Global convenience retail leader 7-Eleven is set to undergo a major restructuring of its North American footprint, with plans to shutter hundreds of underperforming locations while shifting strategy toward wholesale fuel-focused outlets amid ongoing economic headwinds.
Newly released earnings filings from parent company Seven & i Holdings Co., a Japan-based retail conglomerate, show that 7-Eleven’s North American operating subsidiary has approved the closure of 645 brick-and-mortar stores during the 2026 fiscal year. This net reduction of locations comes even as the brand opens 205 new stores across the U.S. and Canada in the same period, marking the first time in recent years that closures will far outpace new openings in the region.
Seven & i’s official filings confirm that a portion of the planned closures will involve converting existing traditional convenience stores to stand-alone wholesale fuel outlets. The company has steadily built out this alternative store format in North America over the past half-decade, with the wholesale fuel network already topping 900 locations as of December 2025. As of press time, 7-Eleven has not released a full list of locations targeted for closure or shared additional details on the specific reasoning behind the restructuring plan; the Associated Press has requested further comment that has not yet been returned.
Today, 7-Eleven boasts a global footprint of more than 86,000 stores spread across 19 countries, with the Texas-based North American subsidiary overseeing more than 13,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada. The planned cuts represent a continuation of the brand’s longstanding practice of culling low-performing stores on a regular basis, but the 2026 plan is far larger than previous rounds of cuts, coming amid a broader period of economic pressure on consumers worldwide.
Persistent inflation that began before recent geopolitical unrest has already squeezed household budgets, particularly for low-income shoppers who make up a large share of 7-Eleven’s core customer base. In its April 9 financial report, Seven & i noted that even with overall moderate economic growth in North America during the 2025 fiscal year, personal consumption has softened noticeably, with inflation continuing to drag down discretionary spending among lower-income groups.
The recent outbreak of conflict between the U.S.-Israel coalition and Iran has exacerbated these pressures, roiling global energy markets and driving a sharp spike in retail gasoline prices that cuts directly into both consumer disposable income and 7-Eleven’s fuel retail margins.
Unlike the North American market, Seven & i’s international operations will see net growth in store counts over the coming fiscal year. Even the brand’s home market of Japan will follow this pattern: Seven-Eleven Japan plans to close 350 underperforming locations while opening 550 new stores, resulting in a net gain of 200 outlets.
Parent company Seven & i projects that group-wide revenue will decline by 9.4% in the current fiscal year, hitting a projected total of roughly 9.45 trillion Japanese yen, equal to approximately $59.5 billion. The restructuring of the North American footprint comes as part of a broader corporate transformation launched under new leadership last year. Stephen Hayes Dacus took over as CEO of Seven & i in spring 2025, and has since outlined a new growth strategy focused on updating 7-Eleven’s core convenience offerings. Key priorities of the turnaround plan include expanding fresh food selections at existing stores and scaling up the brand’s 7NOW on-demand delivery service to capture new revenue streams in a shifting retail landscape.