Survey finds one in six Americans worked at a convenience store

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — According to an article on the NACS website, an NACS survey found that 17 percent of American adults, or one in six, have worked at a convenience store, gas station or corner store in their lives and that they learned how to work with people and run a business during that time.

Here is a breakdown of their responses, according to the article:

91 percent learned how to work with others.
86 percent say the experience was valuable.
82 percent learned how businesses are run.
71 percent would recommend such work to others, especially as a first job.

Of those who said that working in a c-store was their first job, the article continued, 83 percent claim that the experience was valuable, and 74 percent believed their earnings corresponded with their levels of experience.

For those who held such a job in college, 90 percent said they learned how to run a business, and 81 percent said that a benefit of the job was a flexible work schedule, the article stated.

Adults who had never worked in a convenience store believe that these jobs are suitable for first-timers, the article noted; of them, 85 percent said these are great summer jobs for high school and college students, and 83 percent said that they are good jobs for those looking to enter the workforce.

In addition, 71 percent of these adults can see working in a c-store as a step on the path to owning or managing a small business, the article added.

“Convenience stores conduct more than 160 million customer transactions a day and fuel 80 percent of the vehicles on the roads today,” said NACS Vice President of Strategic Industry Initiatives Jeff Lenard. “None of this would be possible without the 2.5 million employees who serve busy Americans every day — and around the clock. These jobs also provide opportunities—whether to gain valuable business experience as you earn an income, or to eventually grow your own small business.”

Penn Schoen Berland conducted this survey online in September 2016 of 1,111 American adults who purchase fuel for vehicle at least once a month, the article noted.

You can find the full article here.