Are Store Operating Expenses Finally Under Control?
After years of direct store operating expenses outpacing inside gross profit dollar growth, 2025 may be the year we see the tide turn.
Mar 24, 2026
By Chrissy Blasinsky
At the 2025 NACS State of the Industry Summit, Varish Goyal, CEO of Loop Neighborhood Markets, shared that growth in direct store operating expenses (DSOE) slowed in 2024, but was still up $9.8 billion from the previous year to $159.9 billion.
Meanwhile, repairs and maintenance were up over 10% in 2024, and facility expenses grew at a rate “more than double the entire category of direct store operating expenses,” he said, with depreciation and amortization having a significant impact—around a 13% increase in 2024.
Wage growth had finally slowed to a single digit rate, a sign the labor market had improved, although costs associated with health insurance and other benefits increased double digit rates in 2024.
Goyal flagged foodservice spoilage, which increased by 42% from 2022-2024, as an expense to keep an eye on as the industry continues to focus on foodservice.
What will 2025 industry data reveal?
“For the past few years, we've been really concerned about the growth of operating expenses, whether it's wages, repairs and maintenance, utilities, etc.,” said Chris Rapanick, managing director of NACS Research, in a recent Convenience Matters podcast.
“The good news is that there's a considerable decline in direct store operating expenses as a total for our data sample,” he said about preliminary NACS CSX subscriber data.
What will the final numbers reveal? Did DSOE in fact come under control in 2025, or will we see some areas that still need attention?
Find out next month at the 2026 NACS State of the Industry Summit, taking place April 14-16 in Schaumburg, Illinois.
