7-Eleven Now Has 70,000 Stores

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The customer’s always journeying: Retail, like life, is about the journey—the customer journey, that is. In our State of Stores report, we dive into how retailers need to use every tool in their kit (including the POS) to meet the ever-expanding expectations of today’s shoppers. Read it here.

7-Eleven said yesterday it now has more than 70,000 stores. That means there’s roughly one 7-Eleven for every 1.35 Retail Brew readers. A few more stats to sprinkle in your Slurpee:

• Last year, 7-Eleven opened a new store about every 3.5 hours.
• 11,800 of 7-Eleven’s stores are in North America.

How we got here: 7-Eleven has sold the gas station chili dog of choice since 1927, but it’s not too glued to tradition to ignore modern consumer preferences.

• At home and abroad, 7-Eleven has stepped up its food offerings to include regional delicacies, private label items, and keto-friendly snacks.
• Last year, it started offering food delivery in select areas.

Zoom out: Convenience chains like Wawa, Sheetz, and Kwik Trip have similarly elevated their store offerings and reaped the receipts. U.S. convenience store sales have increased around 30% in the past decade, according to National Association of Convenience Stores data reported by CNN.

Looking ahead...7-Eleven will enter its 18th global market when it opens its first store in India later this year.