How Big is the C-Store Industry?

Getting to a true number for the size of this industry is tricky. The reason? It’s hard to define. From a more formal definition to the broader, these are the best numbers to guide you.   

How many c-stores are in the US?

According to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), there were 153,237 convenience stores at the end of 2018 of which 121,998 sold fuel, almost 80% of stores. You’ll find similar numbers reported by the US Census Bureau with 141,064‬ stores of which 111,076 sold fuel, almost 79%.  In a previous blog post, Dun & Bradstreet’s numbers were 153,969.

Using state licensing data to vet out the numbers.

Did you know that 80% of retail fuel is sold through a convenience store? That means you can use many of the underground storage tank UST data resources presented in a previous post to help and vet out the size of the c-store market in your state. 

You can also use state reports such as the California Retail Fuel Outlet Annual Reporting which shows 10,266 retail fuel outlets. That compares to NACS’ reported 11,774 convenience stores and the Census Bureau’s 10,183 of which 73% sold fuel (see the tables and charts at the bottom of this post). 

You can also use other licensing such as tobacco to vet out the industry size. For Example, New York’s tobacco license database reports 7,545 convenience stores are licensed to sell tobacco. When compared to NACS’ 8,570 stores and the US Census Bureau’s 7,068 stores, you can start to see how these figures can help you get that “better picture.”

Did you know that tobacco is a leading category for c-stores? In fact, 71% of cigarettes are sold through convenience stores. That’s why fuel and tobacco license databases are great resources for researching this industry.

Hard to define and hard to measure… is this too narrow of a view?

Remove the fuel and a convenience store starts to look like a small-format grocery store, selling many of the same items and offering the same services. Other formats that you may want to look at are mini-marts, bodegas, food marts, and superettes. The number of bodegas in New York City alone is estimated to be 13,000 as of 2017.