Seven & i Sets Goal of Adding 1,000 Stores in Japan by Fy30; Stephen Hayes Dacus Reveals First Medium-Term Plan Created by New Leadership Team

The Yomiuri Shimbun

19:28 JST, August 7, 2025

The announcement by Seven & i Holdings Inc. on Wednesday that the company plans to increase its number of domestic convenience stores by about 1,000 by the fiscal year starting April 2030 represents a key part of the company’s medium-term plan for the period through fiscal 2030.

The Japanese company intends to convert itself from a general retail group into a specialist in the convenience store business.

However, experts point out that Seven & i may face an uphill battle in realizing this audacious growth strategy, as competition from rival convenience store chains is intensifying.

Wednesday’s plan represented the first set of management goals introduced by Seven & i’s new leadership team, headed by Stephen Hayes Dacus, the U.S.-born president and CEO who took office in May.

The plan also establishes a goal of raising Seven & i’s operating revenue, which broadly corresponds to net sales, to 11.3 trillion yen, an increase of 13% from fiscal 2024.

Additionally, the company plans to achieve a net increase of about 1,000 in its number of convenience stores it operates in Japan, which now stands at about 21,700. It will also make capital investments in more than 5,000 stores, with an aim of improving food sales.

In North America, which accounts for about 70% of Seven & i’s total sales, the company will open 1,300 new convenience stores, along with launching 1,100 stores attached to restaurants. It will also beef up its delivery services as a new source of revenue both in Japan and North America.

In total, Seven & i plans to invest 3.2 trillion yen in growth by fiscal 2030, with most of the money used for opening new stores and renovating existing ones. The company is set to sell York Holdings Co., which operates Seven & i’s non-convenience-store business, to U.S. investment firm Bain Capital LP. The non-convenience-store business includes Ito-Yokado Co., the business from which Seven & i originally spawned.

At a press conference held Wednesday, Dacus stressed that it will be “first time in Seven & i’s history when the company will focus specifically on the convenience store business.” The CEO reflected on the company’s attitude, saying that the company “has become complacent in some ways. Seven & i will regain its founding spirit.”

Pruning and consolidating

Since receiving an acquisition proposal from Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. in August last year, Seven & i has been working on reviewing its management structure, exemplified by the stepping down in May of then president Ryuichi Isaka, after having held the top position for about nine years.

The company has also been pruning and consolidating its operations. In the past, Seven & i was engaged in a wide range of operations, including operating department stores, specialty stores and financial services. However, the company sold its department store unit Sogo & Seibu Co. in 2023. In June this year, the company announced that it would remove Seven Bank Ltd. from its consolidated financial statements. In mid-July, Couche-Tard dropped its acquisition proposal, but on Wednesday Dacus expressed his willingness to continue leading the company along the course set by the previous management team. Couche-Tard cited Seven & i’s attitude in negotiation and problems in corporate governance as the reasons the acquisition proposal was abandoned. However, Dacus suggested that the Canadian company had likely been facing various pressures, apparently implying that Couche-Tard’s own business performance was deteriorating.

Risk remains

The number of convenience stores in Japan has hovered at slightly above 55,000 since the mid-2010s. Seven & i is often described as the “undisputed champion” of Japan’s convenience store industry, but the number of 7-Eleven stores today is about 21,000, nearly unchanged from what it was in 2018.

Seven & i has fallen behind in responding to rising prices for food and other goods, and the public perception that 7-Eleven stores are expensive is beginning to affect both customer numbers and sales. Dacus expressed his regret at the press conference, saying that “the company’s long-term success has brought complacency and made the company slower to innovate and implement new plans.”

The company may face a new acquisition proposal if its stock price remains low. “Unless [Seven & i] succeeds in raising its corporate value, the same thing will happen again eventually,” said a source related to Seven & i. “I felt a sense of urgency [from the press conference], but it was lacking in specific details about things like products,” said Shun Tanaka, a senior analyst at SBI Securities Co. “The company must regain the brand power it once had to receive positive evaluation from the market.”