- 7-Eleven closed over 500 North American stores and plans more closures while shifting toward a food-focused model to compete with quick-service restaurants.
- Wider retail upheaval: thousands of store shutdowns driven by e‑commerce, private‑equity debt, theft, and changing consumer habits, reshaping neighborhoods and jobs.
In a retail landscape that’s starting to feel more like a demolition derby than a thriving marketplace, 7-Eleven—the ubiquitous convenience store that’s been a pit stop for millions of Americans for decades—is pulling the plug on hundreds of underperforming locations.
The chain, owned by Japanese powerhouse Seven & i Holdings, shuttered more than 400 stores in North America during the fourth quarter of last year alone, pushing the total past 500 closures as it grapples with shifting consumer habits and a sluggish economy.
But that’s just the opening act; executives are signaling that hundreds more could follow as the company pivots hard toward a food-centric model to claw back customers defecting to fast-food rivals.
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It’s a stark reminder of how even the most iconic brands aren’t immune to the pressures hammering brick-and-mortar retail.
From discount behemoths like Big Lots liquidating their entire footprint to pharmacy giants like Walgreens and CVS trimming fat amid theft and reimbursement woes, 2025 is shaping up as a year of unprecedented upheaval.
According to Coresight Research, a New York-based firm tracking the sector, U.S. retailers closed 7,325 stores last year—the highest tally since the pandemic’s 10,000-store bloodbath in 2020—and projections for this year point to a staggering 15,000 shutdowns, more than double the 2024 figure.
7-Eleven’s Hard Pivot: From Slurpees to Sandwiches
7-Eleven’s troubles stem from a classic convenience-store conundrum: shoppers are grabbing their coffee and snacks, but they’re increasingly bolting for quick-service restaurants (QSRs) like Wawa or Casey’s when hunger really hits.
A 2024 study by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) found that nearly 29% of c-store visitors planned to swing by a QSR within 30 minutes—up from 27.5% the year before—with limited menu options cited as the top culprit. “A limited c-store menu was the most frequently cited reason why consumers said they would go to a QSR,” notes Jayme Gough, NACS’s director of research and development.
“37.9% of those surveyed said they wanted a food item that the c-store didn’t offer.”
Seven & i’s latest earnings report paints a grim economic backdrop: a cooling North American economy, with low-income households tightening belts amid sticky inflation on essentials like food and gas.
The company is responding with a multi-pronged overhaul dubbed its “transformation plan,” which includes closing laggard stores, revamping thousands of others into food-focused hubs, and juicing up its 7NOW delivery app to compete in the DoorDash era.
Analysts see this as a necessary gut punch. The chain, which boasts over 9,000 U.S. locations, isn’t going anywhere—but these cuts could reshape entire neighborhoods where a 7-Eleven has long been the default for late-night runs.
The Domino Effect: Big Lots and Beyond in Freefall
7-Eleven’s moves come amid a broader retail reckoning that’s left scars across categories. Take Big Lots, the discount chain synonymous with bargain-bin treasures and closeout deals.
What started as targeted trims—35 to 40 stores in early 2024, blamed on inflation eroding shopper wallets—snowballed into catastrophe.
By September, the Ohio-based retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, initially planning to shutter 344 locations as part of a $620 million sale to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management.
But the deal cratered, and by December 2024, Big Lots announced it was liquidating everything: all remaining stores, pushing total closures past 500 for the year and wiping out its 1,000-plus footprint nationwide.
CEO Bruce Thorn called it a last-ditch effort, hinting that a buyer could revive some sites. “The forthcoming store closures could be reversed if we successfully complete a sale,” he wrote in an employee memo.
Too late for places like the Milwaukee outlet on South 27th Street, where “going out of business” signs now scream 40-60% off amid the final fire sale.
Experts pin the blame on a toxic mix: a $114.5 million sales plunge from 2023 to 2024, crippling debt from private equity maneuvers, and core customers—budget-conscious families—simply spending less on big-ticket whims.
This isn’t isolated. Family Dollar, the dollar-store staple gobbled up by Dollar Tree in 2015 for $8.5 billion, axed 718 locations through mid-December 2024 alone, citing post-acquisition woes and theft-riddled stores.
Party City, the balloon-and-banner kingpin, filed for its second bankruptcy in as many years and is shuttering all 750 U.S. stores by February 2025, stranding workers without severance after nearly 40 years.
Joann Fabrics followed suit in February, closing all 800 outlets nationwide after failing to lure a keeper buyer, while Rite Aid wrapped up its remaining sites this year post-bankruptcy.
Even survivors are slimming down. Macy’s, under its “Bold New Chapter” revamp, is closing 66 stores in 2025—part of 150 through 2026—to funnel cash into sleeker, off-mall formats and hot performers like Bloomingdale’s.
JCPenney, the 123-year-old department store warhorse, plans eight mid-2025 exits tied to lease flops and market shifts, though analysts like Neil Saunders of GlobalData call it a symptom of “another lost year” with no clear turnaround.
Pharmacies are bleeding too. Walgreens, reeling from low reimbursements and shoplifting spikes, will close 500 of its 8,700 U.S. stores in 2025—kicking off a three-year cull of 25% of its network.
CVS isn’t far behind, shuttering 270 more this year after 586 last, targeting overlapping or low-traffic spots.
GameStop, the video-game relic, is optimizing away another “significant number” after 590 U.S. closures in fiscal 2024.
What’s Driving the Wreckage—and Can Anyone Stop It?
Dig deeper, and the culprits are familiar: e-commerce’s relentless march (hello, Amazon Pharmacy), post-pandemic habit shifts, and a private-equity hangover.
Firms like Leonard Green & Partners (Joann) and Thomas H. Lee (Party City) loaded these chains with debt during the cheap-money era; now, with interest rates stubborn, 56% of 2024’s mega-bankruptcies traced back to PE plays, per the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
Add in theft—Walgreens alone blames it for billions in losses—and thrifty consumers hunting deals online or at winners like Walmart, and you’ve got a perfect storm.
Yet, not everyone’s packing it in. Aldi is expanding with minimal cuts, and chains like Dollar General (148 closures planned for 2025) are holding steady despite the din.
The survivors? They’re betting on smaller footprints, experiential tweaks (think in-store cafes), and hyper-local data to lure foot traffic back.
Earlier I reported on other American favorite retailers, such as Dominos Pizza, who is set to close 200 locations in 2025.
Then there’s Starbucks, closing coffee shops in California.
In New York, Foot Locker is closing 100 stores.
And home furniture stores such as Metro Mattress are completely liquidating.
For workers and communities, though, the toll is real: layoffs without parachutes, empty strip malls, and that gut punch of seeing a childhood haunt go dark.
As 7-Eleven remakes itself and Big Lots fades to black, one thing’s clear—this retail reality isn’t getting kinder. It’s just getting leaner.
Will 7-Eleven store closures continue to grow?
Also Read: A Massive Healthcare Provider Now Announces Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
