In a bold strategic shift, 7-Eleven, the world’s largest convenience store chain, is transforming its business model by focusing on gourmet snacks and freshly-prepared meals. This pivot comes after the company closed 444 stores in North America last year, deemed as ‘underperforming’. The move signifies a departure from its traditional gas station operations, as more consumers opt for fuel-efficient vehicles and hybrids, reducing overall gasoline consumption.

Historically, 7-Eleven derived significant profits from its gas sales and from motorists purchasing drinks, snacks, and cigarettes during fuel stops. However, after last year’s store closures affected its earnings, the company’s parent, Seven & i Holdings, has reported a successful transition to a new business focus. On Thursday, the company announced an increase in its full-year profit forecast, buoyed by stronger-than-anticipated third-quarter revenues. The focus is now on high-quality, private-label food products that the company manages entirely, moving away from lower-margin, heavily branded goods and even gasoline.

This strategy mirrors the successful approaches of retail giants like Aldi and Trader Joe’s, both of which have thrived by prioritizing their own-brand offerings. Such products tend to be far more profitable compared to branded snacks, sodas, and fuel, which come with thinner margins. For instance, when selling a branded candy bar, 7-Eleven incurs wholesale costs and faces pricing pressures due to consumer price comparisons. By shifting to proprietary labels, 7-Eleven seeks to enhance profitability and control over its product offerings.

Meanwhile, if 7-Eleven make its own candy bar, it can design, source and price the snack themselves — there’s no middleman taking a cut. Selling own-brand has been central to the business model of Trader Joe’s since the grocer’s early days. Founder Joe Coulombe launched the first private-label product in 1972 to undercut competitors’ prices: a bag of granola. The company then shifted its focus to concentrate on unique private-label items. It got rid of many national brands to maximize limited shelf space in its small stores.

Similarly, Aldi has always focused on private labels, but in late 2025 it took a step further by launching its most significant rebrand by putting the Aldi name on packaging In many ways, this is simply 7-Eleven borrowing from its own roots overseas. Japanese 7-Elevens don’t have gas stations, so they’ve had to compete on food alone, meaning that customers trust the quality of the chain’s offerings. There is no gas station stigma to beat, as there is in the US.

A major part of why 7-Elevens profits rose substantially this year is because the chain’s Japanese stores did so well. Now, the chain intends to invest profit from across the world — especially Japan, where profit growth is solid enough that the company has extra cash — into the US market. There has also been changes in leadership. Longtime US CEO Joe DePinto stepped down at the end of 2025, but no successor has yet been named.

At the same time, the group is preparing its North American convenience-store business to stand alone, laying the groundwork for a separate public listing. That would turn 7-Eleven’s US arm into its own publicly traded company, allowing it to raise capital independently and be valued on its own merits.