Wine sales in c-stores are one of the few bright spots in the ‘current wine gloom and doom,’ reported Wine Enthusiast. “That was noted as such in this year’s Silicon Valley Bank wine report, which otherwise predicted several more years—at least—of flat sales and sagging demand. Meanwhile, SipSource, which tracks wholesaler sales to retailers and restaurants, reports that convenience is the only channel that’s showing growth in wine,” wrote the outlet.

“[Customers] can drive somewhere and spend 20 minutes looking for a bottle of wine, or they can come into one of our stores and be out in three minutes,” Don Rhoads, president of The Convenience Group, owner of six Minit Mart stores and two franchise locations in the Pacific Northwest, told the outlet. “So we give them what they’re looking for—a convenience-driven proposition. And it’s a winner for us.”

The outlet also cited NACS data that total wine sales continue to rise, up 16% between 2022 and 2023.

“There’s been a shift in how people shop for wine,” said Joe Hamza, the chief operating officer for Nouria, which owns and operates 175 convenience stores throughout New England. “Younger consumers—millennials and Gen Z—don’t think twice about picking up a $20 bottle from a c-store, something their parents or grandparents might have hesitated to do.”

Around 70% of convenience stores in the U.S. now sell wine, up from less than half in 2018, Wine Enthusiast reported. “That’s especially noteworthy since many states, including New York, don’t allow c-store wine sales. Another key, according to the 2023 Wine Market Council Benchmark study, is the age of people who shop for wine at c-stores. Only 20% of Baby Boomer wine drinkers have bought wine at a convenience store, while a whopping 73% of Gen Z wine drinkers have (and 63% of millennials).”