7-Eleven plans to close 645 locations over the next year. Seven & i Holdings, the store’s parent company, shared the latest development in recent earnings documents, according to C-Store Drive.
Despite closing 645 stores across North America, 7-Eleven will open at least 200 new locations
For the past five years, 7-Eleven has continued to open new locations while still closing many of its stores. The 645 locations that will be closed in the next year mark the highest total in recent years, Parade reported.
The mass closures, which will continue to happen until Feb. 28, 2027, will focus on shutting down underperforming locations. Some of the stores will be converted to “wholesale fuel stores,” according to Seven & i Holdings’ documents.
7-Eleven, which opened in 1927, still operates 13,000 locations in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. There are 86,000 7-Eleven stores across 19 different countries.
Why is 7-Eleven closing so many stores in 2026?
7-Eleven has grown in popularity over the years for providing a quick and easy stop for snacks, drinks and other essentials. Moving forward, however, the company is looking to focus more on the food aspect of the business. Recently, EMarketer Senior Retail Analyst Blake Doersch spoke about the planned changes in a podcast, per TheStreet.
“I think I don’t really see it as much of an expansion as it is sort of a transformation of their business model because while they are continuing to open new stores, they’ve also, I think, closed more stores than they’ve opened the past two years and planned to do the same this year,” Doersch said. “And I think it’s really because they are completely shifting their business model from just convenience store to convenience store, plus restaurant or food service outlet plus grocery.”
Doersch also noted how 7-Eleven is pivoting away from solely being a convenience store in order to offer a restaurant experience while operating more like a grocery store. According to TheStreet, other convenience stores have been making similar changes in recent years. Instead of simply serving quick snacks, small items and fuel, they are focusing on offering more food and coffee bars.