Dive Brief:
- 7-Eleven expects to close 645 convenience stores in North America during fiscal 2026, which runs from March 1, 2026 to Feb. 28, 2027, parent Seven & i Holdings revealed in one of its fourth-quarter earnings documents last week.
- The closings include “the conversion to wholesale fuel stores” for some sites, according to the document, which also noted that 7-Eleven does not include wholesale locations in its store count.
- Although 7-Eleven said it also expects to open more than 200 North American locations in the same period, fiscal 2026 will be the fifth year in a row that the company has closed more stores than it opened.
Dive Insight:
As 7-Eleven eyes a 2027 IPO, the company continues adjusting its footprint, mainly through closing underperforming locations and opening new ones under its large format, food-focused design. However, 7-Eleven now appears to be adding another layer to those adjustments by converting various company-owned sites to its wholesale segment — a strategy that wasn’t mentioned in any of its earnings in recent years.
7-Eleven did not respond by press time when asked about this conversion program, including how many stores it’s converting to wholesale versus closing entirely.
7-Eleven has closed more stores than it opened in recent years.
Converting company-owned locations to wholesale can help a retailer save money on operations while still profiting by selling fuel to a tenant. Virginia-based Arko Corp., which owns over 1,000 c-stores through its GPM Investments arm, has taken a similar approach in recent years. As of February, through its “dealerization” strategy, Arko has converted 409 sites since mid-2024 and expects the program to be complete by the end of the year.
In taking this approach, 7-Eleven appears eager to cut costs in preparation for the IPO, which the retailer announced last week has been delayed by at least 11 months due to market uncertainty. Other ways the company has reduced expenses in the past year have included various “productivity improvement initiatives” and bringing some maintenance tasks in house, Seven & i Director, Managing Officer and CFO Yoshimichi Maruyama said in January.
