Wawa and Sheetz Fans, Here’s Who Beat Them Both in New Survey

The battle of the convenience stores rages on.

According to the newly released results, Wawa, Sheetz, and QuikTrip are tied for second place nationally in the newly released American Customer Satisfaction Index Convenience Store Study.

Wawa, based in Delaware County, PA,  rival Sheetz from Altoona, PA, and Oklahoma-based QuikTrip all lost out to Meijer, which rose 5% to 82 to claim sole possession of first place.

Kwik Trip dropped 6% to 79 after leading the industry last year.

I know what you're thinking. Meijer? What the heck is that?

Meijer is a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based big-box store—similar in scale to a Walmart Supercenter.

Meijer gets included in convenience store studies—such as this one—because researchers evaluate the chain's fueling and express stores alongside more traditional convenience stores.

Also, don't confuse Kwik Trip and Quik Trip, which have the same name with different spellings, but entirely different ownership.

Are you confused yet? Me too. Let's get back to Wawa vs. Sheetz.

The Convenience Store Rankings

Both Wawa and Sheetz dropped two points since last year for overall customer satisfaction, to a score of 80 out of 100, when they also tied for second place nationally.

The ACSI email survey asked 9,465 consumers to score chains from zero to 100 on metrics including store hours, locations, coffee freshness, bathroom cleanliness, food quality, wait times, mobile app usability, mobile order pickups, loyalty programs, and speed of checkout.

After being named in 2024 as the nation’s preferred place to fill up cars and cups, Wawa lost its title last year to Kwik Trip. It tied for second place in 2025, again with Sheetz.

For 2026, ACSI’s regional rankings reveal that Wawa leads in the Northeast with 79 points and in the South with 82 points

The study noted that Wawa is the only chain to win two regions this year.

Sheetz won the Midwest with 83 points, the highest regional score this year.

Survey Points to Changes in the Convenience Store Industry

This part of the American Customer Satisfaction Index Convenience Store Study is the most interesting to me. Bathroom cleanliness and staff friendliness are down for all chains.

I think Wawa does a pretty good job in both those categories. I don't go to Sheetz as often, but they also seem to be clean and friendly to me.

Overall, Layout and store cleanliness fell 3% to 77.

A new survey of bathroom cleanliness debuted at 74, among the lowest-rated benchmarks in the industry, according to ACSI. Staff courtesy and helpfulness dipped slightly, falling 1% to 78.

Mobile order pickup, measured for the first time, debuted at 82. Even so, convenience store mobile app quality dropped 5% to 80, the largest customer experience benchmark loss in the study.

“Convenience stores are asking customers to do more inside the store and more on the app than ever before,” said Forrest Morgeson, associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University.

“Order ahead, scan loyalty cards, redeem offers, pick up food. Customers are willing to engage with all of it.

 

But every new capability is a new expectation. When the app is clunky, the bathroom is neglected, or the store feels disorganized, that shapes how customers judge the entire visit.”

See a PDF of this survey in detail.