U.S. convenience stores saw a 15th consecutive year of record instore sales and a fourth straight year of $10 billion-plus pretax profits, according to the recently released NACS State of the Industry data.

C-store sales overall surged 9.3 percent to $601.1 billion, led by a 14.9 percent increase in fuel sales. Instore sales jumped 1.7 percent to a record $237 billion, led by the foodservice category that includes prepared foods, commissary foods and hot, cold and frozen dispensed beverages.

Foodservice sales overall in 2017 were $53.3 billion, accounting for 22.5 percent of instore sales and 33.9 percent of gross profit dollars. The category was also the biggest differentiator in profits. Top-quartile performers had prepared food sales that were 3.6 times greater than bottom-quartile stores.

Top Instore Categories

• Tobacco 32.1%
• Foodservice 22.5%
• Packaged beverages 15.8%
• Center store 9.9%
• Beer 8.5%
• Other 9.2%