At no other airport in the world is there a larger number of 7-Eleven outlets than in Copenhagen. Operated by 7-Eleven licensee Reitan Convenience, there are now 11 7-Eleven stores and 89 7-Eleven vending machines at the airport. It’s hard for passengers not to observe the strong 7-Eleven branding as they move within Copenhagen Airport, which is the largest airport in Scandinavia.
Magnar MøkkelgArd, a NACS relationship partner based in Norway, spoke with Jesper Østergaard, Reitan Convenience’s CEO in Denmark, about this unique operation.
“During recent years, the passenger volume from the low-price airlines has grown, giving us an increased business opportunity, since the service and food onboard these airlines is limited. We are now selling quite a lot of food and drinks for passengers to consume on their flight,” Østergaard said.
In this Q&A, he discussed:
7-Eleven Denmark has earned a unique reputation for your fresh and healthy food offer, transforming the concept of a traditional convenience store selling a few foodservice products into a foodservice destination selling convenience store products. How did this come about?
Until 2012, there was a strict regulation of opening hours for retailers in Denmark. Before 2012, convenience stores and gas stations were among the few retailers that could be open 24/7/365. A big part of 7-Eleven’s sales at the time came from groceries, especially on Sundays and bank holidays. Beginning in November 2012, the legislation became more liberal and most grocery stores increased their opening hours and started operating seven days a week. 7-Eleven had to rethink its customer proposition and develop a new strategy.
Since then, also customer behavior and needs have changed—magazines, newspapers, books, etc. have declined strongly. However, customers will always be hungry and thirsty. Therefore, our strategy is now built around food, bakery, and hot and cold beverages. The strategy change has been a long and challenging process; new and different skills were required both in the stores and at the support office.
Did you create any new concept solutions just for this airport?
Yes, the vending solutions were created for the airport. We also introduced a more advanced product range within foodservice. Also, due to the operationally challenging environment that an airport is, we had to work a lot with internal logistics and distribution of products from our warehouse to each location.
What is the main challenge of operating at an airport?
Due to security and challenging access in general, everything is much more complicated in an airport compared to operating stores everywhere else. Building stores, product deliveries, etc. is not easy. And it is costly.
Continue reading “An Inside Look at The 7-Eleven Airport” in the March 2025 issue of NACS Magazine.
The 2025 NACS Convenience Summit Europe will take place from May 26 to 28 in Copenhagen, Denmark. While the airport 7-Eleven’s won’t be a part of the store tours, attendees will visit other 7-Eleven formats throughout the city. For more information and to register for the 2025 Convenience Summit Europe this May, click here.