Explained: When can we expect to see the 7-Eleven brand in India?

What are 7-Eleven stores and who will they compete with?

7-Eleven branded stores operate as round-the-clock convenience stores. The chain operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 77,000 stores in 18 countries and regions, including 16,000 in North America.

In India, Modi Enterprises-run 24 Seven chain of convenience stores operate in this format. Unlike other major economies, India has not witnessed the big box store concept extensively given that Indian rules prohibit foreign funding in multi-brand retail. However, going ahead, 7-Eleven stores could also face competition from online delivery services like Dunzo, Swiggy, Grofers, etc investing in setting up late-night delivery infrastructure having their own warehouses and storage moving away from the hyperlocal model they operated till now.

Why did Future Retail terminate its contract with 7-Eleven?

Future Retail had entered into a master franchise agreement with 7-Eleven back in February 2019. In a stock exchange filing on Tuesday, the company said: “The termination has been with mutual consent as the Future-7 was not able to meet the target of opening stores and payment of franchisee fees. No financial or business impact on the Company as this arrangement was at subsidiary company level”.

Future7-India Convenience Ltd was the wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Retail that entered into the agreement with 7-Eleven. The Future Group had last year agreed to sell its retail assets to Reliance Retail but the deal was challenged by e-commerce giant Amazon and is currently caught up in a legal tussle.

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