🏪 7-Eleven’s competition is obsessed

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TOP STORY
🏪 7-Eleven’s competition is obsessed

Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard (say that five times fast) has made a historic bid for 7-Eleven’s parent company, Seven & I Holdings.

Box: Alimentation Couche-Tard operates around 16,700 Couche-Tard and Circle K stores across North America and Europe.

The $77 billion conglomerate is interested in acquiring all of Seven & i’s outstanding shares, which could raise its value by about $36 billion, thanks to the company’s recent surge.

I guess news of an acquisition gets people excited or something.

Why so committed? While Alimentation may be more valuable, a lot more valuable, Seven & I Holdings is a storefront legend:

• Operates over 85,000 stores, mainly in Asia and the U.S.

• $81.3 billion in revenue in 2023.

• 15 million daily customers.

Japan is to convenience stores what America is to hot dog-eating competitions, blowing everyone else out of the water.

Still, it's not a done deal.

Regulators might not want to see North America's two largest convenience chain operators merge as one.

I guess some people are just scared of a power couple.

FOOD
🎬 Chick-fil-A is going Hollywood

The iconic fast-food chain is ‘moving aggressively into the entertainment space with plans to launch a slate of originals for its own streaming platform.’

I, um, honestly don’t know what to say. Let’s keep going.

• Chick-fil-A has already collaborated with major production studios to create family-friendly, unscripted shows.

• They’re also negotiating to license and acquire additional content.

I guess the restaurant business wasn’t hard enough, so they’ve also decided to give entertainment a spin.

Please don’t tell me they’re getting into chick flicks, though (slaps knee).

Nah, don’t worry, it won’t be.

Here’s what we know about the poultry-inspired content:

• A 10-episode, family-friendly game show has already been ordered.

• $400,000 budget per 30-minute episode.

• Scripted and animated projects are being discussed as well.

• The plan is to launch the streaming platform later this year.

Last one, I promise: I guess you could say the streaming wars have officially become a game of chicken.

AUTOMOBILES
❌ Ford abandons EV plans

It seems Ford still can’t figure out how to make EVs profitable.

The demand for a Ford EV seems more underwhelming than even the vegan menus in Montana.

And while Ford struggles, veteran EV companies can make their cars cheaper and, in many cases, better.

So, earlier this week, the company announced a (necessary) major overhaul to its EV program:

• Canceling plans for a three-row electric SUV.

• Delaying the launch of a new electric pickup again, this time until 2027.

• Reducing spending on EVs from 40% of its budget to 30%.

Instead, Ford will focus on hybrid models and electric commercial vehicles, such as a new electric commercial van planned for 2026 and two EV pickup trucks in 2027.

Why? Ford believes hybrids and electric commercial vehicles are in demand and can make more money.

Duh.

Ford already knows SUVs are their bread and butter, so it makes much more sense to focus on creating new hybrid versions of their already popular SUV models than trying to beat Tesla or BYD in the fully electric vehicle market.