Methodology

The 39th 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.

CSNews commissioned Carbonview Research to field a survey among a random sample of c-store retailers on a confidential basis. Preston/Rogers Associates Inc., based in Medfield, Mass., coordinated the various data used in this report.

A total of 209 companies representing approximately 20,000 convenience stores are included in the 2014 CSNews Industry Report 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 were provided by 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 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, the Department of Energy and the Federal Tax Administration.