7-Eleven Seals Deal for 18 Open Pantry Stores

ALLAS -- 7-Eleven Inc. has closed on its acquisition of 18 Open Pantry locations in Wisconsin, primarily in the greater Milwaukee and Madison markets. The deal marks the convenience store retailer's re-entry to the market.

7-Eleven did not disclose the terms of the deal. All 18 convenience stores are located in the lower third of the stat,e going as far north as Oshkosh and as far south as Kenosha. Four stores are in the Milwaukee city limits, three are in Madison and the remaining locations are in Franklin, Brookfield, Delafield, Oak Creek, New Berlin, Sussex, Oconomowoc and Pewaukee.

As CSNews Online previously reported, a few existing Open Pantry stores are not included in the deal.

"7-Eleven has set and met very ambitious growth goals the past three years, here in the U.S. and internationally, and, we are on track this year to surpass even those record-breaking years," said Robbie Radant, 7-Eleven vice president of mergers and acquisitions. "Last year, 7-Eleven opened more than 600 stores in the U.S. and Canada and is on target to open at least 630 in 2012.

"We have several strong markets in the Great Lakes areas and are committed to showing Wisconsin residents why their neighbors are such big fans of 7-Eleven," Radant added. "Over the recent years, our stores have added fresh-baked pastries, sandwiches, green salads, whole and cut fruit, all delivered fresh daily, plus hot foods like pizza, chicken tenders and hot wings."

The acquired sites are all company-owned stores. Fourteen of the 18 stores are retail fuel locations operating primarily under the BP brand. Each branded-fuel site will continue to accept that oil company's fleet card, according to a 7-Eleven release.

The locations will be remodeled and rebranded and the retailer expects the majority of the work to be completed by the end of 2012. Job offers will be extended to approximately 190 Open Pantry employees who are affected by this acquisition.