Convenience store king 7-Eleven is quietly re-weighting its property portfolio in the wake of a recent wages scandal.
The national retailer has relinquished leases on underperforming stores in Melbourne, withdrawing from two outlets in Chapel Street.
![7-Eleven is closing some stores.](/web/20161015190019im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/o/c/y/e/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grysix.png/1476156867594.jpg)
The former shopfronts at 592 and 353 Chapel Street are up for lease through Beller Commercial and Teska Carson.
A 7-Eleven spokesman Clayton Ford said it was not uncommon for the national convenience store retailer to open or close outlets.
The closure of the Chapel Street shops was not part of a larger re-focusing of the group's portfolio.
Industry sources suggest the stores may have become unprofitable as a result of 7-Eleven being forced to overhaul wages arrangements after it was exposed for underpaying workers.
Another 7-Eleven outlet in the Windsor end of Chapel Street will remain open.
The group, owned by Russ Withers and Bev Barlow, recently shut its outlet on the corner of York and Barrack streets in Sydney's CBD.
Cushman & Wakefield's head retail leasing Matt Hudson said the convenience store sector in central Sydney and Melbourne was "saturated".
Both cities have witnessed a boom in convenience outlets over the past two years, driven by rapid expansion from 7-Eleven, EzyMart and Coles and Woolies small store formats.