7-Eleven has been closing stores at a steady clip, though you wouldn’t know it from the headlines. The chain has already shut 444 U.S. locations since last year and expects to close another 148 by the end of 2025.
Store closures have become a retail trend this year. Major chains from drugstores to department stores are trimming locations, with some shuttering hundreds of sites. However, unlike Rite Aid or Party City, 7-Eleven hasn’t put out splashy announcements. It isn’t publicly traded in the U.S., and its financial results don’t get much coverage. But once the dust settles, the chain will be about 592 stores smaller.
Executives point to falling foot traffic — down 7.3% last August — and a steep slide in cigarette sales as the reason. Purchases are down 26% since 2019. Cigarette alternatives like Zyn are popular, but they haven’t filled the gap.
“We will close underperforming stores in accordance with the Fundamental Store Optimization Program,” CFO Yoshimichi Maruyama told investors during an earnings call.
The rebuild strategy
The cuts are paired with a rebuild. New “Standard” stores feature Laredo Taco and Raise the Roost Chicken kitchens, and early results indicate stronger sales than older sites. New locations are outperforming legacy stores by 13% in same-store sales during their first year, and executives project these upgraded sites will eventually generate $8,219 in average daily revenue once fully mature.
CEO Joe DePinto said during an investor call that 125 of these locations will open this year, with more than 500 planned by 2027.
The shift extends beyond convenience. As we previously reported, 7-Eleven plans to open 1,100 standalone restaurants by 2030, signaling how far the chain is pushing into food. It’s a strategic pivot that began after Circle K’s failed $47 billion buyout bid forced the company to chart its own course. The closures, new store formats, and restaurant expansion are all part of one comprehensive reinvention.
For now, the 99-year-old brand looks both smaller and bigger — hundreds of stores gone, hundreds of new ones in the pipeline.
Source: The Street