Texas Continues to Lead U.S. C-store Count

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The U.S. convenience store count has hit a record number, with Texas leading the way with more than one in 10 locations.

According to the 2017 NACS/Nielsen Convenience Industry Store Count, there were 154,535 c-stores as of Dec. 31, a 0.2-percent increase from the year prior. That equals 340 additional stores. 

The industry store count has increased by 63 percent over the last three decades. At year-end 1986, the c-store count was 95,000 stores, at year-end 1996 the store count was 104,600 stores and at year-end 2006 the store count was 145,119 stores. 

Over that time frame, there have only been five times when the store count did not set a record; the latest being year-end 2008 and 2009 during the Great Recession, NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing said.

"Nielsen data shows that the U.S. convenience store channel continues to be an industry of opportunity," said Rob Hill, executive vice president of retail services at Nielsen. "The current consumer climate has created favorable conditions for c-store sales growth, contributing to a positive, long-term outlook. 

"Nielsen understands the importance of the convenience channel and is committed to accurately track convenience store growth for our partners and clients, both chains and independent stores," Hill added.  
 
Compared to the other retail channels Nielsen tracks, convenience stores account for more than one third (34.1 percent) of all outlets in the United States. In addition, the convenience store count alone is 25 percent higher than the combined store counts of superettes, supermarket and supercenters (51,191 stores), drug stores (43,636 stores) and dollar stores (28,832 stores).
 
Overall, 80.1 percent of convenience stores (123,807) sell motor fuels, a decrease of 0.6 percent (or 567 stores) from 2016, with the single-store motor fuel segment dropping by 604 stores. 

"This decline could be something to watch: It's likely that some stores have stopped selling gas for reasons such as the cost of PCI compliance, competition from [quick-service restaurants], as well as industry consolidation," said Bob Swanson, director of research and statistics for NACS.
 
The convenience retailing industry continues to be dominated by single-store operators, which account for 63.1 percent of all locations (97,504 stores total) and 42.6 percent of store growth last year. 

A small operator himself, NACS 2016-17 Chairman Rahim Budhwani, CEO of Hoover, Ala.-based 6040 LLC, stated, "Our continued annual growth in store count shows that our industry's core offer of convenience strongly resonates with time-starved customers, while our channel continues to innovate with new formats and offers to stay relevant and vibrant."
 
Among the states, Texas continues to lead in store count with 15,671 stores. The rest of the top 10 states for convenience stores are: California (11,774), Florida (9,930), New York (8,570), Georgia (6,761), North Carolina (6,306), Ohio (5,635), Michigan (4,833), Pennsylvania (4,787), and Illinois (4,737). 

As overall growth in the channel was fairly small during 2016, 23 states experienced declines in total store count from the prior year. The bottom three states in terms of store count are: Alaska (217 stores), Delaware (348), and Wyoming (354).
 
 Alexandria-based NACS has 2,100 retailer and 1,750 supplier members from more than 50 countries.