Dive Brief:
- Seven & i Holdings shared updates on 7-Eleven’s ongoing network optimization efforts in North America during its fiscal first-quarter earnings presentation on Thursday.
- The retailer converted 43 company-owned sites to franchised locations and another 72 to wholesale sites during the quarter. It additionally closed 45 underperforming stores and opened 30 new ones, according to the presentation.
- The retailer also shared more details about the makeup of the 645 closings it has planned for this year.
Dive Insight:
7-Eleven had not previously said how many stores it would convert to wholesale or close as it sought to remove 645 sites from its c-store network in fiscal 2026. However, in its Q1 presentation, the retailer listed a full-year goal of closing 200 underperforming stores and converting 350 sites to wholesale.
The company will close the remaining 95 locations for non-performance-based reasons, such as franchise terminations and other contractual situations, a 7-Eleven spokesperson said in an email.
7-Eleven also expects to convert 390 company-owned stores to franchised sites throughout the full fiscal year as part of its broader plan to convert roughly 2,600 stores to franchise locations through 2030. Achieving this would give the company a roughly 80% franchise ratio, Seven & i said during its latest earnings call. 7-Eleven shared that it converted 31 locations in fiscal 2025.
As it expressed earlier this year, 7-Eleven still plans to open 205 new sites in fiscal 2026, according to the Q1 presentation. Because it only debuted 30 in the first quarter, the company will need to pick up the pace to hit that metric. 7-Eleven is well ahead of the curve on new QSR openings, however, having already opened 20 of a planned 50 new restaurants for the year.
7-Eleven announced massive remodeling plans during its investor day in April targeting more than 7,000 stores through 2030. The Q1 presentation noted that these remodels are expected to commence in the second half of this fiscal year.
