Convenience store wine 2023

Convenience store wine sales rebounded in 2022, remaining a wine bright spot

Jeff Lenard, an executive with the national convenience store trade group, was in California last month on business. “And you know what I saw?” he asked. “I went to an ampm [convenience store] in Elk Grove that did wine tastings every day.”

In other words, the boom is back in convenience store wine sales.

In 2022, average store wine sales increased 11.1 percent, compared to a 7.5 percent decline in 2021. That increase was the fourth in the past five years in  7-Elevens, QuikTrips, Wawas, and all the rest scattered throughout the country.

The figures, compiled by the National Association of Convenience Stores, also found that almost 70 percent of convenience stores in the U.S. now sell wine. That’s up a couple of points from last year and from 58 percent in 2020 – an impressive increase and a huge number, since many states, including New York, don’t allow c-store wine sales (c-store being the cool kids term for convenience stores).

Why should we care about c-store wine sales? Several reasons:

• Because it’s a non-traditional retailer, showing that wine doesn’t have to be limited to the usual suspects (many of whom aren’t moving much product these days).

• It’s less formal, taking away lots of the foolishness in wine buying. Buy wine at a convenience store, and no one is going to shame you for choosing pink moscato.

• Millennials between 28 and 36 years are “the most invested in convenience store sales,” making purchases two to three times per week. And we know how Millennials usually feel about wine, don’t we?

More about convenience store wine:
• Convenience store wine 2022
• Convenience store wine 2021
• Convenience store wine during the pandemic