7-Eleven
Encyclopedia
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience store
s, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co.
of Japan.
7-Eleven, primarily operating as a franchise
, is the world's largest operator, franchisor and licensor of convenience stores, with more than 39,000 outlets, surpassing the previous record-holder McDonald's Corporation
in 2007 by approximately 1,000 retail stores. The US subsidiary of the Japanese firm has its headquarters in the One Arts Plaza
building in downtown Dallas, Texas
. Its stores are located in 16 countries, with its largest markets being Japan, the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan
, Malaysia and Thailand
. On a per-capita basis, Norway, for example, has one 7–11 for every 47,000 Norwegians, versus Canada which has one for every 74,000 Canadians.
, when an employee of Southland Ice Company, Joe C. Thompson, started selling milk, eggs and bread from an ice house. The original location was an improvised storefront at Southland Ice Company, an ice-manufacturing plant owned by John Jefferson Green. Although small grocery stores and general merchandisers were present in the immediate area, Thompson, the manager of the ice plant, discovered selling convenience items, such as bread and milk, was popular due to the ice's ability to preserve the items. This significantly cut back on the need to travel long distances to the grocery stores for basic items. Thompson eventually bought the Southland Ice Company and turned it into Southland Corporation, which oversaw several locations which opened in the Dallas area. Initially, these stores were open from 7 am to 11 pm, hours unprecedented in their length, hence the name. The company began to use the 7-Eleven name in 1946. By 1952, 7-Eleven opened its 100th store. It was incorporated as Southland Corporation in 1961.
In 1962, 7-Eleven first experimented with a 24-hour schedule in Austin, Texas
. By 1963, 24-hour stores were established in Las Vegas
, Fort Worth
, and Dallas.
In the 1980s, the company ran into financial difficulties, selling off its ice division
, and was rescued from bankruptcy by Ito-Yokado
, its largest franchisee. In 1987, John Philp Thompson
, the CEO of 7-Eleven, completed a $5.2 billion management buyout
of the company his father had founded. The buyout suffered from the 1987 stock market crash
and after failing initially to raise high yield debt financing, the company was required to offer a portion of the company's stock as an inducement to invest in the company's bonds.
The Japanese company gained a controlling share of 7-Eleven in 1991, during the Japanese asset bubble of the early 1990s. Ito-Yokado formed Seven & I Holdings Co.
and 7-Eleven became its subsidiary in 2005. In 2007, Seven & I Holdings announced it would be expanding their American operations, with an additional 1,000 7-Eleven stores in the U.S.
Among 7-Eleven's offerings are private label
products, including Slurpee
, a partially frozen soft drink introduced in 1967, and the Big Gulp introduced in 1980 that packaged soft drink
s in large cups ranging in size from 20 USoz.
drink brand refers to the name of the 32 USoz fountain drink, the Big Gulp. Variants include: Gulp or 1.2 l (1.080010800108E-07 US fl oz) (depending on region) Super Big Gulp Double Gulp Note: This container has been downsized to 56 ounces. Team Gulp
In 2005, 7-Eleven began selling its brand of bottled drinks under the Big Gulp brand name in North America.
, an in-store video-rental service; Citgo
, the gas brand sold at many locations up until 2006; as well as Chief Auto Parts
, which had locations adjacent to or near several 7-Eleven locations. They bought White Hen Inc. on August 10, 2006, mostly in or around the Chicago area, and plan to convert all of the remaining White Hens to 7-Eleven stores.
Since 2005, the company has offered 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless
, a prepaid phone service where a cellphone can be purchased directly from a 7-Eleven store in the US and Canada and activated on the spot.
The 7-Eleven convenience store announced on November 3, 2009 that it was releasing two low-priced proprietary wines in the United States and Japan (under the "Yosemite Road" brand).
. There are currently 385 stores in the states of Victoria
, New South Wales and Queensland; the majority of stores are in metropolitan areas, particularly in CBD areas. Stores in suburban areas often operate as petrol stations. Stores are owned and operated as franchises, with a central administration.
Stores in Australia sell Slurpees in four sizes—Small, Medium and Large which are served in different coloured paper cups, and Super which is served in a clear plastic cup with a dome lid. Stores selling Slurpees have a machine dispensing either two or four flavours—some stores have as many as four machines.
7-Eleven stores sell gift cards including three types of prepaid VISA cards. There are daily newspapers, drinks, confectionery, and snack food
s. They sell pre-prepared food such as sandwiches, wraps, pies, sausage rolls under their proprietary brand 'munch' delivered fresh into stores daily.
7-Eleven stores have partnered with BankWest and have BankWest ATMs in all of their stores.
On 7 November, a free Slurpee is given to any customer saying Happy 7-Eleven Day to the person behind the counter between the hours of 7 am and 11 pm. It is unofficially known as "7-Eleven Day (7–11)". As of 2010, the complimentary Slurpees are given out between 7:00 am and 2:11; a period of 7 hours and 11 minutes.
In March 2010, the company ran a promotion where every customer purchasing fuel received a free small Slurpee.
7-Eleven has acquired 295 Mobil service stations in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria that were originally planned for sale to Caltex. Twenty-nine sites in South Australia were subsequently on sold to Peregrine Corporation, to be badged as On the Run convenience stores.
On November 8, 2010, a free Slurpee was given to redheads
in celebration of Julia Gillard
's election.
On September 21, 2011, customers could bring in their own cups (of any sort whether it be from a fish bowl to an esky) and fill it full of Slurpee for only $2.60 (a portion of the price of a Medium Slurpee) as long as it would fit through a cutout hole limiting the size; this however did not stop people from up to and above 5 liters of Slurpee for the price of a Medium Slurpee. This event was known as Bring Your Own Cup Day.
, Shenzhen
and Guangzhou
, since 2008. Some stores were open since 1996. It offers little or no brand name items like Slurpee. However, the locations here offer a rather wide array of warm food, including traditional items like steamed, filled bun. Also sold are some beverages, alcohol, candy, periodicals, and other convenience items. As of April, 2009, there were 591 7-Eleven locations in mainland China. Although Beijing locations were originally planned to be open "from 7:00 am until 11:00 pm, to suit the lifestyle of Beijingers", the majority are open 24 hours every day.
, a convenience store chain located mainly in the territory's MTR
stations, and converted them to 7-Eleven stores immediately upon takeover. As of 2009, it has 950 stores and made it a second place for the highest density of 7-Eleven stores after Macau, with 1 shop per each 1.16 km².
Japan has more 7-Eleven locations than anywhere else in the world, where they often bear the title of its holding company "Seven & I Holdings". Of the 39,153 stores around the globe, 12,925 of them are located in Japan with 1,713 in Tokyo alone.
The feel and look of the store is somewhat different from that of the U.S. 7-Elevens. In Japan they offer a wider selection of products and services. Japanese 7-Elevens offer not only food, drinks, and magazines, but also video games and consoles, music CDs, DVDs, digital cardreaders as well as seasonal items like Christmas cakes, Valentine's Day
chocolates, and fireworks
. Slurpees and Big Gulp super size soft drinks were introduced in the early 1980s but discontinued some years later.
On September 1, 2005, Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd., a new holding company, became the parent company of 7-Eleven, Ito Yokado, and Denny's
Japan.
market in 2005 under the ownership of Dairy Farm, the same conglomeration group operating Hong Kong's 7-Eleven. With only 29.5km², Macau has 45 stores, making it a single market that has the highest density of 7-Eleven stores, with one store for each 0.65km².
. The first 7-Eleven store in Malaysia was opened in October 1984, in Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. In October 2008, 7-Eleven achieved a milestone opening of its 1,000th store in Bandar Sunway, Selangor. It is today the undisputed market leader in convenience store chain landscape in Malaysia.
In the Philippines
, 7-Eleven is run by the Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC). Its first store opened in 1984. In 2000, President Chain Store Corporation (PCSC) of Taiwan, also a licensee of 7-Eleven, bought the majority shares of PSC and thus formed a strategic alliance for the convenience store industry within the area.
distributor in Indonesia) of Jakarta. Modern Putra Indonesia's initial plans are to focus on opening stores in Jakarta, targeting densely-populated commercial and office areas, to offer working Indonesians a convenient place to shop for lunch, snacks and emergency items. Other major cities, such as Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya, offer future expansion opportunities.
Indonesian government stated in May 2010 that they will monitor 7-Eleven expansion since it is licensed as convenience store not as mini markets. Indonesian law limits mini market ownership to local companies.
In Singapore
, 7-Eleven forms the largest chain of convenience stores island-wide. There are at present 545 7-Eleven stores scattered throughout the country. Stores in Singapore are operated by the Dairy Farm International Holdings
, franchised under a licensing agreement with 7-Eleven Incorporated, headquartered in the United States.
The first 7-Eleven stores were operated in 1983 with a franchise license under the Jardine Matheson Group. The license was then acquired by Cold Storage Singapore, a subsidiary of the Dairy Farm Group, in 1989. At present, 7-Eleven plans to expand its base to include 300 stores, within the next few years. In 2006, 7-Eleven (Singapore) signed an agreement with Shell Singapore
to operate its "Shell Select" convenience stores in all its petrol stations island-wide. In September 2007, the change-over of Shell Select stores to 7-Eleven were fully completed.
7-Eleven stores in Singapore operate around the clock, except for stores in Biopolis
, hospitals, MRT Stations
, some shopping centres, Raffles Institution (Junior College), ITE College West
, Singapore Polytechnic
, Republic Polytechnic
and Nanyang Technological University
, which have shorter operating hours.
n convenience store market where it competes with Mini Stop, GS25 (formerly LG25), Family Mart and independent competitors. There are 2,282 7-Eleven stores in Korea, with only the United States, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan hosting more stores. Branded products such as Slurpee or Big Gulp is no longer carried in South Korean stores.
In Taiwan
, the 7-Eleven is the most popular convenience store, and is owned by the Uni-President chain store under Uni-President Enterprises Corporation
. The first store opened in 1980 and since then has grown to cover 4,744 stores as of March 25, 2010. Taiwan
has the world's fourth largest collection of 7-Eleven convenience stores after Japan, U.S., and Thailand. With 6,200 potential shoppers per store, Taiwan also has the smallest number of potential shoppers per 7-Eleven convenience store (compared to Japan's 14,946 potential customers for each 7-Eleven and the United States' 48,359 customers for each store). With such a high density of stores, it is not an unusual scene in Taiwan for two 7-Eleven stores to stand face to face across an intersection.
is the CP ALL Public Company Limited
, which in turn grants franchises to operators. There are about 6,000 7-Elevens in Thailand, half of which are in Bangkok
, making Thailand have the 3rd largest number of stores after the US and Japan.
CP All, the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand, plans to increase their number to more than 7,000 stores by 2013. Managing director Piyawat Titasattavorakul stated that the company will invest Bt1.5 billion annually to open at least 500 new 7-Eleven stores in each of the next two years. CP All will also invest Bt1.5 billion this year (2011) to increase the number of 7-Eleven convenience stores from 6,000 currently to 6,300 outlets by the end of 2011.
"We expect the total number of convenience stores operated by all players in the Kingdom will increase significantly from about 10,000 today to between 50,000 and 60,000 stores in the next 10 years," Piyawat said.
In Canada, a limited number of 7-Eleven locations have filling station
s with gasoline distributed by Shell Canada, Petro-Canada
, or Esso
. In November 2005, 7-Eleven started offering a wireless service called Speak Out Wireless
. They also usually have Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
ATMs. The first 7-Eleven store to open was in Calgary
on June 29, 1969. There were 457 7-Eleven stores as of January 1, 2010. Winnipeg
has the world's largest number of slurpee consumers, with an estimated 1,500,000 slurpees sold since the first 7-Eleven opened on March 21, 1970. All 7-Eleven locations in Canada are currently corporately operated.
7-Eleven abandoned the Ottawa
market as of December 2009 selling all its six outlets there to regional convenience chain Quickie. Following concerns over the fate of 7-Eleven's popular discount mobile phone plan SpeakOut, Quickie offered to assume existing SpeakOut customers and phones into its Good2Go cellphone program.
(Femsa), Super City (Soriana) and other local competitors.
Once ubiquitous, 7-Eleven stores are no longer found in some Midwestern and Southeastern states. In May 1998, it was announced that 113 7-Eleven stores would be sold and converted into Kum & Go
stores. In this same time frame, 7-Eleven exited the Minnesota market and sold all its Minnesota stores to SuperAmerica
. This led to situations, especially in larger cities like Minneapolis and Saint Paul
, where multiple SuperAmerica locations could be found on the same intersection. In states like Minnesota
, Iowa
, and Wisconsin
, other convenience stores like Holiday Station Stores, SuperAmerica
, QuikTrip
, Kwik Trip
, Casey's, and Speedway
occupy the same market.
The only independently owned 7-Eleven stores are located in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
metropolitan area. About 125 stores are owned by the family of William C. Brown (currently run by son Jim Brown) under special arrangement with the company since 1953. William C. Brown's father was a business associate and family friend of John Thompson. "Bill" had recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame and struck out on a quest to find an area "ripe" for the concept. During his travels he met the Tulsa based QuikTrip chain owner who suggested OKC to Brown. Narrowing down the choices he decided upon Oklahoma and opened store No.1 at NW 23rd & N. Portland Avenue in OKC. At their inception the Thompson family were part owners of the OKC stores but never the Corporation. Brown would work a shift at the original store and afterwards would scout new locations to build. The "Oh Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven" phrase was coined by the Stanford Agency the in-house ad agency for 7-Eleven (1954–1981) in 1969. These stores carry a slightly different product selection than other 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. as they do not serve hot dogs or nachos. Instead, they have their own bakeries, called Seventh Heaven. Also, due to this agreement, they carry a non-7-Eleven branded product in lieu of the Slurpee, the Icy Drink, which is not to be confused with the ICEE
. The one side effect to this arrangement is that national advertising campaigns and promotions (e.g. movie marketing tie-ins) cannot be used.
In the Pennsylvania market -- a market noted for innovation within the convenience store industry -- 7-Eleven competes with Turkey Hill from Lancaster
, Wawa
from the Philadelphia area, and Sheetz
from Altoona. 7-Eleven has no presence in the Altoona
–State College
–Johnstown
area because of Sheetz, but is predominant in the Pittsburgh region where Sheetz also dominates, as well as South Central Pennsylvania around the state capital of Harrisburg
. 7-Eleven is also absent in several cities in Texas (Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, San Antonio - 7-Elevens in these cities after 1988 were sold to National Convenience Stores, which owns the Stop & Go franchise, later purchased by Diamond Shamrock in the late 1990s, now part of Valero
since 2006), even though the United States headquarters is based there. 7-Elevens are prevalent in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Temple, Killeen, Fort Hood, and Austin, TX (primarily on the Interstate 35 corridor), in West Texas (Midland, Lubbock, El Paso), and two individual franchises in Smithville and San Marcos, TX. The current Texas locations are located north of Interstate 10 and west of the Interstate 35 corridor including the Smithville, TX location east of Bastrop, TX. In North Carolina
, 7-Elevens are only seen in the northeastern part of the state, as part of the Hampton Roads
market. In the rest of the state, there are several equivalents. 7-Eleven has little to no presence in the Albany, New York market due to the prominence there of Stewart's Shops, a local chain.
In 1987, Southland acquired High's Dairy Store
s of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., many of which were converted to 7-Elevens.
In March 2007, it was announced that 7-Eleven would sell its corporately-owned stores in northern Texas and in Florida to franchisees; the chain has been franchising stores since 1964. The sale will make 7-Eleven virtually a franchise-only operation in six years.
7-Eleven is moving toward franchising most of its remaining corporate locations inside the United States. The 7-Eleven franchise system splits the gross profits 50/50 or close to it, between the company and the individual franchisee. The initial 7-Eleven franchise term is 15 years. The franchise fee and other upfront fees collected by 7-Eleven from a newly approved franchisee, in addition to ongoing 50:50 sharing of profits, is not transferable to another incoming franchisee in the same store, for the unexpired portion, if any, of the current 15 year contract. For example if one pays full franchise fee for 15 years and has to leave the store after one year due to any reason, they stand to lose the franchise fee for the remaining 14 years of their term.
Supermarket News ranked 7-Eleven's North American operations No. 11 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $15.0 billion. Based on 2005 revenue, 7-Eleven is the twenty-fourth largest retailer in the United States.
In the United States, many 7-Eleven locations used to have filling stations with gasoline distributed by Citgo
, which in 1983 was purchased by Southland Corporation (and 50% of Citgo was subsequently sold in 1986 to Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. and the remaining 50% in 1990). Although Citgo was the predominant partner of 7-Eleven, other oil companies are also co-branded with 7-Eleven, including Fina
, Exxon
, Gulf
, Marathon
, BP
, Sunoco
, and Pennzoil
. Alon USA
is the largest 7-Eleven licensee in North America.
On September 27, 2006, 7-Eleven announced its 20-year contract with Citgo was coming to an end and would not be renewed. 7-Eleven Spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said "Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez
. Certainly Chávez's position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo." Later she said that "People are making it out to be more than it is." Citgo's Chief Executive Felix Rodriguez responded with a correction the following day, accusing 7-Eleven of exploiting the situation to score political points against Chavez, and pointing out that Citgo's decision to terminate the contract with 7-Eleven had been made in July, for practical and economic reasons: "[The reports are] a manipulation because ever since the month of July have we announced that we did not intend to renew a contract with 7-Eleven, which was 20 years old and that was part of a bad business deal for Venezuela." A statement found on Citgo's homepage stated, "The 7-Eleven contract did not fit within CITGO's strategy to balance sales with refinery production after the sale of its interest in a Houston area refinery."
At locations that have already phased out Citgo fuel, 7-Eleven is no longer accepting Citgo's credit cards. 7-Eleven stores that have removed the Citgo sign usually replace it with an "Oh Thank Heaven!" or "Fast and Fresh" sign on the main sign display, and simply place the 7-Eleven logo on the canopy over the pumps.
In more recent years, however, many gas station locations being built have a 7-Eleven, including the acquisition of BP
's "Shop" brand on several locations in the New York metropolitan area
. 7-Eleven major competitor is Royal Farms
.
The owner of the master franchise for 7-Eleven in Scandinavia is Reitan Servicehandel, a part of the Norwegian
retail group Reitan Group
. All stores are franchised, and 7-Eleven often tries to place the stores on corners in city centers. After Reitangruppen bought the filling station chain HydroTexaco
(now YX Energy) in Norway and Denmark in 2006 it has announced that several of the stores at the filling stations will be rebranded 7-Eleven and the petrol will be supplied by Shell, others will remain under the YX-concept.
The first Danish 7-Eleven was opened in Østerbro
on September 14, 1993. As of October, 2011, there are more than 190 stores, mostly in Copenhagen
, Århus, Aalborg
and Odense
, including 8 stores at Copenhagen Central Station. In Denmark 7-Eleven has an agreement with Shell
, compromising of a nationwide network of Shell/7-Eleven service stations, and an agreement with DSB
to have 7-Eleven at most S-tog-stations.
in Oslo on September 13, 1986. As of October 1, 2010, there are 110 7-Eleven stores in Norway, more than half of these are in Oslo. Norway has the northernmost 7-Eleven in the world, situated in Tromsø
. On a per-capita basis, Norway has one 7–Eleven store for every 47,000 Norwegians, compared to Canada, which has one for every 74,000 Canadians.
and Gothenburg
. 7-Eleven returned to the south of Sweden in 2001 when a convenience store opened in Lund
. As of the end of 2008, there are 77 7-Elevens in Sweden: most of them in Stockholm, 16 in Gothenburg, 8 in southern Sweden (including two in Lund, two in Helsingborg
, three in Malmö
and one located at Malmö-Sturup Airport
). After an agreement with Shell
on August 27, 2007, 112 Shell Select-outlets will be remade into 7-Eleven as of April 2009.
s in front. In 1945, Tote'm became 7-Eleven to reflect the stores' new, extended hours—7 a.m. until 11 pm, seven days a week. The company's corporate name was changed from Southland Corporation to 7-Eleven, Inc. in 1999.
animated television series, as a convenience store called Kwik-E-Mart
.
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
s, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co.
Seven & I Holdings Co.
is a diversified retail group headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Founded originally in 1920 as Ito-Yokado, Seven & I is now the fifth largest retailer in the world, with 35,000 stores in approximately 100 countries.-History:...
of Japan.
7-Eleven, primarily operating as a franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
, is the world's largest operator, franchisor and licensor of convenience stores, with more than 39,000 outlets, surpassing the previous record-holder McDonald's Corporation
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
in 2007 by approximately 1,000 retail stores. The US subsidiary of the Japanese firm has its headquarters in the One Arts Plaza
One Arts Plaza
One Arts Plaza is a 24-story skyscraper located at 1722 Routh Street in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas . The mixed-use building stands at a structural height of and contains of class A office space, of retail space, and 60 residences...
building in downtown Dallas, Texas
Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District...
. Its stores are located in 16 countries, with its largest markets being Japan, the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Malaysia and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. On a per-capita basis, Norway, for example, has one 7–11 for every 47,000 Norwegians, versus Canada which has one for every 74,000 Canadians.
History
The company has its origins in 1927 in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, when an employee of Southland Ice Company, Joe C. Thompson, started selling milk, eggs and bread from an ice house. The original location was an improvised storefront at Southland Ice Company, an ice-manufacturing plant owned by John Jefferson Green. Although small grocery stores and general merchandisers were present in the immediate area, Thompson, the manager of the ice plant, discovered selling convenience items, such as bread and milk, was popular due to the ice's ability to preserve the items. This significantly cut back on the need to travel long distances to the grocery stores for basic items. Thompson eventually bought the Southland Ice Company and turned it into Southland Corporation, which oversaw several locations which opened in the Dallas area. Initially, these stores were open from 7 am to 11 pm, hours unprecedented in their length, hence the name. The company began to use the 7-Eleven name in 1946. By 1952, 7-Eleven opened its 100th store. It was incorporated as Southland Corporation in 1961.
In 1962, 7-Eleven first experimented with a 24-hour schedule in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. By 1963, 24-hour stores were established in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, and Dallas.
In the 1980s, the company ran into financial difficulties, selling off its ice division
Reddy Ice
Reddy Ice Holdings, Inc. is the largest packaged ice manufacturer in the United States, serving approximately 82,000 customer locations under the Reddy Ice brand name....
, and was rescued from bankruptcy by Ito-Yokado
Ito-Yokado
is a Japanese General Merchandise Store, part of Seven & I Holdings Co. There are 174 Ito-Yokado stores operating in Japan. The group has expanded to China, where they formed a joint venture with Wangfujing Department Store and China Huafu Trade & Development Group Corp. to open one of five stores...
, its largest franchisee. In 1987, John Philp Thompson
John Philp Thompson, Sr.
John Philp Thompson, Sr. , was the eldest son of Joe C. Thompson, Sr., the founder of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores.-Career:...
, the CEO of 7-Eleven, completed a $5.2 billion management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
of the company his father had founded. The buyout suffered from the 1987 stock market crash
Black Monday (1987)
In finance, Black Monday refers to Monday October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. The crash began in Hong Kong and spread west to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin...
and after failing initially to raise high yield debt financing, the company was required to offer a portion of the company's stock as an inducement to invest in the company's bonds.
The Japanese company gained a controlling share of 7-Eleven in 1991, during the Japanese asset bubble of the early 1990s. Ito-Yokado formed Seven & I Holdings Co.
Seven & I Holdings Co.
is a diversified retail group headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Founded originally in 1920 as Ito-Yokado, Seven & I is now the fifth largest retailer in the world, with 35,000 stores in approximately 100 countries.-History:...
and 7-Eleven became its subsidiary in 2005. In 2007, Seven & I Holdings announced it would be expanding their American operations, with an additional 1,000 7-Eleven stores in the U.S.
Products and services
Private label
Private label products or services are typically those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company's brand. Private label goods and services are available in a wide range of industries from food to cosmetics to web hosting...
products, including Slurpee
Slurpee
A Slurpee is a flavored frozen drink sold by 7-Eleven. In 1967, 7-Eleven licensed the product from the ICEE Company, and began selling it as the Slurpee.-Slurpee history:Machines to make frozen beverages were invented by Omar Knedlik in the late 1950s...
, a partially frozen soft drink introduced in 1967, and the Big Gulp introduced in 1980 that packaged soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
s in large cups ranging in size from 20 USoz.
The Big Gulp
The Big Gulp fountainSoda fountain
A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores...
drink brand refers to the name of the 32 USoz fountain drink, the Big Gulp. Variants include: Gulp or 1.2 l (1.080010800108E-07 US fl oz) (depending on region) Super Big Gulp Double Gulp Note: This container has been downsized to 56 ounces. Team Gulp
In 2005, 7-Eleven began selling its brand of bottled drinks under the Big Gulp brand name in North America.
Slurp and Gulp
In July 2002, 7-Eleven introduced the Slurp & Gulp for a limited time. The 54-ounce Slurp & Gulp plastic cup held a 22-ounce Slurpee container inside of a 32-ounce Big Gulp cup for soda. The two cold drinks were combined with a domed lid that had two holes for both a Big Gulp straw and Slurpee spoon straw.Other products
In addition to Slurpee and the Big Gulp, 7-Eleven would come to own or operate several brands of food and concepts, including Movie QuikMovie Quik
Movie-Quik were video rentals offered inside 7-Eleven stores based in the United States. It ran as a division of Southland Corporation until the early 1990s. The movies were merchandised on the first gondola at the front of the store and were visible through the front window. Movie-Quik stocked...
, an in-store video-rental service; Citgo
Citgo
CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a United States-incorporated, Venezuela-owned refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de...
, the gas brand sold at many locations up until 2006; as well as Chief Auto Parts
Chief Auto Parts
Chief Auto Parts was a United States-based auto parts store chain and had stores located in the states of Tennessee, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Arkansas and California. Chief was founded in 1955 in Norwalk, California. It was purchased by Southland Corporation in 1979, along with Citgo and Movie...
, which had locations adjacent to or near several 7-Eleven locations. They bought White Hen Inc. on August 10, 2006, mostly in or around the Chicago area, and plan to convert all of the remaining White Hens to 7-Eleven stores.
Since 2005, the company has offered 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless
7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless
7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless in April 2004 7-Eleven became the first retailer to launch proprietary prepaid wireless service program called 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless. 7-Eleven expanded its proprietary prepaid wireless program to Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. In The U.S. the service operates on...
, a prepaid phone service where a cellphone can be purchased directly from a 7-Eleven store in the US and Canada and activated on the spot.
The 7-Eleven convenience store announced on November 3, 2009 that it was releasing two low-priced proprietary wines in the United States and Japan (under the "Yosemite Road" brand).
Australia
The first 7-Eleven in Australia opened on August 24, 1977 in the Melbourne suburb of OakleighOakleigh, Victoria
Oakleigh is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and is located 14 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Monash. At the 2006 Census, Oakleigh had a population of 6,876....
. There are currently 385 stores in the states of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, New South Wales and Queensland; the majority of stores are in metropolitan areas, particularly in CBD areas. Stores in suburban areas often operate as petrol stations. Stores are owned and operated as franchises, with a central administration.
Stores in Australia sell Slurpees in four sizes—Small, Medium and Large which are served in different coloured paper cups, and Super which is served in a clear plastic cup with a dome lid. Stores selling Slurpees have a machine dispensing either two or four flavours—some stores have as many as four machines.
7-Eleven stores sell gift cards including three types of prepaid VISA cards. There are daily newspapers, drinks, confectionery, and snack food
Snack food
A snack is a portion of food oftentimes smaller than that of a regular meal, that is generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged and processed foods and items made from fresh ingredients at home....
s. They sell pre-prepared food such as sandwiches, wraps, pies, sausage rolls under their proprietary brand 'munch' delivered fresh into stores daily.
7-Eleven stores have partnered with BankWest and have BankWest ATMs in all of their stores.
On 7 November, a free Slurpee is given to any customer saying Happy 7-Eleven Day to the person behind the counter between the hours of 7 am and 11 pm. It is unofficially known as "7-Eleven Day (7–11)". As of 2010, the complimentary Slurpees are given out between 7:00 am and 2:11; a period of 7 hours and 11 minutes.
In March 2010, the company ran a promotion where every customer purchasing fuel received a free small Slurpee.
7-Eleven has acquired 295 Mobil service stations in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria that were originally planned for sale to Caltex. Twenty-nine sites in South Australia were subsequently on sold to Peregrine Corporation, to be badged as On the Run convenience stores.
On November 8, 2010, a free Slurpee was given to redheads
Red hair
Red hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations...
in celebration of Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
's election.
On September 21, 2011, customers could bring in their own cups (of any sort whether it be from a fish bowl to an esky) and fill it full of Slurpee for only $2.60 (a portion of the price of a Medium Slurpee) as long as it would fit through a cutout hole limiting the size; this however did not stop people from up to and above 5 liters of Slurpee for the price of a Medium Slurpee. This event was known as Bring Your Own Cup Day.
China
7-Eleven has been operating in mainland China in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, TianjinTianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
, Shenzhen
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
and Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, since 2008. Some stores were open since 1996. It offers little or no brand name items like Slurpee. However, the locations here offer a rather wide array of warm food, including traditional items like steamed, filled bun. Also sold are some beverages, alcohol, candy, periodicals, and other convenience items. As of April, 2009, there were 591 7-Eleven locations in mainland China. Although Beijing locations were originally planned to be open "from 7:00 am until 11:00 pm, to suit the lifestyle of Beijingers", the majority are open 24 hours every day.
Hong Kong
7-Eleven, nicknamed "Little 7" (Chat Jai) by the local, has operated in Hong Kong since 1981 under the ownership of Dairy Farm. With most locations being in urbanized areas, approximately 40 percent are franchised stores. In September 2004, Dairy Farm acquired Daily StopDaily Stop
Daily Stop was a chain of convenient stores in Hong Kong. It was franchised by Television Broadcasts Limited and SCMP Group before it was acquired by Dairy Farm International Holdings and merged to 7-Eleven. It operated totally 83 outlets in MTR and KCR stations, shopping malls and public housing...
, a convenience store chain located mainly in the territory's MTR
MTR
Mass Transit Railway is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. Originally opened in 1979, the system now includes 211.6 km of rail with 155 stations, including 86 railway stations and 69 light rail stops...
stations, and converted them to 7-Eleven stores immediately upon takeover. As of 2009, it has 950 stores and made it a second place for the highest density of 7-Eleven stores after Macau, with 1 shop per each 1.16 km².
Japan
The feel and look of the store is somewhat different from that of the U.S. 7-Elevens. In Japan they offer a wider selection of products and services. Japanese 7-Elevens offer not only food, drinks, and magazines, but also video games and consoles, music CDs, DVDs, digital cardreaders as well as seasonal items like Christmas cakes, Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
chocolates, and fireworks
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
. Slurpees and Big Gulp super size soft drinks were introduced in the early 1980s but discontinued some years later.
On September 1, 2005, Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd., a new holding company, became the parent company of 7-Eleven, Ito Yokado, and Denny's
Denny's
Denny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...
Japan.
Macau
7-Eleven entered the MacauMacau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
market in 2005 under the ownership of Dairy Farm, the same conglomeration group operating Hong Kong's 7-Eleven. With only 29.5km², Macau has 45 stores, making it a single market that has the highest density of 7-Eleven stores, with one store for each 0.65km².
Malaysia
Malaysian 7-Elevens are owned by 7-Eleven Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. which now operates 1,212 stores nationwide (as of January 2011). 7-Eleven in Malaysia was incorporated on June 4, 1984 by the Berjaya Group BerhadBerjaya Group
-Corporate Profile:The Berjaya Corporation group of companies’ history dates back to 1984 when the Chairman, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun acquired a major controlling stake in Berjaya Industrial Berhad from the founders, Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd, Australia and National Iron & Steel...
. The first 7-Eleven store in Malaysia was opened in October 1984, in Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. In October 2008, 7-Eleven achieved a milestone opening of its 1,000th store in Bandar Sunway, Selangor. It is today the undisputed market leader in convenience store chain landscape in Malaysia.
Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, 7-Eleven is run by the Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC). Its first store opened in 1984. In 2000, President Chain Store Corporation (PCSC) of Taiwan, also a licensee of 7-Eleven, bought the majority shares of PSC and thus formed a strategic alliance for the convenience store industry within the area.
Indonesia
In April 2009, 7-Eleven announced plans to expand its business in Indonesia through a Master Franchise agreement with Modern Putra Indonesia (a subsidiary of Modern Group, FujiFilmFujifilm
is a multinational photography and imaging company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.Fujifilm's principal activities are the development, production, sale and servicing of color photographic film, digital cameras, photofinishing equipment, color paper, photofinishing chemicals, medical imaging...
distributor in Indonesia) of Jakarta. Modern Putra Indonesia's initial plans are to focus on opening stores in Jakarta, targeting densely-populated commercial and office areas, to offer working Indonesians a convenient place to shop for lunch, snacks and emergency items. Other major cities, such as Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya, offer future expansion opportunities.
Indonesian government stated in May 2010 that they will monitor 7-Eleven expansion since it is licensed as convenience store not as mini markets. Indonesian law limits mini market ownership to local companies.
Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, 7-Eleven forms the largest chain of convenience stores island-wide. There are at present 545 7-Eleven stores scattered throughout the country. Stores in Singapore are operated by the Dairy Farm International Holdings
Dairy Farm International Holdings
Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited is a retail company in Asia, with a legal base in Bermuda. A member of the Jardine Matheson Group, it is a leading pan-Asian retailer which processes food, wholesales food and personal hygiene products in the Pacific region and in China. Jardine Strategic,...
, franchised under a licensing agreement with 7-Eleven Incorporated, headquartered in the United States.
The first 7-Eleven stores were operated in 1983 with a franchise license under the Jardine Matheson Group. The license was then acquired by Cold Storage Singapore, a subsidiary of the Dairy Farm Group, in 1989. At present, 7-Eleven plans to expand its base to include 300 stores, within the next few years. In 2006, 7-Eleven (Singapore) signed an agreement with Shell Singapore
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
to operate its "Shell Select" convenience stores in all its petrol stations island-wide. In September 2007, the change-over of Shell Select stores to 7-Eleven were fully completed.
7-Eleven stores in Singapore operate around the clock, except for stores in Biopolis
Biopolis
Biopolis is an international research and development centre located in Singapore for biomedical sciences. It is located in One-North in Buona Vista, near Dover, and is close to the National University of Singapore, the Singapore Polytechnic, the Institute of Technical Education, the National...
, hospitals, MRT Stations
Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...
, some shopping centres, Raffles Institution (Junior College), ITE College West
ITE College West
ITE College West is a vocational institute and a name of the former ITE West Network division of the Institute of Technical Education...
, Singapore Polytechnic
Singapore Polytechnic
Singapore Polytechnic , the first polytechnic established in Singapore, was founded in 1954. The former campus was originally located at Prince Edward Road...
, Republic Polytechnic
Republic Polytechnic
Republic Polytechnic , commonly abbreviated to RP, is a tertiary institution located in Singapore. It was the first school system in Singapore to use Problem-based learning pedagogy for all its diplomas....
and Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...
, which have shorter operating hours.
South Korea
7-Eleven has a presence in the South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n convenience store market where it competes with Mini Stop, GS25 (formerly LG25), Family Mart and independent competitors. There are 2,282 7-Eleven stores in Korea, with only the United States, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan hosting more stores. Branded products such as Slurpee or Big Gulp is no longer carried in South Korean stores.
Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, the 7-Eleven is the most popular convenience store, and is owned by the Uni-President chain store under Uni-President Enterprises Corporation
Uni-President Enterprises Corporation
Uni-President Enterprises Corporation is an international food conglomerate based in Tainan, Taiwan. It is the largest food production company in Taiwan as well as Asia, and has a significant market share in dairy product, foods and snacks, and beverages markets. It is also responsible for...
. The first store opened in 1980 and since then has grown to cover 4,744 stores as of March 25, 2010. Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
has the world's fourth largest collection of 7-Eleven convenience stores after Japan, U.S., and Thailand. With 6,200 potential shoppers per store, Taiwan also has the smallest number of potential shoppers per 7-Eleven convenience store (compared to Japan's 14,946 potential customers for each 7-Eleven and the United States' 48,359 customers for each store). With such a high density of stores, it is not an unusual scene in Taiwan for two 7-Eleven stores to stand face to face across an intersection.
Thailand
The franchise in ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
is the CP ALL Public Company Limited
CP ALL
CP ALL Public Company Limited, formerly known as CP Seven Eleven Public Company Limited, is the flagship company of the Charoen Pokphand Group’s marketing and distribution business...
, which in turn grants franchises to operators. There are about 6,000 7-Elevens in Thailand, half of which are in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, making Thailand have the 3rd largest number of stores after the US and Japan.
CP All, the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand, plans to increase their number to more than 7,000 stores by 2013. Managing director Piyawat Titasattavorakul stated that the company will invest Bt1.5 billion annually to open at least 500 new 7-Eleven stores in each of the next two years. CP All will also invest Bt1.5 billion this year (2011) to increase the number of 7-Eleven convenience stores from 6,000 currently to 6,300 outlets by the end of 2011.
"We expect the total number of convenience stores operated by all players in the Kingdom will increase significantly from about 10,000 today to between 50,000 and 60,000 stores in the next 10 years," Piyawat said.
Canada
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
s with gasoline distributed by Shell Canada, Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada was a crown corporation of Canada in the field of oil and natural gas. It was headquartered in the Petro-Canada Centre in Calgary, Alberta. In August, 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, a deal in which Suncor investors received approximately 60 per cent ownership of the...
, or Esso
Esso
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
. In November 2005, 7-Eleven started offering a wireless service called Speak Out Wireless
7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless
7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless in April 2004 7-Eleven became the first retailer to launch proprietary prepaid wireless service program called 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless. 7-Eleven expanded its proprietary prepaid wireless program to Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. In The U.S. the service operates on...
. They also usually have Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is one of Canada's chartered banks, fifth largest by deposits. The bank is headquartered at Commerce Court in Toronto, Ontario. CIBC's Institution Number is 010, and its SWIFT code is CIBCCATT....
ATMs. The first 7-Eleven store to open was in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
on June 29, 1969. There were 457 7-Eleven stores as of January 1, 2010. Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
has the world's largest number of slurpee consumers, with an estimated 1,500,000 slurpees sold since the first 7-Eleven opened on March 21, 1970. All 7-Eleven locations in Canada are currently corporately operated.
7-Eleven abandoned the Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
market as of December 2009 selling all its six outlets there to regional convenience chain Quickie. Following concerns over the fate of 7-Eleven's popular discount mobile phone plan SpeakOut, Quickie offered to assume existing SpeakOut customers and phones into its Good2Go cellphone program.
Mexico
In Mexico, 7-Eleven was called Super 7. In 1995, the name changed to 7-Eleven. When stores are located within classic buildings (such as in Historic Center) or important buildings, the logo at the entrance shows no colors; instead, letters are golden or silver. Main competitors in Mexico are OXXOOXXO
OXXO is a primarily-franchised chain of convenience stores from Mexico, with over 7,000 stores across Latin America. It is the largest chain of this kind of store in Mexico. It is wholly owned by the beverage company FEMSA...
(Femsa), Super City (Soriana) and other local competitors.
United States
7-Eleven currently has more than 8,200 owned, operated and franchised stores in the United States-almost all as franchises.Once ubiquitous, 7-Eleven stores are no longer found in some Midwestern and Southeastern states. In May 1998, it was announced that 113 7-Eleven stores would be sold and converted into Kum & Go
Kum & Go
Kum & Go is a convenience store chain primarily located in the Midwestern United States. The company, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, operates over 400 stores in 11 states—primarily in its home state of Iowa. Kum & Go was ranked as the 23rd-largest convenience store chain in the United States by...
stores. In this same time frame, 7-Eleven exited the Minnesota market and sold all its Minnesota stores to SuperAmerica
Speedway SuperAmerica
Speedway LLC is the operator of a chain of combination gas stations and convenience stores in the Midwest and South of the United States operating under the Speedway brand name. Speedway LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Marathon Petroleum Company...
. This led to situations, especially in larger cities like Minneapolis and Saint Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, where multiple SuperAmerica locations could be found on the same intersection. In states like Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, other convenience stores like Holiday Station Stores, SuperAmerica
Speedway SuperAmerica
Speedway LLC is the operator of a chain of combination gas stations and convenience stores in the Midwest and South of the United States operating under the Speedway brand name. Speedway LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Marathon Petroleum Company...
, QuikTrip
QuikTrip
QuikTrip is a Tulsa-based chain of convenience stores primarily found in the Midwestern and Southern United States....
, Kwik Trip
Kwik Trip
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star is a chain of convenience stores founded in 1965 with locations throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota under the name Kwik Trip, and in northeast Iowa under the name Kwik Star . The company also operates stores under the name Hearty Platter and Tobacco Outlet Plus. Kwik Trip, Inc...
, Casey's, and Speedway
Speedway SuperAmerica
Speedway LLC is the operator of a chain of combination gas stations and convenience stores in the Midwest and South of the United States operating under the Speedway brand name. Speedway LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Marathon Petroleum Company...
occupy the same market.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
metropolitan area. About 125 stores are owned by the family of William C. Brown (currently run by son Jim Brown) under special arrangement with the company since 1953. William C. Brown's father was a business associate and family friend of John Thompson. "Bill" had recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame and struck out on a quest to find an area "ripe" for the concept. During his travels he met the Tulsa based QuikTrip chain owner who suggested OKC to Brown. Narrowing down the choices he decided upon Oklahoma and opened store No.1 at NW 23rd & N. Portland Avenue in OKC. At their inception the Thompson family were part owners of the OKC stores but never the Corporation. Brown would work a shift at the original store and afterwards would scout new locations to build. The "Oh Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven" phrase was coined by the Stanford Agency the in-house ad agency for 7-Eleven (1954–1981) in 1969. These stores carry a slightly different product selection than other 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. as they do not serve hot dogs or nachos. Instead, they have their own bakeries, called Seventh Heaven. Also, due to this agreement, they carry a non-7-Eleven branded product in lieu of the Slurpee, the Icy Drink, which is not to be confused with the ICEE
The ICEE Company
The ICEE Company is a beverage company located in Ontario, California, USA. Its flagship product is the ICEE, which is a frozen carbonated beverage that comes in various fruit and soda flavors. ICEE also produces other frozen beverages, and Italian ice pops under both the ICEE and Slush Puppie...
. The one side effect to this arrangement is that national advertising campaigns and promotions (e.g. movie marketing tie-ins) cannot be used.
In the Pennsylvania market -- a market noted for innovation within the convenience store industry -- 7-Eleven competes with Turkey Hill from Lancaster
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, Wawa
Wawa Food Markets
Wawa Inc. is a chain of convenience store/gas stations located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It operates in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida. The company's corporate headquarters is located in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, near the community...
from the Philadelphia area, and Sheetz
Sheetz
Sheetz, Inc. is a chain of gas stations/convenience stores owned by the Sheetz family. Stores are located in Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia....
from Altoona. 7-Eleven has no presence in the Altoona
Altoona, Pennsylvania
-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
–State College
State College, Pennsylvania
State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Centre County. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 42,034, and roughly double...
–Johnstown
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
area because of Sheetz, but is predominant in the Pittsburgh region where Sheetz also dominates, as well as South Central Pennsylvania around the state capital of Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
. 7-Eleven is also absent in several cities in Texas (Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, San Antonio - 7-Elevens in these cities after 1988 were sold to National Convenience Stores, which owns the Stop & Go franchise, later purchased by Diamond Shamrock in the late 1990s, now part of Valero
Valero
Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power based in San Antonio, Texas, United States...
since 2006), even though the United States headquarters is based there. 7-Elevens are prevalent in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Temple, Killeen, Fort Hood, and Austin, TX (primarily on the Interstate 35 corridor), in West Texas (Midland, Lubbock, El Paso), and two individual franchises in Smithville and San Marcos, TX. The current Texas locations are located north of Interstate 10 and west of the Interstate 35 corridor including the Smithville, TX location east of Bastrop, TX. In North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, 7-Elevens are only seen in the northeastern part of the state, as part of the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
market. In the rest of the state, there are several equivalents. 7-Eleven has little to no presence in the Albany, New York market due to the prominence there of Stewart's Shops, a local chain.
In 1987, Southland acquired High's Dairy Store
High's Dairy Store
High's Dairy Stores is a chain of convenience stores in Maryland and Delaware. It once had locations in Virginia, and Washington, D.C. as well, many of which have been converted to 7-Elevens. The company is based in Hanover, Maryland.- History :...
s of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., many of which were converted to 7-Elevens.
In March 2007, it was announced that 7-Eleven would sell its corporately-owned stores in northern Texas and in Florida to franchisees; the chain has been franchising stores since 1964. The sale will make 7-Eleven virtually a franchise-only operation in six years.
7-Eleven is moving toward franchising most of its remaining corporate locations inside the United States. The 7-Eleven franchise system splits the gross profits 50/50 or close to it, between the company and the individual franchisee. The initial 7-Eleven franchise term is 15 years. The franchise fee and other upfront fees collected by 7-Eleven from a newly approved franchisee, in addition to ongoing 50:50 sharing of profits, is not transferable to another incoming franchisee in the same store, for the unexpired portion, if any, of the current 15 year contract. For example if one pays full franchise fee for 15 years and has to leave the store after one year due to any reason, they stand to lose the franchise fee for the remaining 14 years of their term.
Supermarket News ranked 7-Eleven's North American operations No. 11 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $15.0 billion. Based on 2005 revenue, 7-Eleven is the twenty-fourth largest retailer in the United States.
Citgo
CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a United States-incorporated, Venezuela-owned refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de...
, which in 1983 was purchased by Southland Corporation (and 50% of Citgo was subsequently sold in 1986 to Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. and the remaining 50% in 1990). Although Citgo was the predominant partner of 7-Eleven, other oil companies are also co-branded with 7-Eleven, including Fina
Petrofina
Petrofina was a Belgian oil company which merged with Total in 1999 to form TotalFina, but the name has now been changed back to Total after another merger...
, Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
, Gulf
Gulf Oil LP
Gulf Oil LP is a major American oil company formed when Cumberland Farms acquired the naming rights to the Gulf Oil brand from Chevron in the United States in 1986. By 2010, Cumberland acquired all rights to the brand in the US, making it the sole owner and marketer in the country...
, Marathon
Marathon Oil
Marathon Oil Corporation is a United States-based oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Principal exploration activities are in the United States, Norway, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Canada. Principal development activities are in the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway,...
, BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, Sunoco
Sunoco
Sunoco Inc. is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. and Sun Oil Co. ....
, and Pennzoil
Pennzoil
Pennzoil is an American oil company founded in Los Angeles, California in 1913. In 1955, it was acquired by Oil City, Pennsylvania company South Penn Oil, a former branch of Standard Oil. In 1963, South Penn Oil merged with Zapata Petroleum; the merged company took the Pennzoil name. During the...
. Alon USA
Alon USA
Alon USA Energy Inc. or Alon USA . Alon USA Energy, Inc. is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and engages in refining and marketing petroleum products primarily in the southwestern and south central regions of the United States. Alon USA was formed after Alon Israel Oil Company Ltd, the largest...
is the largest 7-Eleven licensee in North America.
On September 27, 2006, 7-Eleven announced its 20-year contract with Citgo was coming to an end and would not be renewed. 7-Eleven Spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said "Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
. Certainly Chávez's position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo." Later she said that "People are making it out to be more than it is." Citgo's Chief Executive Felix Rodriguez responded with a correction the following day, accusing 7-Eleven of exploiting the situation to score political points against Chavez, and pointing out that Citgo's decision to terminate the contract with 7-Eleven had been made in July, for practical and economic reasons: "[The reports are] a manipulation because ever since the month of July have we announced that we did not intend to renew a contract with 7-Eleven, which was 20 years old and that was part of a bad business deal for Venezuela." A statement found on Citgo's homepage stated, "The 7-Eleven contract did not fit within CITGO's strategy to balance sales with refinery production after the sale of its interest in a Houston area refinery."
At locations that have already phased out Citgo fuel, 7-Eleven is no longer accepting Citgo's credit cards. 7-Eleven stores that have removed the Citgo sign usually replace it with an "Oh Thank Heaven!" or "Fast and Fresh" sign on the main sign display, and simply place the 7-Eleven logo on the canopy over the pumps.
In more recent years, however, many gas station locations being built have a 7-Eleven, including the acquisition of BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
's "Shop" brand on several locations in the New York metropolitan area
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
. 7-Eleven major competitor is Royal Farms
Royal Farms
Royal Farms is a chain of convenience stores in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Most of the stores also have gasoline sold on the premises. The gasoline is branded as Royal Farms.-Overview:...
.
Scandinavia
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
retail group Reitan Group
Reitan Group
Reitan Group or Reitangruppen is a Norwegian wholesaler and retail franchiser. Included in its portfolio is REMA 1000, 7-Eleven, HydroTexaco, Easy24, Narvesen, Spaceworld and Pressbyrån. The company has most of its 1,979 stores in Norway, but also some in Sweden, Denmark and Latvia...
. All stores are franchised, and 7-Eleven often tries to place the stores on corners in city centers. After Reitangruppen bought the filling station chain HydroTexaco
HydroTexaco
YX Energi, formerly known as Hydro Texaco, is a Norwegian and Danish gas station chain formed after the merge of the Hydro and Texaco gas station chains in 1995. In 2006 the company was bought by Reitangruppen and incorporated into their chain including the implementation of 7-Eleven brand on the...
(now YX Energy) in Norway and Denmark in 2006 it has announced that several of the stores at the filling stations will be rebranded 7-Eleven and the petrol will be supplied by Shell, others will remain under the YX-concept.
Denmark
Østerbro
Østerbro is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located close to present-day Østerport Station...
on September 14, 1993. As of October, 2011, there are more than 190 stores, mostly in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Århus, Aalborg
Aalborg
-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....
and Odense
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
, including 8 stores at Copenhagen Central Station. In Denmark 7-Eleven has an agreement with Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
, compromising of a nationwide network of Shell/7-Eleven service stations, and an agreement with DSB
DSB
-Science, technology and devices:* Disulphide bridge , a protein found in prokaryotes. Equivalent to eukaryotic PDI* Double Strand Break, a break in DNA which may be a precursor to Genetic recombination* in telecommunications, double-sideband transmission...
to have 7-Eleven at most S-tog-stations.
Norway
In Norway, the first 7-Eleven was opened at GrünerløkkaGrünerløkka
Grünerløkka is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Grünerløkka became part of the city of Oslo in 1858.Grünerløkka was named after Friedrich Grüner who bought a mill in the area from king Christian V of Denmark in 1672 . During the 19th century, Grünerløkka became a working class area...
in Oslo on September 13, 1986. As of October 1, 2010, there are 110 7-Eleven stores in Norway, more than half of these are in Oslo. Norway has the northernmost 7-Eleven in the world, situated in Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
. On a per-capita basis, Norway has one 7–Eleven store for every 47,000 Norwegians, compared to Canada, which has one for every 74,000 Canadians.
Sweden
The first European location of 7-Eleven was Swedish; the first 7-Eleven in Sweden was opened on Tomtebogatan in Stockholm in 1980. Reitan Servicehandel Sverige has the license in Sweden. In the mid-1990s, 7-Eleven in Sweden received adverse publicity, resulting in many stores being sold and closed down. For a time there were only 7-Elevens in StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
. 7-Eleven returned to the south of Sweden in 2001 when a convenience store opened in Lund
Lund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
. As of the end of 2008, there are 77 7-Elevens in Sweden: most of them in Stockholm, 16 in Gothenburg, 8 in southern Sweden (including two in Lund, two in Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
, three in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
and one located at Malmö-Sturup Airport
Malmö-Sturup Airport
Malmö Airport, formerly known as Malmö-Sturup Airport is Sweden's fifth busiest airport, located approximately 28 km from Malmö and 26 km from Lund. Via the Oresund Bridge the airport is located about 55 km from central Copenhagen and 47 km from Copenhagen Airport...
). After an agreement with Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
on August 27, 2007, 112 Shell Select-outlets will be remade into 7-Eleven as of April 2009.
Rankings
7-Eleven has been consistently ranked in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500, most recently being selected as the No.1 overall franchise. In addition, they were also ranked No.38 in Fastest-Growing Franchises and No.2 in Low Cost Franchises. In 2008, 7-Eleven was named the number one franchise by Entrepreneur, beating out Subway, which had held the number one spot for 15 years.The name
The company's first convenience outlets were known as Tote'm stores since customers "toted" away their purchases, and some even sported genuine Alaskan totem poleTotem pole
Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved from large trees, mostly Western Red Cedar, by cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America...
s in front. In 1945, Tote'm became 7-Eleven to reflect the stores' new, extended hours—7 a.m. until 11 pm, seven days a week. The company's corporate name was changed from Southland Corporation to 7-Eleven, Inc. in 1999.
Parodies
7-Eleven is parodied in The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
animated television series, as a convenience store called Kwik-E-Mart
Kwik-E-Mart
The Kwik-E-Mart is a fictional chain of convenience stores in the animated television series The Simpsons. It is a parody of American convenience store chains, such as 7-Eleven and Circle K, and represents many myths and stereotypes of them. It is notorious for its high prices and the poor quality...
.