Each year brings a raft of new CEO appointments among c-store operators looking to stay competitive in a crowded, fast-evolving industry. And this year was no different.
A theme that emerged was new CEOs among international companies with a sizable or fast-growing U.S. presence. Case in point: Seven & i, the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven, named Stephen Dacus to the top role in March. Dacus, who is just the company’s third CEO and its first from outside Japan, took over as 7-Eleven began plotting major moves in the U.S., including a 2026 IPO and the rollout of a new foodservice-focused store format.
Dacus has said he aims to boost collaboration between 7-Eleven’s stateside business and its operations abroad — a sentiment the company quickly underscored by bringing its popular Japanese-style egg sandwich to the U.S.
EG Group also appointed a new CEO during a year full of major developments. In April, it named Russel Colaco, who had been with the retailer for less than a year, as its CEO. Just a week later, Colaco became head of EG America as well, marking the first time the company and its American division shared common leadership. Then in August, EG announced it was moving its headquarters from the U.K. to Charlotte, North Carolina, further signalling the importance of the U.S., where it operates 1,500 stores across 30 states.
Unlike EG and Seven & i, FEMSA is a newcomer to the U.S. c-store industry, but has every intention of becoming a major player. In September, the company named Jose Antonio Fernández Garza-Lagüera as its new CEO. Garza-Lagüera was instrumental in the company acquiring Delek US Holdings’ 249 c-stores, meaning he’s intimately familiar with the U.S. market. He has said he wants to see Oxxo, FEMSA’s c-store banner, become a “super regional” player in the U.S. on par with Wawa and QuikTrip.
A few regional c-stores also appointed new top leadership as long-serving chief executives stepped aside. United Dairy Farmers, which had been led by Brad Lindner for nearly three decades, named company outsider Michael Ahmed as its new CEO in October.
Meanwhile, Parker’s Kitchen announced early this year that long-serving CEO Greg Parker had handed that role to president Brandon Hofman and would become executive chairman. A few months later, however, Parker’s took the unusual step of naming CFO John Rudolfs as co-CEO. The company was vague about its reasoning behind the decision, noting in a statement that it would “leverage the strengths of the company’s top leadership.”
As the c-store industry looks ahead to 2026, these new leaders will look to make their imprint. For more details on these CEO moves, check out our coverage from 2025.
