Operations Overload

As the war over the minimum wage wages on in municipalities and state-houses across the country, convenience store operators are all too familiar with the cost of keeping their stores staffed. Last year saw wages hit $246,394 per store, a 7.5-percent increase over 2013. Even more telling, wages accounted for 41.14 percent of profits — leaving other operating expenses far behind.

Health care benefits are also a hot-button issue on both sides of the coin. In 2014, this line item climbed more than 9 percent to $22,532 per store. The Affordable Care Act may be having an effect: Health insurance costs have increased, but not as much as expected, perhaps showing retailers are hiring more part-time employees instead of full-time workers.

Overall, direct-store operating expenses totaled $514,946 per store in 2014.