It was another record year for in-store sales at U.S. convenience stores, according to data released Wednesday by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).
Foodservice and merchandise sales at c-stores hit $341.2 billion in 2025, a 1.7% increase over 2024’s $335.5 billion, according to NACS. 2025 marked the 23rd straight year of inside sales growth.
Total convenience industry sales, including in-store and fuel, were $817.5 billion.
The industry’s 2025 performance was shared during the NACS State of the Industry Summit in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Foodservice again led in-store sales, accounting for 28.5% of the total. The category has grown significantly over the past two decades, up from 11.9% in 2005, NACS said. Its impact on profitability is even greater, contributing 38.9% of in-store gross profit dollars in 2025.
Foodservice includes prepared food, commissary items and hot, cold and frozen dispensed beverages. Prepared food—pizza, chicken, burgers, sandwiches, wraps and salads—remains the largest segment, representing 73.9% of foodservice sales, up from 66.4% in 2021, according to NACS.
Packaged beverages up a bit from 2024
Packaged beverages ranked as the No. 2 in-store category, with 18.7% of sales, up 0.8 points from 2024, according to NACS. Among other categories, alternative snacks—including jerky, seeds and nuts—experienced strong growth of 7.9%, reflecting rising demand for protein-focused items, partially driven by increased GLP-1 use.
Fuel sales dip
C-stores, which account for about 80% of fuel sales in the U.S., saw total fuel sales decline 5.4%, from $501.9 billion in 2024 to $476.3 billion in 2025, NACS said. The decrease was driven by a 5.9% drop in average gas prices, from $3.30 to $3.11 per gallon, while gallons sold increased 0.5%.
Fuel represented 65% of total sales dollars but 38.8% of gross profit dollars.
Including both fuel and in-store transactions, the average c-store recorded 45,160 transactions monthly in 2025 (1,484 per day), a 2.7% drop from 2024.
Direct store operating expenses—including wages, benefits, card fees, utilities, maintenance and shrink—rose 4.2%, the slowest increase since the COVID-19 pandemic, NACS said. However, credit and debit card fees reached a record $21.3 billion.
C-stores supported 2.75 million jobs in 2025, with an average of 19.9 employees per store. Hourly wages averaged $15.04. The industry also contributed $232 billion in local, state and federal taxes, representing more than 28% of total revenues.
The U.S. c-store count totaled 151,975 locations, a drop of 280 stores (0.2%) year over year. The number of stores selling fuel increased by 768 (0.6%) to 122,620, the highest level in eight years.
The data is based on submissions from convenience retailers representing more than 35,000 stores, combined with insights from NACS CSX, a self-reported industry database. All submitted data is anonymized and kept confidential.
Founded in 1961 as the National Association of Convenience Stores, Alexandria, Virginia-based NACS advances the role of convenience stores as positive economic, social and philanthropic contributors to the communities they serve and is an adviser to retailer and supplier members from more than 50 countries.
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