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Feasibility Studies for Gas Stations and Convenience Stores
November 4, 2026
5 min to read
A loan officer asks for a feasibility study, and you have a few weeks. For a gas station or a convenience store, Map AI now sells one built for that industry: $1,500 for one site, delivered in two weeks.
Each study covers measured traffic for every road direction at the site, customers per month, in-store sales, gallons by grade for a station, every competitor within 5 miles and a 5-year projection.
What lenders actually ask for
Most owners I talk to come to us for the same reason: their bank asked. Banks rarely use the words "feasibility study". They ask for a market analysis or a location analysis in the business plan, and for a station or a store the questions are always the same. Who drives past, who already sells to them, how much that adds up to, and whether it covers the loan.
The federal rules are narrower than many people expect. The SBA regulation, 13 CFR 120.160, says SBA may require a feasibility study; there is no blanket requirement, so lenders decide loan by loan. USDA Business & Industry loans are stricter: under 7 CFR 5001.306, a guaranteed loan above $1 million to a new business needs a study from a consultant the agency accepts.
Before you order anything, ask your loan officer two things: what the study must cover, and which file format their portal takes. Nobody can promise approval, and we do not.
Gas station or convenience store: what each study covers
Both studies follow the same method. What changes is what the site sells.
| Section | Gas station | Convenience store |
|---|---|---|
| Demand | Gallons a month for cars and trucks, by grade | Customers a month from passing traffic |
| Sales | Fuel sales and margin, store and car wash sales | In-store sales from customers and the average check |
| Projection | 5 years of store sales, fuel margin and car wash | 5 years of store sales |
| Competition | Stations, c-stores and car washes within 5 miles | C-stores, stations and car washes within 5 miles |
| People | Population, income, age and growth | The same, plus a c-store shopper match |
A store with pumps gets the fuel side in the same study, so you never need to order two.
The gas station study, in numbers
Gallons are worked out from the cars and trucks passing the site: the share that stop, the share of those that buy fuel, and the average fill, about 9.5 gallons for a car and far more for a truck. They are split into regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel, priced at local pump prices, and the margin is applied at your rate or the industry default.
In our sample, a corner with 11,795 vehicles a day comes out at about 102,900 gallons a month. Send your own figures, such as fueling positions, prices and margin, and they replace the defaults.
See what the gas station feasibility study includes
The convenience store study, in numbers
For a store, the study starts from customers per month, both the realistic count and the maximum, then multiplies by the average check for daily, monthly and yearly sales. Every competing c-store, station and car wash within 5 miles is listed with its services, and people per store compares your area with the county and the state: fewer stores per resident than usual is room for one more.
See what the convenience store feasibility study includes
Where the numbers come from
Everything starts with traffic counted at your corner: every direction of every road at the site, from Ticon's traffic record, which goes back to 2013. The share of passing drivers who stop comes from our published study of visitor rates at US convenience stores and gas stations. Population, income and age come from the US Census Bureau, and pump prices from AAA.
Gregory Brodski, ScD, PhD, CEO of Ticon, reviews every study before it is sent: the traffic counts, the assumptions and the projection. He co-authored the visitor-rate study above.
Ticon has run the same method on more than 4,000 sites and is a company independent of your bank or lender.
Debt service coverage, on request
Lenders test whether projected cash flow covers the loan, and how it holds if gallons or sales come in low. Send the loan amount, rate, term and your operating costs with the order, and the analyst adds the debt service coverage ratio and a low, base and high case.
How to order
- Open the gas station or convenience store page and read through the 22-page sample study.
- Search your address or drop a pin on the map.
- Pay $1,500 once. The PDF arrives within two weeks, and questions about the numbers go straight to the analyst who prepared them.
Not ready to order? Book a 15-minute call with me from either page, or start with the free convenience store sales forecast for your address.
Show your lender the numbers before you sign. One site, $1,500, delivered in two weeks.
Sources: Ticon traffic data and Map AI; US Census Bureau American Community Survey; AAA fuel prices; 13 CFR 120.160 and 7 CFR 5001.306 on the eCFR; Ticon, Exploring the Visitor Rate in the US Convenience Store & Gas Station Industry (2023).
More from Ticon: fuel demand forecasting for distributors and stations, site selection for c-store operators, and the feasibility study for any business.
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