It’s a Golden Age for Convenience Stores. Americans Are Flocking to Them.
這是便利商店的黃金時代。美國人趨之若鶩。

You might call it a golden age of convenience stores, for consumers and investors. In the Philadelphia region, loyal Wawa customers seek out fresh hoagies (aka subs) and affordable coffee. Customers at Seven & i Holdings’ 7-Eleven stores around the country stop in for Big Gulps. Texas-based Buc-ee’s boasts “the cleanest restrooms in America,” plus huge stores that feature all sorts of food and merchandise—and brisket sandwiches that keep customers coming back for more.
對消費者和投資者來說，這可能是便利商店的黃金時代。在費城地區，Wawa 的忠實顧客會購買新鮮的烤餅（又稱三明治）和價格實惠的咖啡。在全國各地的 Seven & i Holdings 旗下的 7-Eleven 便利商店，顧客都會停下來喝上一大口。總部位於德州的 Buc-ee's 以 "全美最乾淨的洗手間 "為榮，而且店面巨大，各種食品和商品應有盡有，牛腩三明治更是讓顧客流連忘返。

According to data from Placer.ai, visits to convenience stores in the first half of 2023 outpaced categories such as fast-food restaurants, coffee chains, and gas stations by a wide margin. The data showed that by July 2023, major chains were notching foot traffic up more than 60% compared with a prepandemic baseline in January 2019. That contrasts with less than 20% growth for gas stations in general.
根據 Placer.ai 的數據，2023 年上半年便利商店的訪問量遠遠超過了快餐店、咖啡連鎖店和加油站等類別。數據顯示，到 2023 年 7 月，主要連鎖店的人流與 2019 年 1 月流行前的基線相比增長了 60% 以上。與之形成鮮明對比的是，一般加油站的成長幅度不到 20%。

Among the nation’s convenience-store chains, 7-Eleven, Casey’s, Maverik, Kwik Trip, and Buc-ee’s saw higher traffic every month of 2023 and in January 2024 when compared with 2019, according to data that Placer.ai compiled for Barron’s.
根據Placer.ai 為巴隆公司編制的數據，在全國連鎖便利商店中，7-Eleven、Casey's、Maverik、Kwik Trip 和Buc-ee's 在2023 年的每個月和2024 年1 月的客流量都很高於2019 年。

“The largest players have strong, recognizable brands, they’re rooted in communities they serve, they have really long track records of growth, and they are modernizing their tech and supply chains for future growth,” says Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe. “They’re much different concepts than just simple gas stations now.”
「傑富瑞（Jefferies）分析師科里-塔羅（Corey Tarlowe）表示："最大的企業擁有強大、知名的品牌，它們紮根於所服務的社區，擁有非常長的成長記錄，並且正在實現技術和供應鏈的現代化，以實現未來的成長。 "它們的概念與現在簡單的加油站大不相同。

In Iowa, Casey’s pizza is repeatedly voted the state’s favorite, and even has customers ordering up pies for breakfast. Not to be outdone, Wawa hired Casey’s senior manager of culinary innovation as its corporate executive chef.
在愛荷華州，Casey's 披薩屢次被評為該州最受歡迎的披薩，甚至有顧客點了披薩當早餐。 Wawa 也不甘示弱，聘請凱西公司的烹飪創新高級經理擔任公司行政總廚。

Out of the 150,000 convenience stores across the U.S., nearly two-thirds are mom-and-pop operations, with anywhere between one and 10 locations. Individual operators can find it hard to efficiently offer freshly made food or wide product selections. Other challenges include rising costs such as higher wages, and lower sales from tobacco products.
在全美 15 萬家便利商店中，有近三分之二是母嬰店，分店數量在 1 到 10 家之間。個體經營者很難有效地提供新鮮食品或豐富的產品選擇。其他挑戰還包括薪資上漲等成本上升，以及菸草產品銷售額下降。

“The dynamics of the industry have changed, and it has become more difficult for small-scale operators to compete effectively against the larger competitors,” says Justin Tugman, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors.
"Janus Henderson 投資公司的投資組合經理 Justin Tugman 表示："行業的動態已經發生了變化，小規模運營商要想有效地與大型競爭對手競爭變得更加困難。

The biggest players—which still control just a fraction of the fragmented market—have been going on buying sprees, aiming to increase the profits of their acquisitions by adding things like loyalty programs, mobile apps, and prepared food. “Over the past decade, we’ve seen significant consolidation within the convenience-store industry and thus have seen quality, larger scale assets…become increasingly scarce in the public markets,” says Tugman.
最大的幾家公司--它們仍然只控制著這個分散市場的一小部分--一直在大肆收購，目的是透過增加忠誠度計劃、行動應用程式和預製食品等來提高收購利潤。 "圖格曼說："在過去的十年中，我們看到便利商店行業進行了重大整合，因此優質、規模較大的資產......在公開市場上變得越來越稀缺。

With the pandemic over, Americans are once again hitting the road for work, school, and pleasure, and are willing to pay for the convenience of eating freshly made food on the go. “Time is the most valuable commodity, and [convenience stores] have found a way to monetize it,” says Markus Hansen, a portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management.
隨著大流行的結束，美國人又開始為工作、學習和娛樂而奔波，並願意為方便地隨時享用新鮮食品而買單。 "Vontobel資產管理公司的投資組合經理馬庫斯-漢森（Markus Hansen）說："時間是最寶貴的商品，而（便利商店）已經找到了將時間貨幣化的方法。

The cost of eating fast food has ballooned due to inflation, and many people don’t have the patience or the budget to eat at sit-down restaurants. That means convenience stores are often in a sweet spot for offering the most value for consumers’ time and money. People still have to fill up their cars, and it’s easier if they can grab a pizza for dinner from the same location, rather than make another stop.
由於通貨膨脹，吃速食的成本急劇上升，許多人沒有耐心或預算到餐廳用餐。這意味著，便利商店往往能為消費者的時間和金錢提供最大價值。人們仍然需要為汽車加油，如果能在同一地點買到披薩當晚餐，就比在另一個地方停車更方便。

Gasoline has proved to be a popular business for publicly held operators. In their most recent quarters, Ankeny, Iowa–based Casey’s recorded fuel margins of 37.3 cents a gallon, while El Dorado, Ark.–based Murphy USA posted margins of 32.5 cents a gallon.
事實證明，汽油業務是上市公司的熱門業務。在最近幾季中，總部位於愛荷華州安肯尼的凱西公司（Casey's）的燃油利潤率達到每加侖37.3 美分，而總部位於美國阿肯色州埃爾多拉多的墨菲公司（ Murphy USA）的利潤率為每加侖32.5 美分。

Electric vehicles, which continue to increase in popularity, aren’t a big threat. EVs still make up only a small percentage of cars on the road, and any transition away from gasoline will take decades to play out. In addition, many convenience stores are equipped with charging stations. And they take longer than a traditional gas fill-up, giving drivers time to grab a snack—or a meal—from inside the store.
電動車雖然不斷普及，但並不是個大威脅。電動車在道路上行駛的汽車中仍然只佔很小的比例，而且任何汽油車的過渡都需要幾十年的時間。此外，許多便利商店都配備了充電站。而且充電站的充電時間比傳統的加油時間更長，讓駕駛者有時間在店內吃點零食或正餐。

Shares of Casey’s have soared well ahead of the broader market since
自 2007 年以來，凱西的股價一直飆升，遠遠領先大盤。 Barron’s recommended them in 2021
巴倫周刊》在 2021 年推薦了它們, when the pandemic threat was receding.
當時大流行病的威脅正在減弱。 They could continue to do well
他們可以繼續取得好成績 as it integrates more stores and attracts more customers with menu innovations such as the reintroduction of its breakfast menu. Jefferies’ Tarlowe has a Buy rating on the shares. Casey’s, which operates more than 2,600 locations throughout the Midwest, is expected to increase earnings per share in the mid- to high-single digit range this year and next, and has raised its dividend every year for nearly a quarter century.
因為它整合了更多門市，並透過菜單創新（如重新推出早餐菜單）吸引了更多顧客。 Jefferies 的 Tarlowe 給予該股買入評級。卡西百貨在美國中西部經營 2,600 多家分店，預計今明兩年每股收益將以中高個位數增長，近四分之一個世紀以來，該公司每年都會提高股息。

Tarlowe also likes Murphy USA, noting that its locations tend to be near Walmart stores. That’s a big traffic driver, particularly among smokers, as Walmart backs away from tobacco sales. Operating some 1,700 stores in the South and Midwest, Murphy has been gaining market share in recent years and, given recent investments in technology, is “laying the groundwork for years of continued growth,” according to Stephens analyst Ben Bienvenu. He thinks the shares could trade to $470, up from their recent $415.
Tarlowe 也喜歡 Murphy USA，指出它的店面往往靠近沃爾瑪超市。由於沃爾瑪退出菸草銷售，這對客流量，尤其是吸菸者的客流量有很大的推動作用。 Stephens 分析師Ben Bienvenu 認為，墨菲在美國南部和中西部經營約1700 家門市，近年來市場份額不斷擴大，加上最近在技術方面的投資，墨菲正在"為多年的持續增長奠定基礎" 。他認為墨菲的股價可能會從最近的 415 美元上漲到 470 美元。

Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard acquired Circle K in 2003 and has used it as its flagship global brand for much of the past decade, opening in far-flung locations such as Honduras and Hong Kong. It now operates more than 16,000 stores in 29 countries. Hansen says Circle K has proved to be a savvy operator and is benefiting from a lot of the same trends propelling U.S. players like Casey’s—trends that are also playing out around the world.
加拿大的 Alimentation Couche-Tard 於 2003 年收購了 Circle K，並在過去十年的大部分時間裡將其作為全球旗艦品牌，在洪都拉斯和香港等遙遠的地方開設分店。現在，它在 29 個國家經營著 16,000 多家門市。漢森說，事實證明 Circle K 是個精明的經營者，它受益於推動凱西等美國企業發展的許多相同趨勢，而這些趨勢也正在全球上演。

Japan’s Seven & i Holdings owns 7-Eleven stores spanning from America to Asia. Masa Takeda, portfolio manager of the Hennessy Japan fund, which counts Seven & i among its top 10 holdings, says management deserves credit for building a successful convenience-store franchise in Japan over decades after importing the concept from the U.S. in the 1970s.
日本 Seven & i 控股公司旗下的 7-Eleven 便利商店遍佈美洲和亞洲。軒尼詩日本基金（Hennessy Japan fund）將Seven & i 列為其十大持股公司之一，該基金的投資組合經理Masa Takeda 說，自20 世紀70 年代從美國引進7-Eleven 概念以來，公司管理層經過數十年的努力，在日本建立了成功的便利商店特許經營體系，值得稱讚。

Takeda thinks management has learned from its missteps, including a lack of promised synergies across business units and the failure to profitably expand in Southeast Asia, which prompted a rare proxy fight with a U.S. activist investor. As owner of one of the best-known retail brands in the world, Takeda says, Seven & i “has the chance to become the global retail champion” if it continues to grow organically and via acquisitions, like its 2021 purchase of Speedway from Marathon Petroleum, which made it the largest convenience-store operator in America.
武田認為管理層已經從其失誤中吸取了教訓，包括缺乏承諾的跨業務部門協同效應，以及未能在東南亞進行盈利性擴張，這引發了一場罕見的與美國激進投資者的代理權爭奪戰。武田說，作為全球最知名零售品牌之一的所有者，Seven & i 如果繼續透過有機成長和收購（如2021 年從馬拉松石油公司收購Speedway，使其成為美國最大的便利商店營運商），」就有機會成為全球零售冠軍"。

Even if Seven & i Holdings doesn’t conquer the world—it currently has more than 85,000 locations globally—Takeda notes that the company’s scale and ability to do more deals means “the U.S. alone should provide a significant growth runway.”
即使 Seven & i Holdings 無法征服世界（目前在全球擁有 85,000 多家分店），Takeda 也指出，公司的規模和進行更多交易的能力意味著 "僅在美國就能實現大幅增長"。

Americans’ appetite for convenience stores’ offerings means there’s room for more than one winner. “Until Amazon can deliver you pizza and liquor and fill up your gas tank, you won’t have to worry much about e-commerce hurting c-stores,” says Hansen.
美國人對便利商店產品的胃口意味著贏家不只一個。 "漢森說："在亞馬遜能為你送去披薩和酒，並為你加滿油之前，你不用太擔心電子商務會傷害便利商店。

Write to Teresa Rivas at
請致信 Teresa Rivas，地址為 teresa.rivas@barrons.com