ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NACS has just released the NACS State of the Industry Report of 2007 Data, the convenience and petroleum retailing industry's premier benchmarking tool and most comprehensive collection of firm-level, store-level and category data and trends based on 2007 performance.

Compiling and analyzing totals, trends and averages for the industry, the 148-page report also examines economic conditions and their potential impact on the industry. It features more than 100 charts and tables focusing on every area of the industry's 2007 performance, including financials, store operations, merchandising, motor fuels sales and quartile analysis. The report also features a four-year perspective of same-firm data from the CSX retail database.

"Retailers who want to improve their operations and communicate the industry's perspectives on motor fuels sales and other industry trends rely on the information contained in the NACS SOI report," said NACS Director of Research and Statistics Bob Swanson, noting that retailers consider the report a vital resource for benchmarking store performance.

According to the report, overall convenience store sales hit grew 1.4 percent to reach $577.4 billion. Inside the store, revenues grew 3.0 percent to reach $168.5 billion. On a per-store basis, combined in-store sales surpassed hit a record $1.3 million per store, with merchandise revenues hitting $1.1 million, and foodservice revenues reaching just over $200,000.

While revenues increased, so did expenses. Credit card fees continued to burden retailers in 2007, costing the industry a staggering $7.6 billion -- a 15.2 percent increase over the $6.6 billion in card fees in 2006.

Complimentary copies of this year's report have been shipped to companies that participated in the annual survey. "We are extremely grateful to those who submitted data for this year's survey. Not only does the NACS State of the Industry Report serve as the industry's premier benchmarking tool, the industry numbers compiled are critical to our outreach efforts in quantifying the industry and its priority issues, both on Capitol Hill and with the national media," said Swanson.

The SOI report features a number of additional research supplements:

• CSX Same Firm Trends for 2004-2007: Data from 122 firms with 13,618 company-operated stores to facilitate "apples to apples" comparisons for benchmarking. 
• Same-Store Trends: A sample group of 424 stores, selected to be representative of the industry, are part of a NACS Index Group that tracks same-store data and comparisons for 2006 and 2007.
• Technology: A total of 205 companies, representing 31,610 stores, provided data on key technology metrics in more than a dozen categories, including capital investments, scanning, payment methods and wireless technology.
• Motor Fuels: An update on sales and new realities confronting motor fuels retailing.

Purchasers of the NACS State of the Industry Report of 2007 Data report will also receive the NACS Convenience Store Industry Fact Book CD-ROM. The 21st edition of the Fact Book provides a detailed statistical account of industry data over the past several years -- or in some cases, decades -- as well as a historical recap of the industry and key definitions and events that have shaped it. The Fact Book will be shipped in September.

To order the NACS State of the Industry Report of 2007 Data/Convenience Store Industry Fact Book CD-ROM package, visit www.nacsonline.com/shop or call NACS Customer Service at (800) 966-6227.

The State of the Industry Report of 2007 Data and the Convenience Store Industry Fact Book CD-ROM are available to NACS member companies (order number 40022030) for $175 ($600 regular price). Additional copies of the State of the Industry Report of 2007 Data /Fact Book (order number 40022031) are available to NACS members for $40 ($175 regular price). The report is also available as an electronic PDF edition (order number 40022032) to NACS members for $500 ($1,000 regular price).