7-Eleven YYC Concourse C
7-Eleven YYC Concourse C
A Successful C-Store Project Inside YYC Airport
An airport store has to work before a customer slows down. Passengers are watching the gate, the clock, and the next line. This case study shows how CTM helped turn a tight airport space into a working 7-Eleven convenience store for fast-moving travellers.
Project at a Glance
When the Store Has Only Seconds to Be Seen
By the time someone reaches Concourse C, they are already moving. They may need fresh food, a drink, hot meals, snacks, or one quick purchase before the next flight. That gave the store one job: make the right products easy to see fast.
CTM’s work started before the store could look simple. The team had to understand the site, support the layout, work through airport rules, and help 7-Eleven create a store that felt familiar in a setting that was not. That is where the challenge began.
Making the Store Look Simple Took More Than a Layout
Most convenience stores and c-stores start with more control. This was not the same as a c-store business besides gas stations or a fuel forecourt. There was no room to shape the whole site around cars, fuel, parking, signage, and long customer visits. The path was already there. The space was already fixed. The store had to fit inside it.
- The store had to work inside an active airport path, not a street-side site.
- Product selection, food offerings, impulse buys, and essentials had to be easy to
see from the concourse. - The layout had to support customer movement, fast service, employees,
equipment, and inventory management. - The interior design, finishes, displays, and food areas still had to feel like
7-Eleven. - The business plan had to support sales, customer satisfaction, repeat customers,
loyalty programs, and better operations. - YYC rules for signage, lighting, exterior finishes, security, aesthetics, and
approvals had to be followed. - The Construction & Installation Permit process and new Technical Design
Standards added another layer to the approval path.
With no extra space to waste, CTM could not treat the project like a standard retail fit-out. The team had to start with the real site before layout, approvals, and construction could move forward.
The Process:
That’s Why The Work Started With The Space
The work moved in a clear order. First, CTM had to understand the space. Then the team could support the store plan, coordinate airport standards, and carry the work into construction.
YYC did not have usable record drawings.
The design team needed real site data before planning.
The store had to fit the unusual 1,820 sqft footprint.
YYC rules affected signs, lighting, finishes, security, and approvals.
CTM stayed involved through kick-off, quality checks, deficiency review, and handover.
The Site Came First Because The Record Drawings Were Not Available
CTM completed an on-site audit to collect the details needed for planning. The team reviewed:
Space measurements | Existing conditions | Spatial data | Utility points | Mechanical | Electrical starting points | Security-related site needs
That gave the project a real base. The as-built drawings showed what the space could support before the team moved deeper into architectural design, mechanical and electrical design, permitting, and construction documentation.
Once The Site Was Clear, CTM Assisted 7-Eleven’s Floor Plan Design Team
The layout had to do several jobs at once. It had to make snacks, drinks, fresh food, meals, and essentials easy to see. It had to support employees behind the scenes. It had to help customers shop, pay, and return to the concourse quickly.
This is also where the project connects to CTM’s wider 7-Eleven work. CTM had helped adapt 7-Eleven concepts in smaller inherited locations before. YYC was the airport version of that same challenge. Same brand logic. Tighter public setting.
| Store priority | what it had to do inside YYC |
|---|---|
| Product selection | Make snacks, drinks, fresh food, and essentials easy to see |
| Food offerings | Place food and hot food areas where customers could notice them fast |
| Inventory management | Give employees enough room to manage inventory without crowding the floor |
| Fast service | Help customers shop, pay, and leave quickly |
| Sales | Use sightlines, displays, and impulse buys to attract customers |
| Customer satisfaction | Keep the store convenient, clear, and easy to move through |
The Next Step Was Balance
CTM helped shape the store around 7-Eleven’s national brand requirements while respecting the unusual site shape. The goal was not to copy a normal store into an airport. The goal was to make the brand work inside the airport.
That meant balancing three plans:
- The brand plan: finishes, food, equipment, product display, and store identity
- The customer plan: fast service, clear products, easy purchase decisions, and less friction
- The airport plan: signage, lighting, exterior finishes, aesthetics, security, and approvals
In a regular c-store business, repeat visits and loyal customers can shape the experience over time. At YYC, the store had to work for new customers right away.
Coordinating YYCs Approval Path
Once the layout and design direction were clear, CTM worked with YYC Airport Authority to support the approval path.
Signage guidelines | Exterior finish requirements | Lighting standards | Exterior aesthetics | Airport security rules | Construction & Installation Permit requirements
The team aligned the project with YYC’s Technical Design Standards, including:
This was not just paperwork. Each approval item affected how the store would look, operate, and fit inside the terminal.
After Design and Approvals, CTM Stayed Involved Through Construction
The construction project management team supported the kick-off, documentation, administration, quality assurance, inspection, professional sign-off, deficiency review, and final handover to 7-Eleven Operations.
This is where the earlier work had to hold up.
The site data, design, approvals, systems, employees, equipment, food visibility, inventory, and customer flow all had to connect before the store could open.
The Result: A Completed 7-Eleven Store Inside YYC Concourse C
ADapted Layout
The store fit the tight 1,820 sqft footprint
Coordinated Approvals
YYC’s airport process was followed
functional retail space
Customers, employees, equipment, inventory, and sales could work together
That is what made this a successful c-store project. The win was not only that the store opened. It was that the site, brand, systems, and customer flow worked as one. That is the same kind of pressure CTM helps solve across convenience stores, c stores, gas stations, retail locations, and other complex tenant improvement projects.
Expert Answers to Common Gas-Station Design Queries
This was not a regular street-side convenience store build. It was the first 7-Eleven store inside an airport terminal in Alberta. It was also the first tenant improvement project at YYC to use the airport’s new Technical Design Standards.
The store was inside Calgary International Airport’s domestic arrivals terminal in Concourse C. It had to work in a busy airport market, where consumers move fast and space is tight.
YYC did not have record drawings for the empty tenant space. So CTM had to start from the real site. The team checked the space, gathered measurements, and collected utility details. These as-built drawings helped the company plan the store layout, design work, permits, and construction with more confidence.
The store was inside an active airport, so security was a top priority. CTM had to follow YYC’s strict security rules while checking the site. This made the early work harder than a normal retail project. But it also gave CTM valuable insights into what the space could support.
CTM helped 7-Eleven’s floor plan design team shape the store layout. The space had a unique size and shape, so every area had to work hard. The store still had to feel like 7-Eleven. It also had to show key products, meals, drinks, and daily items clearly to passengers.
No. CTM works with convenience stores, c stores, gas stations, retail locations, and tenant improvement projects with different site needs. Some projects may involve the petroleum side, EV chargers, a modern POS system, online ordering, or loyalty programs. Others may focus on layout, equipment, approvals, and customer flow.
Planning a C-Store, Gas Station, or Retail Tenant Improvement?
Maybe your next store has tight space, old drawings, equipment needs, approval delays, or customer flow problems. CTM helps turn the real site into a clear plan.