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The basics:

• Wawa drops to No. 2 in 2025 ACSI convenience store rankings
• Midwestern-based retailer takes top honors
• Sheetz ties Wawa for second place as both chains expand nationally
• Customer satisfaction steady overall, driven by food quality and rewards

After ranking last year as America’s favorite convenience store, Wawa has lost its title as the preferred place to fill up cars and cups.

In the newly released American Customer Satisfaction Index c-store study, Midwestern-based Kwik Trip beat out Philadelphia-headquartered Wawa, which tied for second place with rival Sheetz.

Conducted over a 12-month period ending September 2025, the email survey asked 8,600 consumers to score chains from zero to 100 on metrics including store hours, locations, coffee freshness, food quality, wait times, mobile app usability, loyalty programs and speed of checkout.

Customer satisfaction with the biggest chains remains stable at 76 points, the analysis found.

ACSI determined that the public is overall happy with hot food quality/freshness, rewards programs perks, quality of dispensed cold beverages and how smoothly their local c-stores are run.

Doubling down on community

Forrest Morgeson, associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University and ACSI director of research emeritus, shared, “The brands rising to the top are doing more than just selling coffee and snacks. They’re building communities inside their stores. As in-store sales outpace fuel and digital tools become table stakes, the brands that will win are those that double down on quality, innovation, and authentic connection.”

“Many convenience stores offer the same or similar items, so brands must look for ways to distinguish themselves,” added Morgeson. “Those that lean into the successful aspect of their rewards programs can drive customer satisfaction and keep their loyal customers happy.”

The ACSI’s Top 10 scoring c-store chains:

With points scored in 2025 vs. 2024 points in parentheses

• Kwik Trip – 84 points (up from 76)
• Wawa – 82 points (the same at 82)
• Sheetz – 82 points (up from 79)
• QuikTrip – 80 points (down from 81 points)
• Buc-ee’s – 79 points (up from 80 points)
• Love’s – 79 points (N/A)
• Maverick -78 points (N/A)
• Meijer – 78 points (N/A)
• Murphy USA – 78 points (down from 80)
• RaceTrac – 78 points (up from 76)

In the report, ACSI called out Kwik Trip for deploying “a food-focused model to draw in more visitors and cater to a wide range of customer preferences.” It also noted the company’s “strong commitment to building a positive culture that includes an emphasis on the customer experience is paying off.”

Tied for second

The study also pointed out the tie between Wawa and Sheetz comes as the two brands look to expand outside of their current territories of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

With a goal to add 1,800 stores nationwide by 2030, Wawa is busy opening more than 70 new locations this year — including its first sites in Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia. The company’s footprint of more than 1,100 stores includes nearly 300 outposts in New Jersey.

Sheetz strives to hit 1,000 locations within the next three years. Currently, the company has about 800 sites across states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina.

ACSI’s regional rankings reveal that Wawa and Sheetz tie for the lead in their home market of the Northeast. However, in the South, Wawa outperforms Sheetz and Buc-ee’s for highest satisfaction.

In the Midwest, Kwik Trip tops QuikTrip. Out west, 7-Eleven and Chevron lead the way.