The parent company to 7-Eleven, Seven & I Holdings based in Japan, announced on Thursday that the chain would be closing 444 'underperforming' stores across North America.

Seven and I found as part of their earnings report that a variety of issues in changing consumer habits were resulting in the store closures.

'Pullback in consumer spending has persisted beyond prior expectations,' the release said.

The economy is going great guns as far as the government statistics show! If so, why in the world would 7-Eleven be closing stores? Are there people who cannot afford to go to convenience stores out there, nowadays? Lies, damn lies and statistics.