U.S. convenience store count stands at 148,026
This is the fourth-straight yearly decline as single-store operators continue to exit the industry.
PetroPlaza Online - January 21, 2022
There are 148,026 convenience stores operating in the United States, a 1.5% decrease in the number of stores from a year earlier, according to the 2022 NACS/NielsenIQ Convenience Industry Store Count.
Convenience stores sell an estimated 80% of the motor fuels purchased by consumers in the United States. The new store count shows that 116,641 convenience stores sell motor fuels (78.8% of all convenience stores). There were 4,897 fewer stores selling motor fuels compared to the year prior, but a direct comparison is imprecise because the 2022 store count reflects a slight methodology change for c-stores that sell fuel.
The industry decline was led by a 3.1% decrease in single-store operators, which still account for 60.4% of all convenience stores (89,336 stores). The decline of single-store operators continues a multi-year trend; single-store operators made up a record 63.2% of the industry in 2017. Meanwhile, the percentage of single-store operators that sell fuel dropped to 54.6% in 2021, the lowest since the metric has been tracked in 2005.
The decline in the convenience store count reflects the decline of other retail brick-and-mortar stores except for dollar stores.
In addition, there are “gas station” stores that sell fuel but not enough of an in-store product assortment to be considered convenience stores. Overall, there were 14,826 kiosks in 2021. The kiosk format continued to decline—down 5.2% the past year and 32.9% over the past six years—as more consumers sought out stores that have robust food and beverage offers.