Dive Brief:
- 7-Eleven has completed the integration of all 204 Stripes convenience stores it acquired two years ago, Melese Tiruneh, the retailer’s vice president of operations, integration and acquisitions, announced via LinkedIn earlier this month.
- The stores now have 7-Eleven’s loyalty and technology platforms, and received renovations and upgraded foodservice and fuel offerings, Tiruneh said. 7-Eleven acquired the sites — formerly owned by Sunoco and operated by commission agent Cal’s Convenience — for about $1 billion in early 2024.
- The Stripes acquisition and integration underscores 7-Eleven’s ongoing transformation plan, in which the retailer is opening larger format stores centered around foodservice and private label products.
Dive Insight:
Notable changes made to the Stripes stores have included the shift from Cal’s PDI software to 7-Eleven’s platform with the same provider, new point-of-sale systems, restaurant renovations, fuel brand conversions and rollouts of 7-Eleven’s food offerings, including its roller grill hot dogs and Slurpees, Tiruneh said.
A spokesperson from 7-Eleven did not respond by press time when asked to provide additional comment.
7-Eleven kicked off 2024 with a bang when it agreed to acquire the Stripes stores across Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The deal, which closed a few months later, cemented 7-Eleven’s full ownership of both the Stripes and Laredo Taco brands, which it had partially controlled since 2017. It also marked 7-Eleven’s largest acquisition since it bought 3,800 Speedway stores across 36 states in 2021.
When the Stripes deal was made public, 7-Eleven’s leadership said it expected these locations to add $110 million in store-level forward EBITDA within five years, along with $90 million in operating income. Although it’s not clear how these stores have impacted 7-Eleven’s finances, the retailer’s U.S. operating income grew 0.8% year over year in its latest fiscal year, according to parent company Seven & i’s latest shareholder meeting materials.
Cal’s Convenience was established in 2018 when it entered into a commission-agent agreement with Sunoco to own and operate the Stripes stores. Under that model, Sunoco owned about two-thirds of the portfolio and received rental income from Cal’s, which led all c-store and restaurant operations. Sunoco still owned, priced and sold fuel at the sites during the agreement’s duration.
