New Hampshire 7-Eleven Stores To Undergo Major Changes

NEW HAMPSHIRE — 7-Eleven stores in the United States, including those in New Hampshire, are planning a rebranding as the chain’s parent company attempts to replicate its success in its home country of Japan, according to reports.

Executives stated in a recent earnings call that foot traffic has decreased by 7.3 percent since August, and declining cigarette sales, down 26 percent since 2019, are a key contributing factor.

The chain has dozens of 7-Eleven (and Speedway gas stations, which is owned by the company) in Granite State locations, including Concord, Hampton, Londonderry, Manchester, Merrimack, Nashua, and Salem.

The rebranding will center around the chain's food offerings. They're generally considered convenient but unhealthy, with high levels of salt, fat, and preservatives. Changing that is one of the challenges for Stephen Dacus, a Japanese American and former Walmart executive who started three months ago as the chief executive of Seven & i Holdings, the parent company of 7-Eleven.

The parent company plans to spend $13 billion over the next five years to expand its overseas operations, including by upgrading existing U.S. stores, adding more than 1,000 in-store restaurants, and building a network of suppliers for 7-Eleven brand prepared foods.

Dacus told The New York Times the chain will improve the quality of its fresh food offerings to include items that have become popular options among American visitors to Japan to U.S. menus.

“Whether it’s hot food or cold food or any kind of food, we have to lean into how we improve the quality and the experience,” Dacus told The Times. “That’s what Japan does extraordinarily well.”

New items could include egg salad sandwiches, which celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain once called “pillows of love." The chain's flagship strawberries and cream sandwiches will also become a staple.

At the same time, 7-Eleven has quietly shuttered about 444 U.S. locations since last year and expects to close another 148 by the end of the year, The Street reported. The company has not released a list of where the closed stores are located.

• Read more: U.S. 7-Eleven Stores To Offer Item Celebrity Chef Called ‘Pillows Of Love’

Editor's note: This post was scripted by another Patch staffer, not New Hampshire's editor, for publication on New Hampshire sites.