All Those Snacks You've Wanted From Japanese 7-Elevens Are Finally Hitting U.S. Stores

Screenshot: The Wall Street Journal on YouTube

The convenience store business is experiencing a massive shift in priority right now, and it could soon mean better and more exciting international options for road trip snacks. The traditional model for American 7-Eleven stores has been focused around tobacco products and gasoline, but as both of those markets show downward trend lines, the chain is putting all of its eggs in the food basket. The chain of convenience stores is owned by a Japanese firm, and the future of the brand looks a lot more like the fresh food-heavy stores in Japan than the chips-and-soda stores in America.

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If you’ve ever been to Japan, you know just how great a 7-Eleven can be. Those stores receive multiple shipments per day of high-quality low-cost fresh food products. Everything from the coffee to the ice cream is just made to a higher standard. You won’t see roller grille hot dogs in a Japanese 7-Eleven store, but you can get sushi and it won’t even give y0u a gut bomb. U.S. 7-Eleven shops are rolling out new foodstuffs, including tonkatsu ramen, spicy miso ramen, amid the scores of more traditional store-branded American fare.

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With the prospect of gasoline sales declining in the face of continued EV proliferation, and the continued collapse of tobacco product sales, there could be a shift in the entire convenience store business. Perhaps these stores will eventually look more like small grocery stores or restaurants, and provide more community-based services. But don’t worry about your favorite Big Gulp getting discontinued, because those still sell like hot cakes.

The Japan-based company is tearing down its entire network and rebuilding the supply chain from the ground up to support this food-shift. 7-Eleven is dead, long live 7-Eleven.