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American consumers are feeling stressed and stretched. They’re finding some retail relief just a few feet from the fuel pump.
Convenience stores like Circle K were among just a handful of retailers that had more customers coming into their stores year-over-year in March, according to Kantar Retail’s monthly shopper tracking survey. Placer.ai, which uses mobile-device location data to track foot traffic, said in December that “C-store” chains like Kwik Trip and Buc-ee’s saw year-over-year growth in the number of shoppers coming to their stores in 2024.
That has happened, retail experts say, as convenience chains have sought to improve their food and beverage offerings while keeping prices affordable.
“As consumers start to look for value, we’re a great trade-down opportunity from a price perspective, but not a trade-down in quality,” said Darren Rebelez, CEO of Casey’s General Stores (CASY), during a mid-March conference call.
Fourth-fifths of the more than 150,000 convenience stores in the US sell fuel, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores. The smaller shops attached to gas stations stock essentials like milk, bread. pasta, fresh produce and diapers, along with sunglasses, shampoo, cosmetics and toys.
Some 80% of the items bought at gas station stores are consumed within the hour, according to NACS, but many shoppers both fill up the tank and stock up on pantry items, like bread or eggs, for their next meal. Dollar sales of tobacco products, the largest convenience-store category according to market research firm NIQ, fell last year, while frozen food, wine, and deli and dairy products all rose.
Younger shoppers and those with children are particularly drawn to the stores’ combination of selection and convenience, according to Julie Craig, Kantar’s vice president of shopper insights.
“If we put ourselves in the mindset of younger parents not wanting to jump through hoops in a traditional grocery store—parking, getting a cart, sprinting across an enormous store, waiting in a checkout line—the convenience stores offer the ultimate quick trip,” she said.
Non-fuel gas-station sales at Casey’s, which has more than 3,000 locations, rose more than 15% in its most recent quarter, driven by general merchandise along with prepared food such as hot sandwiches and baked goods.
“We sell basic daily needs … that are low-dollar denominations,” Rebelez said. “When people have to pull back on discretionary spending, a lot of what we sell would be considered by our guests to be non-discretionary.”
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