Seven & i管理层访谈称将把欧洲作为7-Eleven第四增长支柱，但无新增硬催化

TOKYO -- Seven & i Holdings is accelerating the global expansion of its 7-Eleven convenience store business, with President and CEO Steve Dacus saying Friday that "we need to focus on Europe, and we believe that could be our fourth pillar of growth," along with Japan, North America and Asia.
The company's global strategy revamp comes at a challenging time for the owner of the 7-Eleven brand, following its exit from India in the face of fierce competition.
Dacus and Mauricio Leyva, who became CEO of U.S. subsidiary 7-Eleven Inc. (SEI) in August, spoke in a joint interview with Nikkei and other media outlets.
"In Europe, as you know, we only have a few hundred stores in Scandinavia, and they are very successful," Dacus said. "That makes me believe that we can succeed in other areas in Europe." 7-Eleven's presence in Europe is largely limited to the Nordic region, where it operates about 360 stores in countries such as Norway and Finland.
As of the end of August, 7-Eleven had about 87,000 stores in 19 countries and territories. Under its medium-term strategy through fiscal 2030, Seven & i plans to spend roughly 3.2 trillion yen ($20.2 billion) on growth investments worldwide and aims to expand its global store network by 14% to around 100,000 locations.
"In Asia, there are still lots of opportunities for us," Dacus also said. However, the company has recently struggled to make headway in new markets. In India, which 7-Eleven entered in 2021, all 31 stores were closed by the end of September. A major Indian conglomerate, which ran the stores under a licensing agreement, had expanded the network. But existing stores struggled to win customers due to fierce competition from local retailers.
Reworking its strategy in Asia is another urgent task, including a potential return to Indonesia, a promising market backed by economic growth.
To gain a foothold in Eastern Europe, Seven & i had been in talks to buy a stake in Polish convenience store operator Zabka Group, but it abandoned the negotiations at the end of July after the sides failed to agree on terms. "At the end of the day," Dacus said, "we were unable to come to an agreement with the seller that we felt would add appropriate value to our shareholders."
In North America, the main profit engine of Seven & i's overseas business and a region that accounts for more than half its operating profit, the company is pushing ahead with restructuring measures, including closing unprofitable stores.
Leyva, the new CEO of SEI, who has more than 20 years of experience in the consumer goods industry, including at U.S. beverage giant Keurig Dr Pepper, said the company will drive growth through disciplined investment.
One of the steps the U.S. unit is taking is adding more private-label products to its lineup. SEI plans to roughly double private-label sales by fiscal 2030 from fiscal 2025 levels. "When we look at actual fresh food [such as pizza and sandwich] sales ... per year, 32% [or] almost one third of the customers are actually new to the category for us," he said, pointing to encouraging results.
In North America, the company plans to open 1,300 new stores and remodel more than 7,000 locations by 2030.