In today’s economic climate, big, national retailers are shuttering at an alarming rate. CVS and Walgreens both closed tons of pharmacies last year, while long-standing stores like Party City and JOANN went completely out of business. But one sector of the retail market that seems to be fairing decently well is the convenience store, as Wawa, 7-Eleven, and Kwik Trip have all recently announced plans to open thousands of new locations.
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7-Eleven will open 1,300 new stores by 2030.
In 2024, 7-Eleven closed 444 “underperforming” locations across the U.S. and Canada, roughly 3 percent of their 13,000+ stores in North America, reported ABC News.
The convenience store’s Tokyo-based parent company, Seven & I Holdings, cited inflation, slower customer traffic, and declining cigarette sales as the reasons for those closures.
However, things are now looking up. Not only is 7-Eleven on track for a 2026 IPO, but the company just announced that it will open 1,300 new North American stores by 2030. As C-Store Dive first reported, the news came via a fourth-quarter earnings call held last week, in which Seven & I Holdings shared their more ambitious plan.
This includes opening 550 new stores over the next three years, all of which will feature 7-Eleven’s new standard design, which has “a larger product assortment and expanded food and beverage offerings compared to traditional 7-Eleven stores,” explains C-Store Dive.
The company will also increase the number of 7-Eleven stores that feature Quick Service Restaurants (QSR), which include Raise the Roost Chicken & Biscuits, Laredo Taco Company and Speedy Café.
As C-Store Dive notes, there were 1,080 stores with QSRs at the end of 2024, and 50 more will open in 2025, with the number expected to reach 2,100 by 2030. It’s unclear if all of these will be in new locations.
It’s also unclear if this announcement reflects an overall increase in 7-Eleven’s total North American store count. C-Store Dive pointed out: “7-Eleven closed more locations than it opened in fiscal 2024 and expects to do the same in fiscal 2025, according to the company’s 2024 summary.”
The locations have not yet been announced.
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Wawa plans to open about 700 new stores by 2030.
Wawa, 7-Eleven, and Kwik Trip Are Opening 1000s of New Stores—Here’s When and Where
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Wawa is also ramping up its expansion plans to hit a 2030 target. The convenience store chain currently operates 1,100 stores in the U.S. and expects to hit 1,800 stores in the next five years.
Historically, Wawa stores were only found in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. But in recent years, the company has expanded into Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and West Virginia. The first Wawa in Ohio opened just this week, and the first Indiana store opens next month.
Virginia is one state where Wawa is making a significant investment. Over the next 10 years, it plans to open 60 locations in the western part of the state, up to eight of which will open this year, C-Store Dive reports. These will primarily be along the Interstate 81 corridor, with stores in Staunton and Lynchburg opening this fall.
Kwik Trip is also expanding.
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Midwestern convenience store company Kwik Trip is also expanding, albeit in smaller numbers.
The chain, which operates Kwik Trip, Kwik Star, Stop N Go, and Kwik Sprits, currently has 898 locations across Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
CoStar reports that Kwik Trip will now expand into North Dakota, opening at least four stores in the greater Fargo area, all of which will have car washes.
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