Major Convenience Store Chain Will Close More Than 400 Stores

7-Eleven has announced it will close more than 400 of its stores.

Seven & I Holdings, 7-Eleven’s parent company, announced it will close more than 400 of its underperforming stores.

The announcement of the closings comes after 7-Eleven released its latest earnings report, which revealed 444 stores were underperforming

CNN reported that the closings stemmed from “slowing sales, declining traffic, inflationary pressures, and a decrease in cigarette purchases.”

7-Eleven closing more than 400 locations https://t.co/PwA3DwumZp

— Allison Papson (@AllisonPapson) October 11, 2024

7-Eleven to close nearly 450 locations
https://t.co/ZYgdcRyqES

— FOX 12 Oregon (@fox12oregon) October 11, 2024

Per CNN:

Several hundred “underperforming” 7-Eleven locations across North America are closing, the convenience store announced.

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Seven & I Holdings, the chain’s Japan-based parent company, revealed in an earnings report Thursday that 444 locations of 7-Eleven are shutting down because of a variety of issues, including slowing sales, declining traffic, inflationary pressures and a decrease in cigarette purchases.

A specific list of closing locations wasn’t immediately released. The chain has more than 13,000 stores across the United States, Canada and Mexico, so the number of closures amounts to 3% of its portfolio.

In its earnings release, Seven & I said that while the North American economy is “robust overall,” it noticed a “more prudent approach to consumption” from middle- and low-income earners because of persistent inflation, high interest rates and a “deteriorating” employment environment.

A combination of those factors led to a 7.3% decline in traffic in August, capping off six straight months of declines.

The chain also pointed out that cigarettes purchases, which was once the largest sales category for convenience stores, has fallen 26% since 2019. A marked shift in sales to other nicotine products, like Zyn, hasn’t made up the difference.

CLOSING: 7-Eleven has revealed it will close 444 locations because of a variety of issues, including slowing sales, declining traffic, inflationary pressures and a decrease in cigarette purchases.https://t.co/Q4GdBUWFRR

— ABC15 Arizona (@abc15) October 11, 2024

Here’s what KPTV reported:

A convenience store chain plans to close several hundred underperforming stores.

7-Eleven will be shutting down 444 locations due to a variety of issues.

CNN reports that the company announced the closures in a recent earnings report, citing slowing sales, declining traffic, inflationary pressures, and a decrease in cigarette purchases as the reasons.

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7-Eleven has more than 13,000 U.S. locations and the closures would affect about 3% of its stores.

Seven & I Holdings, the chain’s Japan-based parent company, shared that the stores’ sales have declined over the past several months, including a more than 7% drop in August.