This is the best convenience store in the country, according to customers

Stephanie Farr, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Oct 22, 2024

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PHILADELPHIA — Let's get right to the point and not Circle, K? While most convenience stores are just places for a QuikTrip to Shell out gas money or to stop in for a Sheetz while on the road, Wawa is a destination.

People leave their homes just to go to Wawa (in slippers, but still!). They wait in line for hours for store grand openings and free T-shirts (again, in slippers, but still!). And die-hard fans make Wawa runs a part of their daily routine (yeah, some of those folks are in slippers, too).

For decades, Wawa fans have proudly proclaimed that the Delaware County-based convenience store company is the best in the business. Marauding Sheetz fans from Western Pennsylvania, however, have tried to insist their chain is the one convenience store to rule them all.

The cross-state rivalry has fueled discussions, debates, and even a documentary, but now there is indisputable proof that Sheetz fans are incredibly wrong.

This month, Wawa took first place in the American Customer Satisfaction Index's (ACSI) Convenience Store Study, receiving a higher customer satisfaction rating than every other chain — including Sheetz, which came in fifth.

"We are grateful to our associates for making recognitions like this possible by continuing to deliver our purpose of fulfilling lives at our stores and we are also thankful to our amazing customers for allowing us to serve them and create meaningful connections inside and outside our stores," Wawa spokesperson Lori Bruce said in an emailed statement.

The study was based on 5,710 email surveys of randomly chosen customers. It's the first time the ACSI — which measures customer satisfaction in 40 industries from breweries (very popular) to the U.S. Postal Service (not so much) — has analyzed the convenience store sector.

ACSI recently identified convenience stores as an industry where growing competition and diversification makes understanding the customer experience important, a spokesperson said.

As fuel and tobacco sales are declining, chains that offer quality food options, merchandise, and reward programs have the highest levels of customer satisfaction, according to the study, which cites Wawa's "hoagies" several times. The convenience of store hours and locations was also a major factor in consumer satisfaction.

Customers rated convenience stores on a scale of 0 to 100, with the entire industry receiving an overall score of 76 (for comparison, full-service restaurants have the highest overall ACSI score of 84 while subscription TV service has the lowest, at 70).

Wawa's overall score was 82, followed by Oklahoma-based QuikTrip (81), Texas-based Buc-ee's and Arkansas-based Murphy USA (tied for third and fourth at 80), and Iowa-based Casey's General Stores and Sheetz (tied for fifth and sixth at 79). Shell, which is headquartered in England, came in last with a score of 74, and the nation's largest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, which is headquartered in Texas, was just above that with a 75.

Regionally, Wawa bested Sheetz in the Northeast but came in second to Buc-ee's in the South. In the Midwest, QuikTrip and Kwik Trip (that's got to be awkward) came in first and second, and out West, 7-Eleven and Circle K are the top two convenience stores, according to the ACSI study.