Retail Foodservice Roundup: 7-Eleven heats up restaurant growth, Casey’s sees a future in wings and more

7-Eleven’s restaurant expansion speeds up 

The year is only about halfway over and, so far, 7-Eleven has opened 34 new restaurant locations. That includes 18 Speedy Cafes, three Raise the Roost Chicken & Biscuits stores and 13 Laredo Taco Company outposts—one of which has an interesting backstory. 

The new Laredo Taco Company, located (appropriately) in Laredo, Texas, took over a reimagined former fast-food restaurant space, complete with a drive-thru.  

“The store has opened with tremendous sales volume and is serving as an important test-and-learn site as we continue to evolve our growth strategy,” Chris Switzer, 7-Eleven’s senior director of restaurants, said in a LinkedIn post. “What’s especially encouraging is that many of our newest locations are delivering record sales levels even before our latest kitchen designs, technologies and operating enhancements are fully deployed.” 

Further proof that consumers don’t seem to care whether they’re getting fried chicken or tacos from a convenience store or a traditional restaurant or a blend of the two.  

7-Eleven has previously announced an aggressive investment in its foodservice platform, which includes plans to open 1,100 new restaurants by 2030. 

Are chicken wings the next big thing for Casey’s? 

Thanks to our friends at CSP Daily News for noting this nugget from the recent earnings report from Casey’s General Stores: CEO Darren Rebelez thinks the c-store chain’s chicken wings could grow to be as big as its top-selling pizza offering.  

(Casey’s has long billed itself as the country’s fifth-largest pizza chain.) 

Casey’s currently sells boneless and bone-in wings, which can be customized with more than a half-dozen dipping sauces. It’ll be two years before wings are deployed at all Casey’s locations, Rebelez noted, adding that the stores that are selling wings currently are seeing 20% sales growth year over year since launching the item.  

“It’s going to take us some time to continue to build that credibility, but everything we’re seeing right now would suggest that this can be an incremental occasion, that it’s good enough to stand on its own,” he said.  

Grocery prepared foods struggle in May 

At the grocery store, deli prepared foods and meals saw flat unit sales and about 1% growth in dollar sales in May, according to the latest Circana numbers. Restaurant trips declined about 2% during the month.  

Categories seeing the biggest dollar sales growth in May included soups and chili (up 8.3% year over year), appetizers (up 5.4%) and entrees (up 4.5%). The biggest losers during the month were deli prepared desserts (down 25.8%) and combo meals (down 12.1) in dollar sales. Pizza eked out 2.8% growth in May after being flat for much of the last 52 weeks.  

Auntie Anne’s owner expands Texas delivery via an interesting partnership 

GoTo Foods, the parent company of restaurant brands like Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Jamba and more, is expanding its delivery reach in Texas.  

(But why are you writing about this development in the retail roundup column, you ask?) 

Because GoTo joined forces with Favor for its delivery growth. That’s the delivery platform that has been owned by grocer H-E-B since 2018.  

This isn’t Favor’s first foray into restaurants, but it is one of its largest: GoTo brings more than 550 participating locations to the Favor app and website.  

“This partnership reflects how we think about growth and innovation across our business,” Mike Freeman, EVP and president of brands at GoTo Foods, said in a statement. “Texas continues to be a key growth market for many of our brands, and this partnership allows us to expand access and convenience for guests while supporting stronger delivery economics for franchisees.”