According to the company, approximately 450 7-Eleven stores across North America will close due to poor business performance.
7-Eleven's Japan-based parent company, Seven & i Holdings, said in its earnings call Thursday that 444 7-Eleven stores will close due to declining sales, especially cigarette sales, declining customer traffic and inflation. Announced.
The list of stores that will close has not been made public.
7-Eleven has 13,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada, and the closures only affect 3% of its portfolio.
Convenience store chains have faced six consecutive months of declining foot traffic, including a 7.3% decline in August.
“Despite continued inflation, rising interest rates, and a deteriorating employment environment, the North American economy remained strong overall thanks to spending by high-income earners,'' Seven & i Holdings said in its earnings release. “In this context, there has been a more cautious approach to consumption, especially among low- and middle-income earners.”
The chain said cigarette sales, once the convenience store's biggest sales category, have fallen 26% since 2019, underscoring that the shift in sales to other nicotine products has not made a big difference.
The company announced that it will transform its stores to focus on food, which is currently its highest-selling category.
Seven & i Holdings aims to become “a world-class food-focused retail group that leads innovation in the retail industry through a global growth strategy centered on the 7-Eleven business and active use of technology.''
The convenience store chain announced in July that it would also sell popular foreign foods such as milk, bread, egg sandwiches and miso ramen in its U.S. stores.
