Milking It No Longer

You know what they say: “There’s no use crying over spilled milk.” This is wise advice for convenience store operators who last year saw their fluid milk sales decline by 2.5 percent per store. In fact, the category fell out of the top 10 in-store categories into the No. 11 spot, replaced by non-edible grocery, which moved into the tenth slot.

The milk category, however, wasn’t alone in seeing spoiled sales in 2014. The ice cream and frozen novelties category, along with the health and beauty care (HBC) category, also posted declines. Ice cream and frozen novelties suffered from a 10.1-percent loss in sales of frozen yogurt/sherbet/sorbet, ending the year with a 0.3-percent overall dip per store.

Meanwhile, HBC experienced a counterbalance as cosmetics saw another strong year of growth with a 7.7-percent increase, but was offset by a 7.9-percent drop in sales of energy shots, liquid vitamins and supplements. Overall, HBC saw a 1.3-percent sales decline per store.

Happier news could be found in the edible grocery and general merchandise sections of the convenience store. Buoyed by increases in all its subcategories, edible grocery posted a per-store sales increase of 3.5 percent last year compared to 0.1 percent in 2013.

In general merchandise, all but two segments (batteries and film/photo) generated increases. Seasonal items had another stellar year, experiencing a 17-percent increase, as did telecomm hardware with a 51.1-percent increase and automotive products with an 11.5-percent increase. Overall, general merchandise sales per store increased by 5.9 percent.