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7-Eleven to buy 1,100 c-stores from Sunoco

Food-focused Stripes brand in $3.3B deal

Jon Springer, Executive Editor

April 6, 2017

2 Min Read
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The Sunoco deal will greatly expand 7-Eleven's presence in Texas and the East Coast.Joe Raedle/Staff/Getty Images News

Seven & I Holdings, the Japan-based parent of the Seven-11 convenience brand, said Thursday that its U.S. division had agreed to acquire 1,108 gas stations and convenience stores, including the food-focused Stripes brand, operated by Sunoco for $3.3 billion.

The acquisition will move 7-Eleven further toward a stated goal of operating 10,000 U.S. c-stores by 2020 and comes as U.S. convenience stores — particularly those with strong food programs — are seeing their fortunes improve in spite of declining gas prices.

The National Association of Convenience stores this week said non-gasoline sales at U.S. units improved by 3.2% to $233 billion in fiscal 2016, led by a 21.7% sales in the foodservice category, which includes prepared and commissary food, and dispensed beverages like coffee and soft drinks. C-stores also saw sales increase in 2016 in packaged beverages like soft drinks, water, juices and teas ( 15%), center store offerings like salty snacks, sweets and alternative snacks ( 9.8%) and beer ( 6.7%), the trade group said.

These increases were offset somewhat by declining per-gallon gasoline prices leading to a 9.2% decline in their sales despite overall volume gains.

The Sunoco deal announced Thursday would provide Seven-11 with heavy concentrations of stores in Texas and the U.S. East Coast, as well as intellectual property of Sunoco brands Laredo Taco Co. and Stripes. SN’s sister publication Nation’s Restaurant News estimates suggest Stripes foodservice sales are about 1.5 times higher than 7-Eleven stores.

The deal does not include approximately 200 c-stores in Texas and Oklahoma; however, Sunoco on Thursday said it would initiate a separate sale process for those. The 7-Eleven deal also does not include Sunoco’s A-Plus stores operated by franchisees.

As part of the agreement, Seven-11 said it would buy gasoline from Sunoco for the sites for 15 years.

About the Author

Jon Springer

Executive Editor

Jon Springer is executive editor of Winsight Grocery Business with responsibility for leading its digital news team. Jon has more than 20 years of experience covering consumer business and retail in New York, including more than 14 years at the Retail/Financial desk at Supermarket News. His previous experience includes covering consumer markets for KPMG’s Insiders; the U.S. beverage industry for Beverage Spectrum; and he was a Senior Editor covering commercial real estate and retail for the International Council of Shopping Centers. Jon began his career as a sports reporter and features editor for the Cecil Whig, a daily newspaper in Elkton, Md. Jon is also the author of two books on baseball. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English-Journalism from the University of Delaware. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his family.

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