Joe DePinto is retiring as CEO of 7-Eleven Inc. at the end of the year, the convenience-store chain announced Friday night.
7-Eleven President Stanley “Stan” Reynolds and Executive Vice President and COO Douglas “Doug” Rosencrans have been appointed interim co-CEOs of 7-Eleven until a successor is appointed. The company’s board of directors and an executive search firm are in the process of choosing DePinto’s successor.
DePinto has been at the Irving, Texas-based retailer for more than 20 years. 7-Eleven is the North American convenience-store business of Tokyo-based Seven & i Holdings. DePinto stepped down from Seven & i’s board in March. The change came as rival retailer and Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. was attempting to take over Seven & i. In July, Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard withdrew its proposal to acquire 7-Eleven’s owner.
DePinto (pictured below), who joined 7-Eleven Inc. as a manager in 2002, became vice president and general manager of operations in 2003, and in 2005 he was named director, president and CEO of 7-Eleven Inc. He became a director of Seven & i in 2015. He was CSP’s Retail Leader of the Year in 2011.
Before joining 7-Eleven, DePinto was senior vice president and chief operating officer of Thornton Oil Corp. and before that, he was president of GameStop Corp.
“Serving as 7-Eleven's CEO for the past 20 years and working alongside such an incredibly talented team has been the honor of my professional life,” DePinto said. “I want to sincerely thank all our franchise owners, company team members and business partners for their extraordinary commitment to 7-Eleven over the years. I'm grateful to all who have supported 7-Eleven and me the past two decades and helped grow this brand and our business into what it is today.”
Stephen Hayes Dacus, president and CEO of Seven & i as of May, thanked DePinto for his service. As CEO of 7-Eleven, DePinto led the significant expansion of the group’s international and U.S. store network and its digital and logistics transformation, helping grow 7-Eleven into the world’s largest c-store chain, he said.
- 7-Eleven is No. 1 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
“Our group [Seven & i] is currently moving forward with a series of transformational leadership, capital and business initiatives to enhance our performance, ensure disciplined stewardship of resources, and drive corporate and shareholder value creation,” Dacus said. “We strive to find, through a thorough selection process, the right person who can lead SEI [7-Eleven Inc.] and help us work even more closely together as one group. Our goal is to further advance our transformation efforts, unlock SEI's full potential, redefine convenience, and bring the 7-Eleven experience to even more customers across the North American market.”
In August, the retailer announced plans for its “transformation,” including opening 1,300 new large-format, food-focused U.S. c-stores by 2030. Earlier this month, it expanded its fresh food lineup with the rollout of a Japanese-style egg salad sandwich, bringing a longtime customer favorite from its Japanese stores to participating U.S. locations.
7-Eleven—known for its Slurpee, Big Bite and Big Gulp brands—operates, franchises or licenses more than 13,000 stores in the United States and Canada. In addition to 7-Eleven, the company operates and franchises Speedway and Stripes c-stores and the Laredo Taco Company, and Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits restaurant brands.
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