7-Eleven to Open 500 New Stores Focused on Fresh Food

7-Eleven is going big on food and "frictionless shopping." The convenience store giant plans to open 500 new "food-forward" locations across the U.S. from 2025 to 2027.

The expansion builds on 7-Eleven's "Evolution" store concept, first launched in Dallas in 2019. These larger-format stores feature in-store restaurants, premium products like craft beer and cigars, and an emphasis on fresh, grab-and-go meals. Customer feedback was "pretty straightforward," according to 7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto. "They wanted stores that were food forward and that provided innovative digital offerings, personalized shopping experiences, and more fuel pumps."

Enter 7-Eleven's new standard stores, set to roll out 125 locations in 2025, ramping up to over 500 by 2027. "These new-format stores are performing better than our existing portfolio in both merchandise sales and traffic, delivering 13% higher same-store sales in the first year," DePinto said. The company projects that sales at these stores will increase a whopping 30% to an average of $8,219 per store per day at full maturity.

Food is at the core of 7-Eleven's growth strategy, with plans to "expand the business scale globally by leveraging strengths in food," according to parent company Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. That means a focus on proprietary products like fresh food, in-store restaurants, specialty beverages, and private label goods.

7-Eleven is investing in its quick-service restaurant brands, like the Mexican-inspired Laredo Taco Company and Southern-style Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits. The company is also modernizing its food and beverage offerings with bake-in-store products, self-serve roller grills, grab-and-go hot cases, and specialty drinks like espresso and iced coffee.

With around 13,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada, 7-Eleven already has an impressive footprint. "These stores are within two miles of 51% of the U.S. population," DePinto noted. "And we are not done, as seen by the white space on this map, we have a significant amount of room to grow."