Sizing Up the C-Store Market

A yearly listing of the largest convenience-store chains in the U.S. reflects a field undergoing both rapid consolidation and organic growth. That’s one of the major conclusions of Winsight CSP’s “2023 Top 202” rankings of convenience retailers across the country.

“CSP‘s Top 202 is a significant check-in on how the convenience-store industry has grown and consolidated over the years,” said Steve Holtz, Editor-in-Chief of CSP. “It recognizes some of the largest retail chains in the country, as well as the family-owned and up-and-coming retailers who are driving the industry innovation that is helping to improve opinions of the convenience channel.”

The latest list shows the top three positions holding steady with 7-Eleven (12,854) , Circle K (7008 ) and Casey’s General Stores (2470) leading the industry. But after that, ranks begin to shake up as the largest retailers in the channel continue to execute aggressive growth strategies through both new-to-industry store construction and acquisitions.

Here’s the remainder of the Top 10, accompanies by their number of stores:

4) Murphy USA:  1712

5) EG America:  1682

6) GPM Investments:  1404

7) BP America: 1,224

8) ExtraMile: 1037

9) Wawa:  988

10) QuikTrip: 963

CSP‘s Top 202 list is based on in-house research and outreaches to the largest c-store chains across the U.S. Store counts are based on the total number of c-stores owned and/or franchised by a retailer as of Jan. 1, 2023.

The latest industry store count by NACS shows there are 150,174 c-stores in the United States. A majority, 90,423 units or 60.2 percent of all the total, are single-store operators.

Click here to see the full CSP rankings.