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American 7-Elevens may soon look more like their Japanese counterparts — with fresh meals and cult-favorite items that have long lured tourists to Tokyo’s convenience stores.
Seven & i Holdings, the parent company of 7-Eleven, is planning a major upgrade to U.S. stores, adding higher-quality prepared foods, such as Japan’s beloved egg salad sandwich.
“We have consistently emphasized our focus on food,” the company told Fox News Digital in a statement. “In Japan, fresh food accounts for over 30% of total sales,” it said, noting that the strategy helps its stores pull in about 30% more revenue per day than rivals.
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The company is weighing more than $13 billion in international investments over the next several years, much of it earmarked for upgrades and supplier networks to bring prepared meals to roughly 13,000 North American stores.
It also plans to double U.S. store openings from 125 to more than 250 per year, adding 1,300 in the next five years.
“There is significant growth potential, but to fully realize it, we must enhance our organizational capabilities and are actively working on these initiatives,” Seven & i said.
Japan’s 7-Elevens – nearly 22,000 nationwide – are famed for everything from cheap meals to bill-pay services. By comparison, the U.S. has some 9,500 total stores.
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One of the top offerings expected in this country is the egg salad sandwich, made with fluffy milk bread and Kewpie mayonnaise.
A Texas-based team is already working with Japanese suppliers to replicate the recipe, CEO Stephen Dacus, who took the helm in May, told The New York Times.
The hype has fueled a wave of foodie tourism online.
“I flew 14 hours all the way to Japan just to try 7-Eleven,” Washington, D.C.-based influencer Darcy McQueeny said in an April TikTok video that got over 4 million views.
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She stocked up on the egg salad and another fan favorite, the strawberries and cream sandwich. She also perused other hot sellers like onigiri – a type of rice ball stuffed with fillings like tuna and wrapped in seaweed – and a massive selection of fresh fruit.
“And it’s so affordable,” McQueeny said.
During a July visit to Tokyo, Los Angeles model and influencer Summer Marshall grabbed much of the same, plus ice cream in a squeeze pouch, a sealed cup of ice and an iced latte to try an internet-famous ice coffee hack.
“7-Eleven in the U.S. could never,” Marshall captioned a TikTok video that got over 1 million views.
Singer Sabrina Carpenter went to a Japanese convenience store while touring in 2023 and received over 600,000 likes in a video about it. “I’ve wanted to do a 7-Eleven Japan haul since the day I was born,” she joked in her video.
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The craze sparked a 5,000% spike in Google searches for “7/11 Japan” over the summer, according to Fast Company, and some travel companies now offer guided convenience store visits.
Despite the buzz, the U.S. market could be tougher. For decades, 7-Eleven has been linked more with sodas, snacks and hot dogs.
Rivals have tried and failed. FamilyMart shuttered its U.S. stores in 2015 after struggling to attract customers beyond gas-station food.
Dacus faces pressure to prove the strategy will work. Seven & i recently rejected a $47 billion takeover bid from Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Alongside food upgrades, the company plans to expand its 7Now delivery app.
Cultural differences also play a role. In Japan, small kitchens and apartments drive people to convenience stores multiple times a day. Frequent deliveries – often two or three times daily – keep shelves stocked with fresh meals, a logistical model not yet standard in the U.S.
“There is significant growth potential, but to fully realize it, we must enhance our organizational capabilities and are actively working on these initiatives,” Seven & i said.
Jeff Lenard, vice president of media and strategic communications at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), said demand is strong within the $650 billion convenience store industry, and profit margins are far higher on prepared food and beverages than on fuel.
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“The average driver fills up once a week but eats three times a day,” Lenard told Fox News Digital.
He said cultural trends are also helping. “There’s already an appetite for Asian culture, from music to streaming shows,” he said.
Over the past 20 years, food service sales have more than doubled from 11.9% in 2004 to 27.7% in 2024, according to the NACS.
Lenard said the shift has changed public perception.
“In ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ from 1983, Clark Griswold got laughs saying, ‘I’m so hungry I could eat a sandwich from a gas station.’ Today, that joke wouldn’t land because convenience stores have become destinations for sandwiches and meals.”
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