7-Eleven shutting down nearly 450 underperforming stores across North America

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 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.”

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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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.