Convenience-store giant 7-Eleven on Wednesday said it plans to open 1,100 new restaurants in its U.S. stores by 2030.
The “aggressive investment” in restaurants is part of an updated transformation plan released by the retailer’s Tokyo-based parent company Seven & i Holdings.
The new roadmap comes less than a month after Alimentation Couche-Tard, the parent company of convenience chain Circle K, withdrew its $47.2 billion takeover bid of Seven & i, following a rollercoaster year. The ensuing drama put Seven & i under a microscope to improve its performance.
“Sustaining success requires constant reinvention and innovation,” the retailer noted in its transformation plan.
And food is at the centerpiece of that reinvention.
Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven noted that declining fuel demand and negative consumer perceptions around fresh food are among its key challenges. As such, it said it will invest in stores and equipment to create a “distinctive food offering.” It did not provide further details on what types of food it would serve.
In addition to adding more than 1,000 restaurants over the next five years, 7-Eleven said it intends to open a total of 1,300 new larger-format stores during that time frame, all of them with an enhanced focus on foodservice.
The c-store retailer also said it would expand its 7NOW delivery service, with items available in 30 minutes or less, by adding 200 stores per year through 2030. If successful, more than half of the U.S. population would have access to the platform.
Further, 7-Eleven said it intends to expand its private-label offerings to lure price-focused consumers, part of a mission to “change the perception of value and quality of our products, especially food.”
This latest turnaround plan is a return to growth mode compared to the one announced last October, in which 7-Eleven said it planned to close 444 underperforming North American stores.
In the months since, the chain installed a new CEO in Stephen Hayes Dacus, Seven & i’s first foreign-born chief executive.
With more than 9,300 U.S. stores under the 7-Eleven, Speedway and Stripes banners, the retailer is already a significant restaurant operator. It operates or franchises more than 600 Laredo Taco Company restaurants and about 60 Raise the Roost Chicken & Biscuits locations.
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