Parent company Seven & i Holdings of Japan has announced that as many as 444 7-Eleven stores will be closed in North America.  The company is facing pressure from financial institutions to increase profitability. Seven & I Holdings is currently the subject of a takeover bid from Alimentation Couche-Tard of Canada, operator of Circle K in the U.S. and convenience stores and gas stations in Europe. 

It is anticipated that the holding company will benefit from closing unprofitable locations. The intended action represents less than four percent of the 13,000 U.S. locations in the U.S.  The initiative may be too little and too late to lift profitability in the face of intense competition from larger convenience stores with forecourt filling stations located on major interstates throughout the U.S. and along arteries leading from cities to suburbs.

Seven & i Holdings has created a separate company, York Holdings to operate supermarkets and specialty stores as a precursor for divestment.