In a year that featured historic high gas prices and the beginning of a crushing recession, convenience stores' inside sales rose 3.3 percent on a per-store basis in 2008, and pretax profits per store rose 17.7 percent over a year ago, according to the Convenience Store News 2009 Industry Report. Overall industry sales climbed 11.4% to an all-time high of $633.9 billion last year, according to the longest-running compilation of sales and operational results in c-store retailing. For its 34th IR, CSNews has partnered with leading companies, including Preston/Rogers Associates and The Nielsen Company, to provide the industry with the most comprehensive and actionable benchmarks and insights available. Through revealing retailer surveys and extensive statistical data, the report probes the total convenience industry picture, and examines the trends and sales results of the key merchandise and foodservice categories. The IR 2009 also features in-depth analysis of important areas of the c-store business such as motor fuels, operations and store development. This report includes data on: - Total industry store count - Merchandise and foodservice sales - Industry gross profit dollars, margin and pretax profits - Sales and profit analysis of all the major product categories - Motor fuel prices and consumption analysis - Operational expenses. Also includes exclusive information, not available anywhere else, including brand rankings and enhanced analysis. 40 pages, including 69 charts.