Texas, California, and Florida have the highest c-store counts, not surprising since these are also among the largest U.S. states.

What is a surprise, however, is that the top 10 states account for just over 50% of the total U.S. c-stores. In addition, the top 20 c-store companies account for only 22% of store operations nationally.

C-Store snapshot

60.2%

Single store operators

this is not reflective of the corporate guarantee

(down from 63.2% in 2017)

79%

Sell fuel

c-stores that sell fuel

80%

Fuel sales

U.S. motor fuel sales sold in c-stores

In-Store Sales (2021 share total sales)

Motor fuel sales (2021 share total sales)

U.S. C-Store sales

C-Store sales

The convenience store has been a retail stalwart over the years. In 2021 the sector generated total sales of $664 billion. That reflects an increase of 17.5% since 2016. Importantly, that revenue growth was realized as store counts were reduced by 6,200 – or 4% over the period.

Sales are also differentiated by in-store and motor fuel because of how significant the fuel component is as a share of business – as well as how volatile those revenues can be as pump prices rise and fall with oil barrel costs.

While motor fuel revenues are up 17.9% since 2016, that is completely due to price per gallon increases because the volume fuel sales are actually down 14% over that period. Part of that decline is due to the slowdown in vehicle miles being traveled since the pandemic, which seems to be a continuing trend even into 2022.

A more telling metric that speaks to the strength and resilience of the sector is that total in-store sales have increased 16.7% since 2016, which underscores that there was no sales downturn when the lockdowns were initiated as was the case in almost all other retail. The reason there is simple – consumers chose the convenience store for the necessities they needed and was also close to home at a time when many decided to limit travel to larger retail formats.

Trend: Looking at the in-store retail experience more closely, c-stores sell a variety of items. At the top of the list are tobacco products, but packaged beverages, made-to-order food, snacks, and grocery items comprise fully 58% of all purchases – illustrating that the convenience store does exactly what it was made to do – serve the “convenience needs” of its patrons.

© 2023. Avison Young. Information contained in this report was obtained from sources deemed reliable and, while thought to be correct, have not been verified. Avison Young does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented, nor assumes any responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions therein. All opinions expressed and data provided herein are subject to change without notice. This report cannot be reproduced, in part or in full, in any format, without the prior written consent of Avison Young.