The original convenience store brand Seven-Eleven, which has watched the market for nearly 40 years, is being forecast to resolve four straight years of losses and, as early as the second quarter, return to the black. Since acquiring Ministop in 2022, Seven-Eleven saw profitability shake significantly during brand conversion, system integration, and the shutdown of low-profit stores. But it has steadily narrowed its losses since last year and, with summer considered peak season for convenience stores, is seeking a rebound in results.
As of the 18th, according to related industry sources, Korea Seven, which operates Seven-Eleven Korea, posted first-quarter sales of 1.0758 trillion won and an operating loss of 19.7 billion won this year. Sales fell 5.3% from a year earlier, but the deficit also shrank 42% (14.3 billion won). Korea Seven earlier logged operating losses over four years totaling 220 billion won: 4.9 billion won in 2022, 64.1 billion won in 2023, 84.4 billion won in 2024, and 68.6 billion won in 2025.
Seven-Eleven is a global convenience store brand operating some 86,000 stores in 19 countries and regions worldwide. The Korea license business was started by Dongwha Industrial, and Lotte Group has operated it since 1994.
The nation's first convenience store was Seven-Eleven's first location (Olympic branch), which opened on May 6, 1989, in the shopping arcade of the Olympic Athletes' Village Apartments in Oryun-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. At the time, neighborhood commerce centered on local supermarkets and mom-and-pop shops, and a 24-hour retailer was an unfamiliar format. Seven-Eleven stocked some 2,000 items in a 115-square-meter (about 35-pyeong) store and sold cup noodles, slushies, and ready-to-eat foods.
However, the symbolism of being the "original" did not translate into market leadership. As Korea's convenience store market rapidly expanded, FamilyMart, the predecessor to CU, and GS25 aggressively widened their store networks and cemented a two-horse race, while Seven-Eleven remained in third place in the industry.
In response, Lotte Group has pursued a strategy of scaling up through mergers and acquisitions. Korea Seven acquired Buy the Way in 2010 for about 274 billion won and, by adding roughly 1,200 Buy the Way stores to its existing 2,000-plus locations, secured a network of some 3,300 stores. Buy the Way is a convenience store brand established in 1990 by Tongyang Group under the name "Dongyang Mart." In 2001, when Orion Group split from Tongyang Group, it came under Orion Group, then was sold to a U.S. private equity fund in 2006.
After acquiring Buy the Way, Seven-Eleven briefly grew large enough to compete with GS25 for second place. At the end of 2012, it had 7,202 stores, narrowly ahead of GS25's 7,138. But GS25 overtook Seven-Eleven again the following year, and as CU solidified its lead, Seven-Eleven remained in third.
In 2022, Korea Seven made another big move by acquiring 100% of the equity in Korea Ministop held by Japan's Aeon Group for about 313.3 billion won. At the time, Ministop had roughly 2,600 stores nationwide and 12 logistics centers and was regarded as strong in ready-to-cook items such as soft-serve ice cream, fried chicken, and hot bars. Along with expanding its store network, Korea Seven planned to absorb know-how in operating ready-made foods and logistics infrastructure to boost product competitiveness.
However, the Ministop acquisition required considerable integration expense and time. Through signboard changes, product assortment adjustments, logistics and IT system integration, franchise contract coordination, and consolidation of overlapping trade areas, some stores had to close rather than convert.
As a result, after the acquisition, Seven-Eleven's store count, which once topped 14,000, fell from 14,265 in 2022 to 13,130 in 2023, 12,152 in 2024, and 11,040 in 2025. Over the same period, its domestic market share declined from 27% to 21%.
Still, with the consolidation of low-revenue stores and the burden of integration expense largely wrapped up over several years, there is a view that Seven-Eleven can return to profit starting this year. In March, Korea Seven appointed Kim Dae-il, the vice president and CEO of Secta9ine at Sammidang Holdings (formerly SPC Group), as its new CEO, accelerating efforts to improve the company's fundamentals.
Kim, Korea Seven's first outside hire as chief executive, is an expert in strategy, information technology (IT), and Fintech who has worked at A.T. Kearney and Bain & Company, Naver Line, and the Fintech corporations Ascend Money. Kim plans to establish a solid management system and focus on securing competitiveness through future business design and digital tech innovation.
A Korea Seven official said, "Through last year, our management efficiency policy, which focused on boosting customer acquisition at franchises and raising sales and revenue, bore fruit and delivered a strong improvement in results," adding, "We will shore up areas needing improvement and deliver continuously rising performance."