7-Eleven has closed nearly 450 stores across North America due to poor performance

Nearly 450 7-Eleven stores across North America are closing due to poor performance, according to the company.

Seven & I Holdings, 7-Eleven's Japan-based parent company, announced in an earnings report Thursday that 444 7-Eleven stores will close due to declining sales, particularly cigarette sales, as well as lower traffic and inflation.

A list of stores that will be closed has not been released.

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7-Eleven has 13,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada, meaning the closures will only affect 3% of the company's portfolio.

The department store chain has faced six straight months of declines in traffic, including a 7.3% decline in August.

“The North American economy remained generally strong thanks to high-income consumption, despite persistent inflation, rising interest rates and a deteriorating employment environment,” Seven & I Holdings said in an earnings statement. “In this context, there has been a more prudent approach towards consumption, especially among those with middle and low incomes.”

Seven and I'm holding (Getty Images/Getty Images)

The chain highlighted that cigarette sales, once the stores' largest sales category, had fallen 26% since 2019 and that the shift in sales to other nicotine products had failed to make a significant difference.

The company said it will transform its stores around food, which is now its best-selling category.

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7-Eleven (Getty Images/Getty Images)

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Seven & I Holdings strives to be “a world-class food-centric retail group that drives retail innovation through global growth strategies focused on the 7-Eleven business and proactive use of technology,” the company said.

In July, the convenience store chain said it would also sell popular global staples, including milk, bread, egg sandwiches and miso ramen, in its US stores.