Capitol Christmas Tree to Travel Through West Virginia

The convenience store industry has deep roots in the state and in the communities it serves. Here are some facts about the convenience store industry in the state:

Convenience stores are everywhere. There are 1,291 convenience stores in West Virginia – one per every 1,410 people. These stores provided more than 13,940 jobs last year across the state. In the United States there are 144,541 convenience stores. Competing channels have far fewer stores, according to Nielsen TDLinx, such as supermarkets (35,612 stores), drug stores (37,654 stores) and mass merchandiser/dollar stores (27,247). 

Convenience stores are America’s fueling station. Convenience stores sell the majority of gasoline purchased in the country — approximately 80 percent of all fuel sold in the United States. A total of 1,078 convenience stores sell motor fuels in West Virginia, accounting for 1.57 billion gallons sold in 2009. Overall, 84 percent of all convenience stores in West Virginia sell motor fuels.

Consumers are embracing convenience stores like never before. Cumulatively, convenience stores in West Virginia serve more than 1.47 million customers every day. An average store selling fuel has around 1,135 customers per day, or more than 400,000 per year. 

Convenience stores have robust sales. In West Virginia, convenience stores had sales of approximately $5.3 billion in 2009. Overall, U.S. convenience stores had $511 billion in sales – nearly equal the sales of the country’s supermarkets ($556 billion) and the predicted 2010 sales in restaurants ($580 billion), and far greater than drug stores ($218 billion).

Convenience stores sell time. Convenience stores offer speed of service to time-starved consumers who want to get in and out of the store quickly. These shoppers recognize this channel of trade for its convenient locations, extended hours of operation, one-stop shopping, grab-and-go foodservice, variety of merchandise and fast transactions. A NACS speed metrics study found that it takes customers, on average, 3 minutes and 33 seconds from the time they leave their cars until the time they get back in their cars with a purchase. No other channel comes close. 

NACS is sharing regular updates on the tree’s visits to retail member sites along the way at nacsonline.com/capitolchristmastree.