I admit to not having many actual statistics. I agree that most are franchises as you mention. But I strongly suspect that the percentage owned by major chains

I admit to not having many actual statistics. I agree that most are franchises as you mention. But I strongly suspect that the percentage owned by major chains -- Wawa, Sheetz, Speedway, etc, is growing rapidly. 10 years from now, I believe the independent franchiser (under 10 stores) will be very rare. Growth example: Wawa entered Florida in 2012, according to Wikipedia. In 2019 it already had 167 and they expect Florida to surpass both PA and NJ, their traditional base, in 2021. Pretty sure the vast majority of the FL stores have gas, while many PA/NJ do not. Further, the number of pumps is generally much higher at the big chains, so 1 of their stores may equal 2-3 independent franchise stores in terms of customer count or gas sold. https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-pa-wawa-expansion-20190408-jkvyfplwubbn7e6etuadp6jz6i-story.html https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-pa-wawa-expansion-20...