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Nearly 450 7-Eleven stores across North America are closing for underperforming, according to the company.
Seven & I Holdings, 7-Eleven’s Japan-based parent company, announced in an earnings report Thursday that 444 7-Eleven stores are closing because of a dip in sales, particularly cigarette sales, as well as decreased traffic and inflation.
A list of which stores will be closing was not released.
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7-Eleven store (Getty Images / Getty Images)
7-Eleven has 13,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada, which means the closures would only impact 3% of the company’s portfolio.
The convenience store chain has faced six consecutive months of traffic declines, including a 7.3% dip in August.
« The North American economy remained robust overall thanks to the consumption of high-income earners, despite a persistently inflationary, elevated interest rate and deteriorating employment environment, » Seven & I Holdings said in an earnings release. « In this context, there was a more prudent approach to consumption, particularly among middle- and low-income earners. »
Seven & I Holdings (Getty Images / Getty Images)
The chain highlighted that cigarette sales, once the largest sales category for convenience stores, have fallen 26% since 2019 and that a shift in sales to other nicotine products has failed to make much of a difference.
The company said it will transform its stores to be centered around food, which is now the highest-selling category.
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7-Eleven (Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Seven & I Holdings strives to be « a world-class retail group centered around its food that leads retail innovation through global growth strategies centered on the 7-Eleven business and proactive utilization of technology, » the company said.
In July, the convenience store chain said it would also sell popular international food items, including milk, bread, egg sandwiches and miso ramen, at its U.S. stores.
