Who knew that when you combine a bad economy with falling sales of cigarettes you'd get a drop-off in sales that would cause a company to start closing or selling off over 400 locations around the country?

Maybe the parent company of 7-Eleven knew that, maybe they didn't, but regardless of whether they knew that those circumstances would result in an announcement that the company was closing up stores or looking for a buyer for others, that's what they're doing.

Of the 315 7-Eleven stores in Illinois (according to their website), 100 of them are in Chicago or Chicagoland--and at this point 7-Eleven hasn't said which ones are on the closing list.

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I Had No Idea That 7-Eleven Has More Stores Than Any Other Retailer In The World, With 84,000 Locations In 19 Different Countries

7-Eleven was also the first place to offer 24-7 hours, a self-serve soda fountain, and coffee available in to-go cups, along with the iconic Slurpee and Big Gulp drinks.

The first 7-Eleven store opened in Dallas, Texas in 1927. The chain was originally called Tote'm Stores, but was renamed 7-Eleven in 1946.

7-Eleven is owned by a Japan-based company called Seven & I Holdings, and their plan is raise their number of stores from 84,000 today to over 100,000 by 2030...but first there are the 450 locations that are going to be sold off or closed outright.

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Things Have Been A Little Tough This Year For 7-Eleven Locations, And The Non-Profitable Stores Will Be Showing Up On The Closing List

7-Eleven has seen 6 straight months of declining traffic to their stores, and August was particularly brutal because of 7.3% drop in store traffic.

FoxBusiness.com:

The chain highlighted that cigarette sales, once the largest sales category for convenience stores, have fallen 26% since 2019 and that a shift in sales to other nicotine products has failed to make much of a difference. The company said it will transform its stores to be centered around food, which is now the highest-selling category. The convenience store chain said it would also sell popular international food items, including milk, bread, egg sandwiches and miso ramen, at its U.S. stores.

No word yet on which Illinois or Wisconsin locations will be looking at permanent closure, but that information is expected to be released within the next few weeks.

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Gallery Credit: Liz Barrett Foster

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