What Other Chain Restaurants Will C-stores Companies Consider Buying?

 

The convenience-store (C-store) industry is undergoing a strategic reinvention. With RaceTrac’s announced purchase of Potbelly for roughly $566 million, the once-clear boundary between quick-service restaurants (QSRs) and C-stores is blurring fast according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Acquisitions are now a front-row play for C-store operators that want rapid scale in prepared-food capabilities and stronger margin engines.

 

Quick snapshot — why the timing matters (hard numbers)

·       Prepared-food sales are a powerful growth engine: prepared foods in c-stores rose ~12.2% YoY in 2023 and continue to outpace many other categories.

·       Foodservice’s share of c-store economics: foodservice is approaching ~29% of in-store revenue and contributes roughly 40% of in-store gross profit — meaning food drives disproportionate profitability.

·       Scale of the channel: the U.S. market still counts ~152,000 convenience stores, making the C-store footprint an attractive rapid distribution network for restaurant concepts.

These numbers explain why RaceTrac’s $566M purchase of a sandwich chain is not an outlier — it’s the opening act in a broader strategy for growth and margin capture.

 

Five C-store operators most likely to buy a chain restaurant (and why)

I picked these operators based on scale, food strategy, previous M&A activity, and inside-sales performance.

1.       7-Eleven — Global scale, heavy private-label and fresh innovations; buying a restaurant brand fast-tracks elevated food offerings into thousands of locations.

2.       Wawa — A brand already built on made-to-order food; acquiring a recognizable quick-casual brand would broaden menu depth and accelerate loyalty programs. (

3.       Casey’s General Stores — Proven willingness to buy (recent large purchases) and inside margins in the food business already near ~40%, showing the economics work. Adding restaurant brands expands catering/restaurant-style sales.

4.       Circle K / Couche-Tard — Global operator with capital and distribution; a strategic acquisition would strengthen U.S. foodservice credentials.

5.       Murphy USA / Regional fuel-retailers — Historically fuel-centric, these operators need higher margin in-store sales to mitigate fuel volatility and can use restaurant brands to elevate the customer trip.

 

Three reasons C-stores will prefer buying restaurants over building them

1.       Speed to credible menu & brand — Acquiring an established brand brings tested recipes, franchising/operations playbooks, and consumer awareness, shortening time to meaningful food revenue. (RaceTrac/Potbelly is a textbook example.)

2.       Higher inside margins and profitability uplift — Prepared foods lift both basket size and gross profit (foodservice can represent ~40% of gross profit inside stores), improving store economics faster than categories like packaged goods.

3.       Digital & loyalty integration at scale — Restaurant chains often come with digital ordering and loyalty infrastructure that C-stores can plug into across hundreds or thousands of sites, accelerating omnichannel growth.

 

Top five restaurant chains that make attractive targets (with a data rationale)

These selections balance deployability inside C-stores, menu fit for convenience settings, unit economics, and brand awareness.

1.       Potbelly / Sandwich concepts (example: Potbelly) — Sandwiches are portable, margin friendly, and lend themselves to scaled integration inside shop-in-shop or shared footprint models. (RaceTrac chose Potbelly for exactly these reasons.)

2.       Firehouse Subs (or other deli/sandwich chains) — Proven brand, compact kitchen requirements, strong delivery/digital mix — easy to roll into multiple store formats. (

3.       Blaze Pizza / Fast-casual pizza concepts — Customization is a draw; pizza equipment can be adapted to a small footprint and captures family dinner occasions.

4.       Wingstop / Chicken-centric chains — Strong unit economics, late-night appeal, and elevated digital sales mean immediate incremental revenue in high-traffic c-store zones. (

5.       Fast-casual Mexican (e.g., Qdoba-type concepts) — High check averages, efficient assembly lines, and strong digital order numbers make these an attractive margin play for inside kitchens.

Note: strategic fit matters as much as brand size. Chains with compact equipment needs, strong digital ordering, and flexible franchising models are the best fits for C-store deployment.

 

Valuation & M&A context — what buyers should expect to pay

Restaurant valuation multiples vary by sub-sector (QSR, fast casual, full service). Public and consultancy analyses show QSR and fast casual command higher EV/EBITDA multiples than casual dining, though multiples have compressed or shifted with macro conditions. Buyers like C-store operators can often justify higher multiples through synergies — expanded distribution, higher average unit economics, and cross-selling in existing stores. Expect strategic buyers to pay premiums when the chain accelerates distribution (as RaceTrac did for Potbelly).

 

What the Grocerant Guru® sees next — strategic signals and consumer drivers

The Grocerant Guru’s take (synthesizing the data above):

1.       Channel migration is consumer-led, not retailer-led. Shoppers choose convenience for speed and restaurants for perceived quality; grocerants win by combining both. The rapid growth of prepared foods and the outsized profit share of foodservice inside stores proves consumers are voting with wallets.

2.       Acquisitions will cluster around menu portability, digital capabilities, and compact kitchen footprints. Expect the next wave of deals to prioritize brands that are plug-and-play for a 400–1,200 sq ft store back-of-house, or for micro-kitchens integrated into forecourt formats.

3.       Operational playbooks and loyalty/data will decide winners. The chains that can integrate digital ordering, mobile pay, and loyalty across both restaurant and C-store experiences will grow share fastest — acquisitions accelerate that data integration.

4.       Margin intensity will drive activity. With inside margins for prepared food often far above traditional retail categories, strategic buyers will be willing to pay premiums if they can quickly scale units and lift per-store food revenue. Casey’s reported inside margins near ~41%, a real-world example of why food matters.

 

Bottom line — what to expect in the next 24 months

·       More strategic, premium-priced deals where C-stores buy distinctive fast-casual or QSR brands that can be rapidly deployed across their footprint. (RaceTrac → Potbelly is likely the start — not the finish.)

·       Increasing partnerships and pilot integrations (shop-in-shop, commissary models) before full rollouts as operators prove unit economics at scale.

·       A shifting competitive landscape where C-stores and QSRs fight for the same “meal occasion” — convenience operators will leverage lower real estate churn and immediate foot traffic to steal share from smaller QSRs.

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