The parent of the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain and several emerging restaurant brands has laid off 880 employees as part of its assimilation of Speedway, a former rival purchased in May 2021 for $21 billion—the biggest deal ever seen in the grab-and-go retail sector.
The cutbacks were first reported by the c-store publication CSP, a sister of Restaurant Business.
“As with any integration, our approach includes assessing our combined organization structure,” a spokesperson for 7-Eleven Inc. said in a statement issued to CSP. “The review was slowed by COVID-19 but is now complete, and we are finalizing the go-forward organization structure.”
The layoffs included corporate, field-level and support personnel, according to 7-Eleven.
Although that operation is primarily a convenience retailer with about 9,500 namesake outlets in the United States alone, it also operates Laredo Taco Co., a chain of more than 500 street taco quick-service restaurants housed in 7-Eleven and Stripes-brand c-stores; Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits, a more recent restaurant venture co-branded with 7-Elevens; and Pizza Parlors, an in-store pizzeria.
7-Eleven had set a target of adding 150 restaurants to its operation in 2021 alone.
The 7-Eleven chain is also trying to make its c-stores more like restaurants through the addition of such features as beer taps and drive-thrus.
The Speedway acquisition added 3,800 c-store outlets operating under that name to 7-Eleven’s portfolio. About 500 units acquired in the Stripes purchase continue to bear that identification.
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