Down Under C-Stores Consider Cutting Hours of Operation

7-Eleven Australia is weighing whether to cut back on its current 24/7 hours.

October 08, 2015

SYNDEY, Australia – Residents of the land of the midnight sun might get some more sleep if Australian convenience stores, among other retailers, start closing down in the wee hours of the morning, the Herald Sun reports. Many stores in Australia never close, but recently, merchants are questioning whether it makes business sense to stay open all night long.

Even 7-Eleven, which has 593 of the 620 Australian locations open 24/7, has said it was considering a change. “The name [7-Eleven] came from those being the opening hours,” said new CEO Michael Smith. “I don’t think it’s kind of a major issue but we’re open to everything. You do need to consider it and we’re not going to rule anything out.” Driving the consideration is the fact that many 7-Eleven stores have few, if any, customers after 11 pm.

It’s not just Australian shops that are pulling back from 24-hour operations. Walmart announced this summer that 40 of its superstores would close at midnight, while Tesco in the United Kingdom said some operating hours would be trimmed from some of its always-open locations. “A business has fixed and variable costs and to extend trading hours is cost effective but at a certain point of time these benefits are overcome by disincentives,” added consultant Barry Urquhart.

Australian stores started staying open around the clock during the mid-1990s, with both large and small retailers never turning the lights out. Urquhart pointed out that such a practice works better in areas with a high population density, but for Australia, “you don’t have the same number of people living within an area to provide that viability,” he said.

For now, 7-Eleven will continue operations as usual. “We are looking at everything but we would expect 24-hour trading to remain as it is a key part of the 7-Eleven offering to always be open for our customers,” said a company spokeswoman.

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