Reliance Retail will consolidate the Japanese convenience format 7-Eleven in Maharashtra before moving to other cities
New Delhi: Reliance Retail plans to take the cluster approach to expanding convenience store format 7-Eleven across the country, a person familiar with the development said.
The retailer plans to consolidate the concept store in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra before going out of the state.
Out of the total 55 7-Eleven stores Reliance Retail operates in India, 49 are in Mumbai and 6 in Pune in Maharashtra. IndiaRetailing was the first to report about the company’s reaching the 50-store milestone.
“The focus is clearly to go to every nook and corner of Mumbai and Pune and then move to other cities in a cluster approach,” said the person. “They want to go as hyperlocal as possible with 7-Eleven,” the person added.
7-Eleven sells products on the go mainly in beverages, snacks, and fresh foods with local recipes and toiletries among other daily items.
Asia is the largest market for the Japanese-owned, US-headquartered 7-Eleven Inc., generating about a third of its annual revenue. Seven & I conglomerate operates more than 80,000 7-Eleven outlets—mostly franchisee and licensee-owned—in more than one-and-a-half dozen countries with more than 16,000 of them present in North America.
In 2019, 7-Eleven had signed a franchise agreement with Kishore Biyani-led Future Group but the Japanese company subsequently changed the agreement in favour of Reliance Retail as Future Group went into a liquidation process amid a financial crunch.
Then in October 2021, Reliance Retail rolled out the first 7-Eleven store in India, starting with Mumbai.
Founded in 1927 as an ice and beverage stand in Dallas, today 7-Eleven is a brand that is spread far and wide around the world. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven is owned by Chiyoda, a Tokyo-based Seven & I Holdings Co. Ltd.
