TOKYO — According to an article on cspdaily.com, 7-Eleven Inc. plans to open 1,100 new locations through its fiscal 2019 in order to achieve a goal of 10,000 stores in North America.
As of the end of June 2016, 7-Eleven had almost 8,900 stores in the U.S. and Canada, noted the article.
“We will speed up expansion in North America by accelerating acquisitions,” Ryuichi Isaka, president of 7-Eleven’s parent company, Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. (SEI), said at a news conference.
Most recently, 7-Eleven Inc. purchased 79 convenience stores in California and Wyoming from CST Brands Inc. of San Antonio, the article stated.
When major oil companies shed the majority of their retail centers, the c-store industry began to undergo a restructuring that is still happening, the article noted.
As such, SEI said in its three-year plan that it “adopted more stringent standards for opening new stores in 2012,” thus shifting the company’s priorities “from quantity to quality.”
Since then, the company said, “through organizational reinforcement, along with the effect of expanding the opening of new stores in urban areas where there are high sales of fast foods, SEI has established a management framework that enables the expansion of new store openings while maintaining quality.”
SEI also plans to introduce the Japanese model of offering cooked foods for purchase from the snack counter, according to the article.
“We are excited about our continued growth opportunities in the U.S.,” 7-Eleven spokesperson Stephanie Shaw said. “We believe 7-Eleven Japan runs some of the best stores in the world, and we consistently look to them for inspiration. This is especially true with our fresh foods as we continue to innovate our offerings to meet our customers’ changing needs.”
Read the full article here.
