7-Eleven is planning to open 500 food-forward stores in the coming years, another sign that convenience stores are becoming a serious competitor to restaurants.

The company describes the fleet as New Standard stores that have larger formats, more digital and personalized offerings, and additional fuel pumping locations. Units open with this design are performing better than the portfolio in merchandise sales and traffic, delivering 13 percent higher same-store sales in the first year of opening. 7-Eleven projects that at full maturity (four years), New Standard stores will increase 30 percent to $8,219 per store per day on average.

There will be 115 New Standard outlets by the end of 2024. The plan is to open 125 more of these units in 2025, 175 in 2026, and 200 in 2027.

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By the end of 2027, there will be a projected 615 New Standard units in the U.S.

The New Standard prototype is the next step after Evolution stores, a group of locations that served as an experiential testing ground to try 7-Eleven’s latest products and innovations in addition to restaurant concepts like Laredo Taco Company. These units featured advanced technology like mobile checkout via the app and integration with third-party delivery services.

7-Eleven operates 1,084 restaurant locations, including Laredo Taco Company, Speedy Cafe (Speedway gas stations), and Raise the Roost Chicken & Biscuits. It plans to open more than 50 restaurant locations in 2025.

“Our strategic growth pillar is to continue to grow and enhance our store network and there is significant room to do this,” 7-Eleven CEO Joseph DePinto said during an investor presentation. “From an organic growth perspective, we began our process by rolling out what we called Evolution stores. These were real life, experiential and lab testing grounds where customers could try our latest innovations in our latest store platforms and products. With the learnings from our Evolution stores, we have now developed our new store standard to better meet our customers’ needs.”

As of Q2, there were 13,229 7-Eleven locations in the U.S. and Canada.

The news comes a couple weeks after 7-Eleven announced the planned closure of 444 underperforming locations. The retailer noted in the earnings call that “pullback in consumer spending has persisted beyond prior expectations,” noting inflation as one of the primary causes.

In August, Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard made an offer to acquire 7-Eleven for approximately $39 billion. However, Japan-based parent company Seven & i Holdings rejected the initial offer, stating the bid “grossly undervalues” the company’s intrinsic worth and its potential for unlocking additional value. According to Reuters, Couche-Tard raised its offer to about $47 billion, a 22 percent increase. If accepted, this deal would mark the largest-ever overseas acquisition of a Japanese company.

Convenience stores have continually blurred the lines between its category and the restaurant segment. For instance, Casey’s often refers to itself as one of the biggest pizza chains in the U.S. Many convenience stores have drive-thru attachments as well, like Wawa and Sheetz. 7-Eleven opened its first drive-thru with a Laredo Taco location in Dallas in 2021.

Fast Food, Story, 7-Eleven