NEW YORK CITY, New York: 7-Eleven is about to considerably shrink its North American footprint this 12 months, planning to shut much more shops than it opens as shifting shopper demand and rising prices weigh on efficiency.
The comfort retailer chain’s father or mother, Japan-based Seven & i Holdings, stated in current earnings filings that its North American operator expects to close 645 areas within the 2026 fiscal 12 months, whereas opening 205 new shops over the identical interval.
The closures will embody some areas being transformed into wholesale gasoline shops, the corporate stated, reflecting a broader shift in its enterprise mannequin. Financial filings present that 7-Eleven has steadily expanded this section, with greater than 900 wholesale gasoline retailers in North America as of December 2025.
The firm didn’t specify which shops could be affected or present additional particulars on the closures.
7-Eleven operates greater than 86,000 shops throughout 19 international locations globally. In North America alone, 7-Eleven Inc., headquartered in Texas, operates over 13,000 retailers throughout the United States and Canada.
The deliberate closures come as the corporate continues to trim underperforming areas, a method it has pursued for a number of years, amid a tougher shopper atmosphere.
According to Seven & i, spending has begun to weaken regardless of a broadly resilient economic system, significantly amongst lower-income households.
“Although the economy remained robust, personal consumption also began to soften” throughout the 2025 fiscal 12 months, “particularly among low-income households, as inflation continued to weigh on spending,” the corporate stated in its April 9 report.
The stress on customers has intensified with rising gasoline prices following the U.S. and Israel’s battle with Iran, which has unsettled power markets and pushed gasoline costs increased.
Outside North America, nevertheless, the corporate is constant to develop. Its Japanese unit plans to open 550 shops whereas closing 350, which means world openings will outpace closures total.
Seven & i expects income to say no 9.4 p.c within the present fiscal 12 months, to roughly 9.45 trillion yen (US$59.5 billion), underscoring the dimensions of the challenges dealing with the enterprise.
In response, the corporate has been pursuing a broader transformation technique to strengthen its core comfort retailer operations. This contains increasing recent meals choices and rising its “7NOW” supply service to higher compete in a quickly evolving retail panorama.
The restructuring can be unfolding beneath new management, with Stephen Hayes Dacus taking up as chief government final spring.