Grabbing a Slurpee in the U.S. will become a bit harder this year, since 7-Eleven’s parent company is planning to close hundreds of its North American retail stores.
“Despite numerous successes, the risks of slowing innovation and declining business momentum have become apparent in recent years,” said Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd., in financial results for the fiscal year ending this February. “The new management team shares a strong sense of urgency regarding this point and recognizes the need to swiftly transform business operations.”
In those financial results documents, the Japan-based company also said that its U.S. consolidated subsidiary, Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven, Inc., “reassessed its asset groupings for purposes of promoting closing underperforming retail locations and other measures based on current strategic long-term plans.”
Other documents from Seven & i show that the company plans to close 645 7-Eleven stores in North America during the current fiscal year. While plans to open 200 new North American locations should offset some of the closures, C-Store Dive noted Monday that this is the fifth year that the company has closed more stores than it opened.
C-Store Dive also explained that some of the closings include conversions of retail stores to wholesales fuel stores. It said these wholesale conversions can help retailers save money on operations.
There’s also another piece to the puzzle mentioned by C-Store Dive – 7-Eleven is looking to go through the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process soon. That means that it will raise capital by selling its shares to the public.
“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,” C-Store Dive explained. “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.”
Already, 7-Eleven’s IPO plans have been delayed by nearly a year due to market uncertainty, C-Store Dive said. According to the outlet, the company did not respond to questions about the conversion program by its press time.
Overall, there more than 13,000 7-Eleven “operates, franchises and/or licenses” in the U.S. and Canada, per the brand website. Though the brand started in Dallas, Texas, its expansion into Japan proved to be so successful that Seven & i holdings fully acquired the company in 2005.
In 2024, Audacy reported that Seven & i was considering taking the Japanese version of the brand (focused more on food and fresh pastries) worldwide, though those plans were shelved. However, last December Today.com reported that its famous Japanese-style egg sandwiches had finally landed in the U.S.
Canadian company Alimentation Couche-Tard, operator of Circle K, previously offered to buy out Seven & i for $46 billion but then pulled the offer last year, Reuters reported. The outlet said last week that the IPO delay “plays into Couche-Tard’s hands.”
“Time is running out for the Japanese corner store empire to improve operations at its North American gas-and-goods subsidiary – a key plank in CEO Stephen Dacus’ bid to revive growth and improve shareholder returns,” said the outlet. “The case is building for spurned Canadian suitor Alimentation Couche-Tard to take another run.”
