Methodology

The 40th annual Convenience Store News Industry Report features data from a variety of sources in order to provide a complete picture of the convenience store industry.

Preston/Rogers Associates Inc., based in Medfield, Mass., coordinated the various data used in this report. CSNews commissioned a survey among a random sample of c-store retailers on a confidential basis to gather data for 2014 fiscal-year sales and operations. A total of 204 companies representing approximately 20,000 c-stores are included in the results.

Store census data was provided by Nielsen TDLinx, which maintains a national count of both chain and single-store retail locations.

Dollar sales and unit volume data for a variety of categories was provided by The Nielsen Co. from its Convenience Track retail measurement service, which is based on UPC sales and other retail conditions that are measured through the use of point-of-sale scan data, as well as from data captured via electronic invoice and sales audits.

Data for competitive channels was also provided by The Nielsen Co. through its Strategic Planner retail measurement service, which covers supermarkets with sales of $2 million or more and drugstores with more than $1 million in sales.

Additional data for tobacco categories was provided by Altria Client Services.

Government sources include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Energy and Federal Tax Administration.

Note: Some past-year results have been restated in order to more closely align with changes in Nielsen category definitions.