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![\"RUTH](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4253738_web1_260525-711-Arlington-closed--.jpg\")
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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS \n<\/p>\n
Customers at the 7-Eleven at Arlington Street and Notre Dame Avenue were turned away after finding the store closed permanently Monday. <\/p>\n
Shoppers told the Free Press the location was a frequent spot for petty robbery and several said they had tried to intervene in incidents where staff were not able to stop thieves.<\/p>\n
One customer, who comes to the store regularly and was hoping to shop one last time, shook his head at the closed signs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew this was closed, but I thought I\u2019d come over and have a peek. It\u2019s like saying goodbye to an old friend in a way,\u201d the customer, who declined to be named, said outside of the store Friday. \u201cIt gives you that kind of feeling. It\u2019s terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the 7-Eleven at Keewatin Street and Logan Avenue, a staff member cleaning out shelves said the business closed Friday \u201cbecause of the robberies\u201d and she and other employees would be moved to other locations. She declined to comment further.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d said a customer. \u201cHow many of them have closed in the last two years? \u2026 You can\u2019t blame them. Too many shenanigans.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been at least eight Winnipeg 7-Eleven stores shut down since Aug. 2024, when the company warned city councillors that crime had put 10 of its locations at risk of closure. Stores in areas including Main Street, Pembina Highway and McPhillips Street have since closed.<\/p>\n
Despite this, Mayor Scott Gillingham said earlier this year 7-Eleven representatives had told him the corporation planned to expand in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Colin Fast, a spokesman for Gillingham, said those conversations had happened at the beginning of the year and his office has \u201cno indication those plans for Winnipeg have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The convenience store chain did not respond to a request for comment Monday and has not responded to questions on prior closures.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many of them have closed in the last two years? \u2026You can\u2019t blame them. Too many shenanigans.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to earnings filings published by 7-Eleven in April, its North American operators plan to close 645 stores in the 2026 fiscal year and open 205 locations. The store\u2019s parent company cited impacts of high costs \u201cparticularly among low-income households, as inflation continued to weigh on spending\u201d in its April 9 report.<\/p>\n
Coun. Cindy Gilroy, whose Daniel McIntyre ward borders the Arlington Street 7-Eleven, called the closure \u201cno surprise,\u201d noting that just a few blocks away, Valour Community Centre hosts its Grocery Affordable Access Program, which offers food at a reduced rate for people struggling to pay bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a real crisis, that people can not afford the cost of groceries right now, and the prices that they\u2019re selling things at 7-Eleven is just not affordable for people to really go and access affordable groceries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gilroy said local stores in her ward have been able to stay afloat even with fewer resources and didn\u2019t want to see the inner city \u201cblamed\u201d for the economic outcomes of a massive company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know businesses are struggling with (safety), I know that there we\u2019re seeing more theft,\u201d she said. \u201cBut at the same time, if you look at my community, you are seeing more convenience stores opening than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n
The closures tell a two-pronged story, said a University of Manitoba professor, noting crime and the cost of living likely both played a part.<\/p>\n
\u201c7-Eleven prices are, typically, because of the convenience they offer, are marked up slightly higher than the same product in other retailers,\u201d said Sandeep Arora of the Asper School of Business.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, the base has become higher, so the products are becoming even more expensive. Having said that, the people who were buying those products may not be able to afford those products because they\u2019re becoming more and more expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026If you look at my community, you are seeing more convenience stores opening than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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Losing convenience stores, particularly in the inner city, is a \u201cslippery slope,\u201d said Arora. Seeing a big chain like 7-Eleven unable to operate in a neighbourhood could discourage smaller, local businesses to set up shop, creating a snowball effect that could create food deserts in lower-income areas where people are less likely to be able to drive to larger grocery stores.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnd of the day, these stores, even though they exist to make profits, they also have a role to play in community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when we have stores closing and communities not having access to them long term, it\u2019s not good for the community, especially the area that they were serving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 with files from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg\u2019s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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