3 Big Numbers is a weekly column that looks at a few key details from around the c-store industry.
When 7-Eleven speaks, the convenience store industry listens. And between last week’s NACS Show and parent company Seven & i releasing its fiscal 2024 first-half earnings on Oct. 10, it’s been saying a lot recently.
Its talking points covered a range of challenging topics, including low fuel sales, hiring difficulties, the application of technology and cost savings — and all against the backdrop of Alimentation Couche-Tard still hoping to acquire the whole kit and kaboodle.
This week’s 7-Eleven-themed big numbers include a swath of store closures, lowered earnings expectations and a big boost in hiring efficiency.
444
Number of 7-Elevens targeted for closure in North America.
Earnings reports are a virtual waterfall of facts and figures, but one number that really popped in the fiscal first-half report was7-Eleven’s disclosure that it plans to close nearly 450 stores in North America. This comes after a net loss of around 200 stores in 2024, according to NACS data.
7-Eleven is targeting “underperforming stores” in the closures, though it didn’t share much detail about those plans.
Alongside shuttering those sites, the retailer expects to gain more than $500 million from a sale-leaseback of an unknown number of stores. 7-Eleven expects the two moves to benefit its bottom line to the tune of a $110 million annual run rate.
$2.1 billion
Expected full year 2024 operating income for 7-Eleven Inc.
Expected operating income north of $2 billion for 7-Eleven’s North American convenience stores is nothing to sneeze at. However, this guidance is 28% lower than what the company originally expected for fiscal year 2024.
Several of the usual suspects contributed to this fiscal pessimism, including inflation making North American customers limit their spending, the ongoing cultural shift away from cigarettes and lower-than-expected fuel margins.
7-Eleven also suffers because it only offers fuel at about 60% of its North American sites, compared to a competitor like Alimentation Couche-Tard, which has gas at most of its locations.
“If we had fuel on all of our stores, we would be adding an additional $2 billion to the bottom line,” a 7-Eleven spokesperson said in its earnings Q&A..
95%
Amount of the 7-Eleven recruiting process managed by AI.
As we reported this week, 7 Eleven representatives also had a lot to say at this month’s record-breaking NACS Show in Las Vegas.
Rachel Allen, 7-Eleven’s senior director of talent acquisition, led an education session at the NACS Show on Oct. 8 during which she sang the praises of artificial intelligence in helping the company better hire and retain good workers.
Allen said 7-Eleven would sometimes take nearly two weeks to get back to applicants, many of whom were already off the market. “By the time we gave them a call, they were hired down the street,” Allen said.
Applying AI to the hiring process has dropped the time frame from 10 days down to three on average, and automation now handles roughly 95% of the process, including setting up interviews and many other communications with applicants.
