Experts say the current macroeconomic environment and changing consumer preferences have forced many C-store chains to reevaluate their product offerings.
From supermarket-sized BUC-EES with trash-free parking, dozens of gas pumps, sparkling bathrooms and free electric vehicle (EV) charging space for tired drivers, the industry is dumping its previous reputation as a gas-and-gasoline station with quick excits, gas and plant drinks.
“Our CEOs like to say almost all American life within 10 minutes of a gas station,” Vontier spokeswoman Nicole Beck told The Epoch Times. “So when we talk about food deserts and things like that, gas stations and convenience stores are important infrastructure.”
So the entire convenience store landscape has been undergoing wholesale conversion following the pandemic, Beck said. The published Vontier is part of that change by providing digitally-enabled equipment and solutions for convenience stores, ranging from fuel pump automation and EV charging management systems to car wash technology and vehicle repair tools.
The Transformation seen by Vontier is also behind the post-pandemic ramp-up of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to help convenience stores chain chains locally and across the country. In 2023 and 2024, more than 12 major acquisitions have been occurring with the best convenience store rebranded.
Related Stories
Jesse Betzner, senior director of consumer investment banks at Boston-based Capstone Partners, said the current macroeconomic climate and changing consumer preferences have forced many convenience store chains to reevaluate their product offerings. These operators, mostly in large and medium markets, are increasingly prioritizing to attract customers, strengthening gross profits and making the decline in fuel sales a more weather-based approach to lower fuel sales, Bettsner told the Epoch Times.
“The main reason is that the market is still very fragmented, so there is still a lot of room for accidental integration in the sector, especially in this day and age when costs are skyrocketing and inflation is a major issue,” Bettsner said. “Small teams in particular struggle to compete with larger teams. Some of them need to consider exits to the larger (chain) in the end.”
Bettsner also noted that interested buyers, including national chains and private equity companies, prioritize stores with extra space or area for future expansion. He said the growth of super-large convenience stores like Buc-Ees is not a one-off phenomenon.
“Every time Buc-EE announces plans to expand to a specific market, it has a big impact on local competition,” he said. “But the ‘new normal’ is that Buc-ee inevitably takes a lot of market share from incumbent competition. ”
In the current fragmented environment, Bettsner said the industry is also ripe for “purchasing and construction” acquisitions, with private equity companies poised to grow platform companies. On the industry’s selling point, private equity companies seeking an exit strategy are looking to trade with large chains that are looking to expand into attractive markets. He noted that large operators such as Murphy USA, 7-Eleven, Circle K and Mabelik are owned by private holding company FJ Management.
However, the biggest factor in M&A activity in 2025 is the pending $47 billion in the proposal of Canadian Alentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s huge hit, purchasing Tokyo-based Seven & I Holdings Co. Couche-Tard, owner of the Circle K brand, is the second largest convenience store operator in the United States with 7,000 stores. Seven & I, the parent of Texas-based 7-Eleven, operates more than 9,200 stores with the same name in the United States.
“It certainly created a big fuss in the market,” he said. “(That) announcement has a bit of an overhand effect on the M&A market. Whenever there is a huge uncertainty… it could affect other sales activities and lead some sellers to pause to go to the market.”
