New Research Predicts Dramatic Change for C-store Competitive Landscape

DUBLIN, Ireland -- The U.S. convenience store industry will witness a dramatic change in its competitive landscape over the next few years, according to new research released by Research and Markets. A large number of companies with diversified portfolios will foray into the lucrative U.S. c-store market, which will lead incumbent players to invest heavily in establishing stores across different states, the "U.S. Convenience Stores Market Outlook to 2013" report stated.

The U.S. convenience store industry is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing sectors, presenting lucrative investment opportunities for new players. Despite an economic slowdown and financial crisis, the country has shown a 'splendid performance' during the past few years and the number of convenience stores is continuously rising, the study noted.

C-stores have greatly benefited from the growth of the overall retail industry and a continuous surge in oil prices. Plus, increasing consumer appetite for convenient shopping and soaring sales of low-priced, non-traditional products have had a positive impact, the research showed.

According to Research and Market's outlook, the United States definitively has huge future growth potential for the c-store industry. This is mainly due to the fact that a rise in retail sales and a large consumer base have boosted the development of this sector. As such, the overall sales of the industry reached $575.6 billion in 2010. It is further anticipated to grow at a CAGR of around 11 percent from 2011 to 2014, and reach around $856 billion by the end of 2014.

C-store sales include both motor fuel sales and in-store sales. Motor fuel sales made up 66.9 percent of total convenience store sales during 2010. The industry is dominated by single-store businesses, which account for the majority of total convenience stores.

At the state level, Texas, California, Florida, and New York accounted for around 29 percent of the total convenience store count during the same period, the report stated.