Record Number of Convenience Stores Now Selling Gasoline, According to NACS

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--April 14, 2004--While the total number of U.S. convenience stores fell 1.3 percent to 130,659 stores, the number of convenience stores selling motor fuels grew 4.3 percent in 2003 to reach a record 106,240 stores, according to the new National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS)/TDLinx Official Industry Store Count,. The count is based on the convenience store universe, tracked and marketed by TDLinx as of December 31, 2003, and is endorsed by NACS.

The percentage of convenience stores selling motor fuels also is a record high -- 81.3 percent of all stores. NACS estimates that these stores sell approximately three-quarters of all the motor fuels purchased in the country. Meanwhile, the percentage of stores that do not sell motor fuels plummeted 20.2 percent.

Motor fuels are an increasingly important offer for stores

Even though motor fuels gross margins reached a 17-year low in 2002, according to the NACS 2003 State of the Industry report, more stores are offering motor fuels than ever before to generate customer traffic. Every region across the country saw an increase in the number of stores selling motor fuels, led by the 15.3 percent increase in the Middle Atlantic states (New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania).

Most stores are small, independent businesses

More than half of all U.S. convenience stores selling motor fuels (55,426 stores) are classified "one-store operators," meaning that they are either owned or franchised by an individual. Conversely, only about one in seven stores (15,719 stores) are owned and operated by a business that owns 500 or more stores.

While the majority of stores selling motor fuels are "branded" outlets that sell a specific major oil company's brand of fuel, NACS estimates that less than 7 percent of all convenience stores selling motor fuels are owned and operated by one of the five major oil companies.

Fuel services are a necessity in many states

In 24 states, the percentage of convenience stores that sell motor fuels tops 90 percent, led by the 98.5 percent of stores in North Dakota that sell fuel (only five stores do not sell motor fuels in the state). Not surprisingly, the two states that mandate full-service for motor fuels sales had among the lowest percentages of stores selling motor fuels. New Jersey had the smallest percentage of stores selling fuels (33.7 percent), and Oregon had the third lowest (49.5 percent, slightly more than the 46.1 percent in Massachusetts).

NACS will release complete industry data for 2003 on April 27. Contact NACS for more specifics on the store count released today.