7-Eleven to close more than 400 stores in Canada and the U.S.
7-Eleven’s parent company plans to close 444 “underperforming” stores across North America.
The news comes as the company works to fend off an unsolicited takeover bid from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Japan-based Seven & I Holdings shared the news in earnings report October 10th, citing several issues, including slowing sales, declining traffic, inflation and a decrease in revenues from cigarettes, which were at one time the largest sales category for convenience stores. In Canada and other regions, there are added pressures on this category due to the growing concerns around contraband tobacco.
Based in Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 13,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. A specific list of closing locations wasn’t immediately released. There are more than 600 7-Eleven stores here in Canada—the company recently closed a handful of stores in Winnipeg reportedly due to issues around theft.
Overall, the proposed closures amount to about 3% of Seven & i's convenience store portfolio in North America.
In its earnings report for the six months ended Aug. 31, the company noted that while the economy in North American is generally strong, there are areas of weakness across certain demographics.
"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 outlined. "In this context, there was a more prudent approach to consumption, in particular among middle- and low-income earners."
The company, which will continue to focus efforts on innovative in foodservice, says it is making these changes with the goal of being “a world-class retail group centred around its food that leads retail innovation through global growth strategies centred on the 7-Eleven business and proactive utilization of technology."
This article was first published on sister site Convenience Store News Canada
