Seven C-store Chains Land Spots on NRF's Top 100 Retailers List

NATIONAL REPORT — Convenience store chains are being recognized among the top retailers on the National Retail Federation's (NRF) annual Top 100 Retailers list.

Seven c-store retailers landed on the rankings this year, one more than in 2018. Among the leading 100 largest retailers by sales are 7-Eleven Inc., Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Giant Eagle Inc., Army & Air Force Exchange (AAFES), Speedway LLC, ExxonMobil Corp. and Shell Oil Co.

Of the seven, six are making repeat appearances from last year. Giant Eagle, which operates the GetGo Café + Market chain and acquired 56 Ricker's convenience stores in late 2018, did not appear on the list in 2018.

All of the chains also appear on the Convenience Store News Top 100, which will be unveiled in the July issue of Convenience Store News magazine.

"Retailing encompasses more today than it ever has before. A year from now it will encompass even more. Whatever the future may hold, the present is still dominated, at least in terms of sales, by retailers with a bricks-and-mortar heritage: Bricks-and-mortar accounts for about 90 percent of total sales," NRF said, which revealed its Stores Magazine's Top 100 on July 1.

Looking at the convenience channel players on the list:

• Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven took the No. 29 spot with $16.51 billion in retail sales in 2018.
• Couche-Tard, with U.S. headquarters in Tempe, Ariz., landed at No. 36 with $12.46 billion in retail sales in 2018.
• Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle came in at No. 53 with $9.13 billion in retail sales in 2018.
• Dallas-based AAFES took the No. 62 spot with $7.5 billion in retail sales in 2018.
• Speedway, the Enon, Ohio-based retail arm of Marathon Petroleum Corp., captured the No. 84 spot with $5.19 billion in retail sales in 2018.
• Irving, Texas-based ExxonMobil took the No. 94 spot with $4.76 billion in retail sales in 2018.
• Houston-based Shell Oil landed at No. 99 with $4.22 billion in retail sales in 2018.