Dive Brief:

• 7-Eleven Inc. plans to update foodservice and technology at many of its more than 3,000 Speedway locations, President Stan Reynolds said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Jan. 11. 
• The company also plans to “substantially” finish installing its proprietary store and fuel point of sale system, the Retail Information System (RIS), across the banner that it acquired in 2021.
• 7-Eleven also revealed that it plans to roll out its loyalty and delivery platforms to the 204 Stripes locations it agreed to acquire from Sunoco earlier this month.

Dive Insight:

The expansion of food options in Speedways supports 7-Eleven’s goal to grow foodservice to roughly a third of sales by 2025.

Because the company is seeing “high demand” for its food programs, it plans to add hot food cases to 1,600 Speedway locations, more in-store baked goods to 660 stores and commissary food to 550 locations by the end of the year. 

Commissary goods have been a particular focus for 7-Eleven over the last few years as its commissary partner Warabeya Nichiyo expanded its U.S. operations. The company opened a location in Virginia in September, to join facilities in Hawaii and Texas. A facility in Ohio is expected to come online later this year. 

Warabeya is also working on innovative new offerings and regional specials, like rice balls or Lone Star and Old Bay sliders.

7-Eleven also plans to “substantially complete” the rollout of its proprietary RIS point-of-sale system in Speedway stores in 2024. This move will “standardize our technology, reporting and operations across the entire network and the back office support systems,” said Reynolds.

It also plans to expand self checkout in Speedway stores.

The acquisition Sunoco, meanwhile, brings the remaining 204 Stripes locations and 120-plus Laredo Taco restaurants under 7-Eleven’s umbrella. The company expects these locations to add $110 million in store-level forward earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization within five years, along with $90 million in operating income, Reynolds said in the call. 

7-Eleven plans several updates to improve operations at the new stores, with Reynolds saying they see “significant opportunities” to boost sales and merchandise margins. Some of those moves may look like what Speedway is seeing now. 

“We will leverage our proprietary fresh foods and beverages and private brands to increase and improve the product assortment,” he said. 

The company also noted that these sites have low loyalty and delivery penetration, so Reynolds said they plan to bring 7Rewards and 7Now delivery to some of those sites.  

Some other highlights from the earnings call include:

• 7-Eleven Inc has nearly 100 million loyalty members as of the end of Q3 fiscal 2023. 
• The company plans to add more than 200 new private label items in 2024. This expansion includes an expected move into a number of new categories, including frozen foods, Hispanic foods, energy drinks, rapid hydration and liquor.