444 Stores Closing

Convenience store chain 7-Eleven will close hundreds of stores as the company faces declining sales. Middle and lower income groups are consuming more prudently amid inflation and falling incomes, the firm said. Challenging employment conditions, high interest rates, and inflationary pressures have led to a decline in labor incomes, 7-Eleven said when announcing the closure of more than 400 stores in North America. The firm credited the robustness of the North American economy to consumption by high-income earners, noting that middle and lower-income groups have taken a “more prudent approach” in this regard.

The company said several factors contributed to the downsizing decision: a large portion of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, a reduction in food stamp benefits, growth of online retail sales, cyber outage incident that impacted operations, and declining tobacco product sales.