7-Eleven Growth Plans Include Larger Stores, Private Label Expansion
Less than two weeks after announcing the closure of 444 underperforming locations, 7-Eleven has unveiled plans to open 500 stores that will be larger in size and more food-focused.
Additionally, the convenience store chain also said it would sharpen its focus on proprietary products carried by its stores, which includes the addition of more than 200 private label SKUs in 2025.
During an investor presentation by parent company Seven & i Holdings Co., 7-Eleven CEO Joe Pinto said the decision to move forward on these Evolution stores was made following feedback from shoppers.
“With the learnings from our evolutions stores, we have now developed our new store standard to better meet our customers’ needs,” he said. “They said they wanted larger format convenience stores that were food-forward and that provided innovative digital offerings, and personalized offerings and shopping experiences.”
He noted stores in this format are performing better than its existing store portfolio in sales and traffic delivering 13% higher same-store sales in the first year they are open.
While rolling out its new store format, 7-Eleven also sees opportunity to expand into U.S. markets where the convenience store chain does not have a presence. Currently, the retailer has 13,000 U.S. stores that are within two miles of 51% of the population, Pinto said.
“When you look at the map (of 7-Eleven stores) we have significant room for growth,” he said.
In addition to rolling out its new larger store format, Pinto said the company is also focused on growth with proprietary products. This includes building off its long-standing products such as Big Gulp and Slurpee, to additional prepared food choices, and an expanded selection of private label items.
While Pinto did not provide specifics of what new products will be part of 7-Eleven’s growing own brand assortment, Nikki Boyers, VP of private brands with 7-Eleven, previously told Store Brands that the retailer wants to be the convenience food destination of choice for consumers.
“This means placing an increased emphasis on our private brands,” she said. “More than 87% of U.S. consumers chose private label products. Our private brands provide a huge differentiator for us to deliver on customers’ quality and value needs.”
For its 7-Select own brand, Boyers says that the retailer’s goal is to provide its shoppers with high-quality, differentiated products at a value.
