Dive Brief:
- 7-Eleven intends to remodel at least 7,000 convenience stores in North America through 2030 as part of its ongoing transformation plan, parent company Seven & i Holdings revealed in its investor day presentation on Thursday.
- The remodels will use 7-Eleven’s “new standard” store design, the large format, food-focused design that the retailer revealed in late 2024. This adds to the 1,300 NTIs under this format 7-Eleven was already planning to open by 2030 — a blueprint that remains in place, according to the presentation.
- Seven & i continues to emphasize that 7-Eleven is on pace to hit its target growth even as the convenience retailer is once again set to close more stores than it opens across North America through this fiscal year.
Dive Insight:
Up until now, 7-Eleven had only outlined plans to build new locations under the new standard format. But given the success of those sites, the retailer is upping the ante, as it will start converting older locations to the modern design. In the presentation, Seven & i said that as it looks to elevate the customer experience at 7-Eleven, it must “fundamentally improve existing stores first.”
Setting out to remodel over half of its 13,000 c-stores across North America underscores leadership’s confidence in the new standard c-store design. According to the presentation, these locations yield about 30% more traffic after one year and are expected to yield 44% more sales than 7-Eleven’s traditional stores after four years.
When 7-Eleven launched the new standard format nearly two years ago, initial plans were to open over 600 of these locations through 2027. Those plans have now significantly expanded.
“Modernized stores are the foundation for scaling product assortment and customer experience,” Seven & i said in its presentation.
The company, which is known for its large franchise model, also plans to convert about 2,600 company-operated stores to franchised locations through 2030, according to the presentation. That’s a pace of about 473 conversions per year, a massive increase from the 237 franchise conversions it made in 2025, according to the presentation.
7-Eleven’s franchised stores, according to the presentation, yield stronger economics and drive leaner operating and administrative expenses.
“A strong franchisee system will enable SEI to scale with lower capital intensity,” the company said in the presentation.
The updated growth plans come amid a tumultuous month for 7-Eleven in North America during which Seven & i revealed it’s pushing back the retailer’s planned IPO to at least fiscal 2027 due to economic uncertainty. At the same time, Seven & i quietly disclosed plans to close 645 7-Eleven stores in North America in fiscal 2026 — roughly 400 more locations than it expects to open. That would mark the most stores 7-Eleven has shuttered in the past several years and the fifth consecutive year in which closures outpaced openings.
Seven & i did not include information on the IPO delay nor the store closures in its investor day presentation.
