3 Big Numbers is a weekly column that looks at a few key details from around the c-store industry.
Over the past few weeks, C-Store Dive has taken a look at the shifting landscape of new store formats. From digging into the variety of styles Wawa has tested to examining the pros and cons of modular construction, we examined several angles on store design and the ways it’s evolving.
In today’s “3 Big Numbers,” we’re taking a closer look at three specific details from that coverage, including how much of a boost 7-Eleven expects from its new design, just how big a “big” c-store can be and travel chain Onvo’s expansive amenities.
30%
The percentage by which 7-Eleven expects stores using its new prototype to outperform older stores after four years.
Whether they want to give more space to foodservice, brighten up the interior or just go a bit bigger, retailers have been premiering pilots and prototypes at a rapid clip in the past couple years.
7-Eleven joined the crowd this fall when it revealed its “new standard” store design. Customers at its test-bed “evolution” stores told 7-Eleven that they “wanted larger format convenience stores, stores that were food forward,” among other things, CEO Joe DePinto said in the company’s latest earnings call. The “new standard” design is larger and based around the company’s evolving foodservice program, 7-Eleven said.
The company plans to build hundreds of these new stores in the next few years — and expects to see a big boost to revenue as a result. Sites using the new design are expected to outperform older locations by 13% in the first year and by 30% after four years of operation, said DePinto.
24x
How many times larger most new Buc-ee’s are than the average c-store.
Several convenience store brands announced or opened their largest stores to date in 2024, including Rutter’s, Weigel’s and Onvo. Stinker Stores recently opened a store that’s 10,000 square feet and features its Pete’s Eats foodservice program along with seating.
But it’s nearly impossible to talk about the trend of larger c-stores without talking about Buc-ee’s.
The average c-store was 3,041 square feet in 2023, according to NACS data. Most of Buc-ee’s recently announced locations, meanwhile, are planned to be between 73,000 and 76,000 square feet. That means at the low end, most new Buc-ee’s stores are a whopping 24 times the size of the average convenience store.
112
The number of rooms expected to be in Onvo’s first purpose-built hotel.
Maybe this one’s cheating, since the number isn’t directly connected to the convenience store, but since it relates to a big first for Onvo at the site of its latest and largest travel center, it feels relevant.
Onvo already has half a dozen hotels on or near its c-stores, but the upcoming TownePlace Suites by Marriott adjacent to its Pottsville, Pennsylvania, location is the first one it’s building from the ground up. The hotel is in the middle of construction right now, but is expected to have 112 rooms once it opens, according to local reporting.
The hotel is also an “all-suite extended stay,” meaning each of those rooms will have a kitchen and dishwasher. Onvo said it’s targeting not just professional drivers but also families and business travelers who are on the road and need a clean, comfortable place to stay.
