ALEXANDRIA, Va. – One in nine American adults has worked in a convenience store and they say that the experience gave them valuable experience in how to work with people, how to manage processes and how to run a business, according to a national consumer survey released today by NACS.

Overall, 11% of adult Americans say that they have worked at a convenience store or gas station and 3% of all Americans say that it was their first job, according to the survey of adult Americans.

Those who have worked at convenience stores found the experience to be valuable: 87% say that they learned a lot about how to work with people, 85% say that the experience they gained was valuable, 82% say that they learned a lot about the world of work and 80% say that they learned how businesses are run.

Those who said their first job was at a convenience store were even more positive about the experience: 96% say that the work experience was valuable and 95% say that they learned a lot about the world of work.

The business value of the experience was cited by those who held a convenience store job in college: 88% say that they learned a lot about how businesses are run and 89% say that the job offered a flexible work schedule that allowed them to schedule work around other things in life.

Adult Americans who had never worked in a convenience store were equally positive about the potential opportunities available to employees. Overall, 86% of Americans who have never worked in the industry say that convenience stores offer good first jobs for those looking to enter the industry; 86% also say that convenience stores are great summer jobs for high school and college students. Also, they see jobs as a potential path toward managing or owning a small business; more than two-thirds of non-convenience store employees (68%) agree that it’s common for workers who work hard to become managers or eventually own their own businesses.

“Convenience stores conduct more than 160 million customer transactions a day and fuel 80% of the vehicles on the roads today. None of this would be possible without the 2.2 million employees that serve half of America on a daily basis. These jobs also provide opportunities — whether learning valuable business experience as you are earning an income, or to eventually grow your own small business,” said NACS President and CEO Henry Armour.