5 C-Store Brands Land on Best Retailer List

All of the convenience retailers had an NPS of 85 or higher. Here’s who made the list.

May 19, 2022

Wawa Sign

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Newsweek debuted its list of America’s Best Retailers for 2022, and five convenience store retailers made the list. The media outlet reports that brick-and-mortar locations are thriving, citing National Retail Federation data that shows total retail sales are expected to grow between 6% and 8% this year to $4.86 trillion, and most of those sales will happen in physical stores.

“All of which means, the experience of shopping in a store—the ability to touch and try different products in real life, to get sales help and advice, to enjoy the experience of browsing—is something customers still want and value,” writes Nancy Cooper, Newsweek’s global editor-in-chief.

Newsweek asked shoppers how likely they were to recommend a retailer to friends and family as well as how they ranked the retailer on factors including price, selection and overall atmosphere.

Here’s are the five convenience stores on the list:

  1. Wawa, based in Wawa, Pennsylvania, came in at No. 1, with a score of 89.87. Wawa is a privately held company with locations in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The company is planning aggressive growth with a goal to double its store count.
  2. Sheetz, based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, came in at No. 2 with a score of 88.30. Sheetz is a family-owned and -operated convenience store chain with more than 23,500 employees. The company operates over 640 store locations throughout Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
  3. Thorntons, based in Louisville, Kentucky, was No. 3 on the list with a score of 87.47. Thorntons is part of the bp portfolio and operates more than 200 stores six states: Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee.
  4. QuikTrip, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ranked No. 4 with a score of 86.91. QuikTrip has grown to a more than $11 billion company with more than 900 stores in 15 states with 24,000 employees.
  5. Pilot Flying J, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, was No. 5 on the list with a score of 84.68. Pilot Company has grown its network to more than 800 retail and fueling locations and as the third largest tanker fleet in North America, supplies more than 14 billion gallons of fuel per year to the market. Its Pilot Flying J Travel Center network includes over 750 locations in 44 states and five Canadian provinces.
All five of these retailers are among those who made the 2022 NACS/NielsenIQ list of the Top 100 Convenience Retailers as ranked by store count. See the full list in the March 2022 issue of NACS Magazine.
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