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7-Eleven is an international franchiser, licensor, and operator of a chain of , the United States , Taiwan , and Thailand (in that order). 7-Eleven is a Subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co. of Japan. Among 7-Eleven's offerings are Private Label products, including Slurpee , a partially frozen beverage introduced in the mid- 1960s , and the Big Gulp, soft drinks packaged in large cups ranging in size from 20 to 64 Fluid Ounce s. COMPANY BACKGROUND The company was founded in 1927 in . By 1952, 7-Eleven opened its 100th store. In 1962, 7-Eleven first experimented with a 24-hour schedule in , a Las Vegas 7-Eleven became the first store in the Southland Corp.'s chain to stay open around the clock, according to Karla Leavelle of the Dallas-based company's Capitol Division." 7-Eleven purchased a chain of stores in 1964 called "Speedee-Mart", which initiated the company's entry into Franchising . Supermarket chain Ito-Yokado , which operates 7-Eleven stores in Japan, purchased the majority interest of Southland Corporation in 1991 . In 1999 , The Southland Corporation changed its name to 7-Eleven, Inc. In the wake of 7-Eleven's bankruptcy in the late 1980s , many stores were sold off, as well as many of the assets previously mentioned; Reddy Ice was reluctantly spun off (and now operates as an independent company) despite ice manufacture being Southland's original business; Citgo was sold in two phases; the Movie Quik service disappeared from stores. Chief Auto Parts stores were eventually sold to Auto Zone . Even Southland's headquarters complex, CityPlace, would not be fully developed as originally planned due to the company's financial condition. A twin second tower would have stood directly across U.S. Highway 75 from the original (and surviving) office tower, connected far above ground (and the freeway) with an enclosed pedestrian walkway. The land for the failed second tower (which would have been dubbed 'CityPlace West') is now occupied by a golf driving range, which will depart in 2007 for a mixed-use project for the growing Uptown area. Ito-Yokado, 7-Eleven's then-largest franchisee, would be the saving grace of the company; this would prove to aid Southland in its exit from Bankruptcy . As a result, Ito-Yokado would own a controlling stake of the firm. In November 2005, Seven & I Holdings Co. completed the purchase of 7-Eleven, Inc., turning the publicly-traded American conglomerate into a publicly-traded Japanese conglomerate. Seven-Eleven Japan is itself a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings, which also owns the Japanese Denny's chain of restaurants and Ito-Yokado. In May 2007, the company moved to a new headquarters (dubbed 'One Arts Plaza') in the Arts District of Downtown Dallas , Texas . Since 1988 , the headquarters had been at Cityplace Center in the Cityplace area just north of the city core, near Uptown . A new 7-Eleven location opened, also in May 2007, on the first floor of One Arts Plaza; this opening marks the first placement of a 7-Eleven location in downtown Dallas. 7-Eleven opens downtown store , ''Dallas Morning News'', May 18, 2007. PRODUCT/SERVICES In addition to Slurpee and the Big Gulp, 7-Eleven would come to own or operate several brands and concepts, including Reddy Ice (the evolution of the original company ice operation); Movie Quik , 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. The Big Gulp fountain drink brand also refers to the name of the 32-ounce (1 litre) fountain drink, the Big Gulp. There is also a 44-oz. (or a smaller 1.2 L, depending on region) size (''Super'' Big Gulp), a 64-oz. (2 l) size (Double Gulp), and a 16-oz. (0.5 l) size (Gulp). In 2005, 7-Eleven began selling its own brand of bottled drinks under the Big Gulp brand name in North America. Since 2005, the company has offered 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless , a pre-paid phone service where a cellphone can be purchased directly from a 7-Eleven store in the US and Canada and activated on the spot. MARKETING STRATEGIES July 11 is known as "7-11 Day", during which participating 7-Eleven stores offer up to 1,000 customers a free 7.11-oz. Slurpee of their choice. 5 Million Free Slurpees At 7-Eleven , 7-Eleven, July 7, 2003. 7-Eleven is the sponsor of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team and the #11 Tony Kanaan Andretti-Green Racing IndyCar in the Indy Racing League . On November 9th, 2006, 7-Eleven announced that it has signed on as a major sponsor of the Dallas Mavericks for the next three seasons and as title sponsor of its popular Street Team. As part of that agreement, 7-Eleven will give free coupons to Mavericks fans as they leave American Airlines Center following each of the 41 home games during the 2006-2007 season. comic book, #711, available at a dozen ''7-Eleven'' stores in the United States and Canada .]] Starting in the 2007 season, 7-Eleven has begun a partnership with the Chicago White Sox to begin home night games at 7:11 Central Time. The agreement pays the team $1.5 million over three years to move their game times back one minute from the traditional Midwestern start time of 7:10. ESPN: MLB Headlines 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart .]] In anticipation for the and Sandwiches , had special '' Simpsons ''-themed wrapping and packages. As part of the movie promotion, 7-Eleven held Simpsons contests as well, which one entered by buying certain products in 7-Eleven stores. The "Kwik-E-Mart" promotion turned out to be a huge success for 7-Eleven, with ''Simpsons'' fans driving as far as hundreds of miles to buy the special themed merchandise. Kwik-E-Mart gamble pays off for 7-Eleven , Dallas Morning News, July 30, 2007. It also resulted in a 30% increase in profits for the converted 7-Elevens.2 7-ELEVEN AROUND THE WORLD Australia The first 7-Eleven in Australia opened in 1977 . There are currently 366 stores in the states of Victoria , New South Wales and Queensland ; the majority of stores are in metropolitan areas. Stores are owned and operated as franchises, with a central administration. Canada . ]] In Canada, a limited number of 7-Eleven locations have Gas Station s with gasoline distributed by Shell Canada or Petro-Canada , and some are combined with an Esso . In November of 2005 , 7-Eleven started offering a wireless service called 7-Eleven Wireless . They also usually have ATM service through Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce . Hong Kong and Macau 7-Eleven has operated in Hong Kong since 1981 under the ownership of , a convenience store chain located mainly in the territory's MTR and KCR stations, and converted them to 7-Eleven stores immediately upon takeover. 7-Eleven entered the Macau market in 2005, and now has more than 20 stores in operation. Japan , Japan.]] 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 28,123 stores around the globe, 11,500 of them are located in Japan. 1,396 are in Tokyo alone. The feel and look of the store is somewhat different from that of the U.S. 7-Elevens in Japan 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 are no longer sold in Japan; these products were not popular when 7-Eleven originally opened in Japan. 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. , Malaysia]] Malaysia Malaysia n 7-Elevens are owned by Convenience Shopping Sdn. Bhd. (CSSB) which now operates about 800 Stores nationwide and plans to expand to over 1000 stores. 7-Eleven in Malaysia was incorporated on June 4 , 1984 by the Berjaya Group Berhad . Mexico In Mexico 7-Eleven was called Super 7. In 1995 the name changed to 7-Eleven. Philippines 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 region. Scandinavia The owner of the master franchise for 7-Eleven in Scandinavia is Reitan Servicehandel , a part of the Norwegian retail group Reitangruppen . All stores are franchised, and 7-Eleven often tries to place the stores on corners in city centers. After Reitangruppen bought the gas station chain HydroTexaco (now YX Energy) in Norway and Denmark in 2006 it has announced that several of the stores at the gas stations will be rebranded 7-Eleven, others will remain under the YX-concept. In Norway , the first 7-Eleven was opened at Grünerløkka in Oslo on September 13 , 1986. As of October 2006 , there are 105 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 . , Copenhagen ]] The first Danish 7-Eleven was opened in Østerbro on September 14 , 1993. As of the end of 2006, there were 61 stores, mostly in Copenhagen , Århus , Aalborg and Odense . Reitan Servicehandel Sverige has the license in (including three in Lund, two in Malmö and one in Svedala), and two in Helsingborg . Singapore In Singapore , with the latest one opening on August 24, 2007, 7-Eleven forms the largest chain of convenience stores islandwide. There are at present 400 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 in Singapore 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. 7-Eleven has also recently signed an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to include its convenience stores in all Shell Petrol Stations. All the 7-Eleven stores in Singapore operate round the clock, except for stores in Hospitals , MRT Stations , Raffles Junior College , Singapore Management University and Nanyang Technological University , which have shorter operating hours. South Korea 7-Eleven has a visible presence in the South Korea n convenience store market where it competes with Mini Stop, GS25 (formerly LG25), Family Mart and independent competitors. There are 1,513 7-Eleven stores in Korea, with only the USA, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan hosting more stores. Korean stores do not carry branded products such as Slurpee or Big Gulp. Taiwan In Taiwan , the 7-Eleven is one of the most popular convenience stores, and is owned by The Uni-President Chain Store. The first store opened in 1980 and since then has grown to cover 4037 stores as of 2006. About 7-Eleven , 7-Eleven. Last accessed February 25, 2007. Taiwan has the world's third largest collection of 7-Eleven convenience stores. With 6200 potential shoppers per store, Taiwan also has the smallest number of potential shoppers per 7-Eleven convenience store (compared to Japan's 14946 potential customers for each 7-Eleven and the U.S.'s 48359 customers for each store). Thailand The franchise in Thailand is the Charoen Pokphand Group , which in turn grants franchises to operators. There are 4,055 7-Elevens in Thailand, of which more than 1,000 are in Bangkok , making Thailand have the 4th largest number of stores after the US, Japan and Taiwan. United States In the United States, many 7-Eleven locations used to have Gas Station s 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 , Marathon , BP , and Pennzoil . Alon USA is the largest 7-Eleven licensee in North America. The latter of the group signed an agreement to cobrand with 7-Eleven at their remaining gas stations in 2003 following Shell 's takeover of Pennzoil-Quaker State the year before. The only independently owned 7-Eleven stores are located in the '' October 19, 2005. 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 .Sharon Dowell, "At Oklahoma 7-Elevens, Icy rules cool", ''The Oklahoman'' July 27, 2005. The one side effect to this arrangement is that national advertising campaigns and promotions (e.g. movie marketing tie-ins) cannot be used. Oklahoma 7-Eleven stores do not carry adult-themed magazines, Lottery tickets or Contraceptives partly due to the fact that the Brown family is of Roman Catholic faith. Oklahoma City 7-Elevens also pay relatively high wages, starting all new employees at $10.65 per hour and offering health and dental insurance and profit-sharing to all employees. In 1987, Southland acquired High's Dairy Store s of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., many of which were converted to 7-Elevens. Once ubiquitous, 7-Eleven stores are no longer found in some Midwestern states. In May 1998, it was announced that 113 7-Eleven stores would be sold and converted into Kum & Go stores. Other 7-Elevens, especially those in larger cities like Minneapolis-St Paul, closed. In states like Minnesota , Iowa , and Wisconsin , other convenience stores like SuperAmerica , QuikTrip , Kwik Trip , Casey's , and Speedway occupy the same market. In the Pennsylvania market—a market noted for innovation within the convenience store industry—7-Eleven competes with Turkey Hill , Wawa from the Philadelphia area, and Sheetz from Altoona.Meg Major, "Fancy Footwork", ''Progressive Grocer'' May 15, 2006. Describes the competitors and stresses the advanced development in the Pennsylvania market. 7-Eleven is also absent in several cities in Texas, even though the United States headquarters is based there. 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. Certainly Chavez'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." 7-Eleven Drops Citgo As Gas Supplier , ''International Business Times'', September 27, 2006. Citgo's Chief Executive Felix Rodriquez 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 back in July, for practical and economic reasons: “ reports are a manipulation because ever since the month of July have we announced that we did not intend to renew a contract with which was 20 years old and that was part of a bad business deal for Venezuela."[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2092 Venezuela’s Citgo Says it Decided to Discontinue 7/11 Contract Two Months Ago , Venezuelanalysis.com, September 28, 2006. 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 gas, 7-Eleven is no longer accepting Citgo's credit cards. Many 7-Eleven stores still display the Citgo sign, even though they do not sell Citgo gas. 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 March 2007, it was announced that 7-Eleven would sell its corporately-owned stores in northern Texas and in Florida to franchisees Franchising is 7-Eleven's future , Dallas Morning News, March 8, 2007.; the chain has been franchising stores since 1964. The sale will make 7-Eleven virtually a franchise-only operation in six years. ''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. 2007 Top 75 North American Food Retailers , ''Supermarket News'', Last accessed February 24, 2007. Based on 2005 revenue, 7-Eleven is the twenty-fourth largest Retailer in the United States. Top 100 Retailers: The Nation's Retail Power Players (PDF) , ''Stores'', July 2006. IN MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE
RANKINGS 7-Eleven has been consistently ranked in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 2007 Franchise 500 Rankings , most recently being selected as the #4 overall franchise. In addition, they were also ranked #38 in Fastest-Growing Franchises[http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/rankings/fastest-growingfranchises-115162/2007,-2.html 2007 Fastest-Growing Franchises Rankings] and #2 in Low Cost Franchises.http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/lowcost/index.html REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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