Where Seeking Franchisees: Franchisor is seeking new franchise units in the following states:
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Midwest, North Carolina, Northeast, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South, South Carolina, Southeast, Southwest, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, West, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia.
Franchisor is seeking new units in Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Mexico, Western Europe.

Total Investment: $30,800 – $1,635,200
Franchise Fee: $10,000 – $1,000,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: Varies
Term of Franchise Agreement: 10years, renewable

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

Net Worth: $127,000

OPERATIONS

Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 7 – 10. Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators).

FINANCING TYPE	IN-HOUSE	THIRD PARTY
Franchise Fee
Startup Costs
Equipment
Inventory
Accounts Receivable
Payroll

Training: At local training centers : 6 weeks.

Ongoing Support: Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperatives

Marketing Support: National media, Regional advertising,

Other marketing support: In-house marketing team

Franchise 500®: #4 (2013), #3 (2012), #4 (2011), #3 (2010), #30 (2009),

Fastest-Growing: #3 (2013), #9 (2012), #17 (2011), #25 (2010), #73 (2009),

America’s Top Global: #1 (2013),

7-Eleven, Inc.

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail (convenience stores)
Founded	1927
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas, US
Number of locations	50,254
Key people	Joseph DePinto, CEO
Products	Slurpee beverage Big Gulp beverage Cup Other products include: coffee, sandwiches, prepared foods, gasoline, dairy products, various beverages
Revenue	$84.8 billion (Estimated) US$ (2009)[1]
Employees	45,000 (2010 NA)
Parent	Seven & I Holdings Co. Ltd.
Website	7-eleven.com 7andi.com sej.co.jp

7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores. 7-Eleven, primarily operating as a franchise, is the world’s largest operator, franchisor, and licensor of convenience stores with more than 50,000 outlets surpassing the previous record-holder,McDonald’s Corporation, in 2007 by approximately 1,000 retail stores.^[2][3] 7-Eleven branded stores under parent company Seven & I Holdings Co. are located in 16 countries with its largest markets being Japan (15,000), the United States (8,200), Thailand (6,800),Indonesia, Canada, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia.^[4]

7-Eleven Japan runs all 7-Eleven franchises worldwide and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.^[5]

7-Eleven America has its headquarters in the One Arts Plaza building in Downtown Dallas, Texas.

Etymology[edit]

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 poles in front. In 1946, the name Tote’m was changed to 7-Eleven to reflect the stores’ new, extended hours—7 a.m. until 11 p.m., seven days a week.^[7] The company’s corporate name was changed from “The Southland Corporation” to 7-Eleven, Inc. in 1999.

History[edit]

The company has its origins in 1927 in Dallas, Texas, when an employee of Southland Ice Company, John Jefferson Green, started selling milk, eggs and bread from an improvised storefront in one of the company’s ice houses.^[8] Although small grocery stores and general merchandisers were present in the immediate area, Joe C. ‘Jodie’ Thompson, Jr., 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.^[7]

By 1928, a manager of one of these locations brought back a totem pole from Alaska and placed it in front of his store. Due to the attention received by the totem pole, additional totem poles were placed at each of the locations and all the stores began operating under the name “Tot’em Stores” (a word play on the totem poles as well as the idea that customers toted away their purchases).^[7][8] In that same year many of the locations also began selling gasoline. Although the Great Depression caused the company to go bankrupt in 1931, it still managed to continue operations.

In 1946, in an effort to continue the company’s post war recovery, the name of the stores was changed to 7-Eleven to reflect their hours of operation—7 am to 11 pm, which at the time was unprecedented. By 1952, 7-Eleven opened its 100th store. It was incorporated as Southland Corporation in 1961.^[8] In 1962, 7-Eleven first experimented with a 24-hour schedule in Austin, Texas after an Austin store was forced to remain open all night due to customer demand following a University of Texas football game.^[7] By 1963, 24-hour stores were established in Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas as well as Las Vegas, Nevada.^[9]

The Southland Corporation in the late 1980s was threatened by a corporate takeover, prompting the Thompson family to take steps to take the company private by buying out public shareholders in a tender offer. In 1987, John Philp Thompson, the Chairman and CEO of 7-Eleven, completed a $5.2 billion management buyout of the company his father had founded.^[10] 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.^[11][12]

Operating in this period with exceptionally high interest costs, the Company, now private, encountered financial difficulties with the high debt load, and as part of the re-structuring, sold various divisions, such as ice division and Chief Auto Parts – an auto parts franchise, which was acquired by Southland in 1979 to provide the convenience of a 7-Eleven store, was divested in 1990 to General Electric and later purchased by AutoZone. In 1998, the company was rescued in bankruptcy by the Japanese corporation Ito-Yokado, its largest franchisee. This downsizing also resulted in numerous metropolitan areas losing 7-Eleven stores to rival convenience store operators.

The Japanese company gained a controlling share of 7-Eleven in 1991,^[7] 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 United States.

Products and services[edit]

 

Among 7-Eleven’s offerings are private label products, including Slurpee, a partially frozen soft drink introduced in 1967,^[13] and the Big Gulp introduced in 1980^[13] that packaged soft drinks in large cups ranging in size from 20 to 64 U.S. fluid ounces (0.59 to 1.9 liters).

Other products[edit]

In addition to Slurpee and the Big Gulp, 7-Eleven would come to own or operate several brands of food and concepts, including 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 (1979–1990, later sold to AutoZone), 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, Illinois 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 United States or Canada and activated on the spot.

On November 3, 2009 7-Eleven announced that it was releasing two low-priced proprietary wines in the United States and Japan (under the “Yosemite Road” brand).^[14]

Around the world[edit]

Asia-Pacific[edit]

Australia[edit]

The first 7-Eleven in Australia opened on August 24, 1977 in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh. There are currently 589 stores in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, andQueensland; the majority of stores are in metropolitan areas, particularly in central business district areas. Stores in suburban areas often operate as petrol stations. Stores are owned and operated as franchises, with a central administration.

7-Eleven stores sell gift cards including three types of prepaid VISA cards. There are daily newspapers, drinks, confectionery, and snack foods. 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.^[15]

Every year on 7 November, one small cup of free Slurpee is given to each customer in honor to Seven Eleven Day. (November is the 11th month which makes it 7/11)^[16]

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.^[17][18]

China[edit]

7-Eleven has been operating in China in cities since 2008, with some stores open since 1992. It offers little or no brand name items likeSlurpee. Where Slurpees are offered, they use the Chinese name 思樂冰 (sīlèbīng). However, they offer a wide array of warm food, including traditional items like the steamed, filled bun. Shops in Chengdu offer a full variety of onigiri (饭团), though those in other cities may not. Also sold are some beverages, alcohol, candy, periodicals, and other convenience items. As of September, 2009, there are 1,925 (955 in Hong Kong) 7-Eleven locations in mainland China.{Information take from 7-11 website} Although Beijing locations were originally planned to be open “from 7:00 am until 11:00 pm, to suit the lifestyle of Beijingers“,^[19] the majority are open 24 hours every day.

Hong Kong[edit]

7-Eleven, nicknamed “Little 7” (Chat Jai) by the locals, 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 Stop, a convenience store chain located mainly in the territory’s MTR stations, and converted them to 7-Eleven stores. 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.

Indonesia[edit]

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, FujiFilm 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.^[20] There are 83 7-Eleven stores in Indonesia as of January 2012. Now, 7-Eleven stores in Indonesia release “Ice Radio Mix” in cooperation with MNC Radio Networks (Global ARH Radio, Sindo Trijaya FM, V Radio, and Radio Dangdut Indonesia), which owned by Hary Tanoesoedibjo. Hary Tanoesoedibjo announced that PT Global Mediacom Tbk will acquired 75% stakes of 7-Eleven Indonesia after launching “Ice Radio Mix” on 2013 with MNC Radio Networks.

Indonesian government stated in May 2010 that they will monitor 7-Eleven expansion since it is licensed as convenience stores not as mini markets. Indonesian law limits mini market ownership to local companies.^[21]

Japan[edit]

Japan has more 7-Eleven locations than anywhere else in the world, where they often bear the title of its current holding company “Seven & I Holdings“. Of the 48,097 stores around the globe, 14,579 (30% of global stores) are located in Japan^[22] with 1,956 in Tokyo alone.^[23]Despite having the most number of 7-Eleven stores in the world, not all 47 prefectures of Japan have a 7-Eleven presence; the island ofShikoku for example has no 7-Eleven stores at all, instead its competitors Lawson, FamilyMart and independent competitors fill the gap.^[24][25]

The feel and look of the store is somewhat different from that of 7-Elevens in the United States. 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. Slurpees, however, returned to Japan at some 7-Eleven locations in 2011, although the Japanese Slurpee machines are meant to be operated differently from other Slurpee machines.^{[citation needed]}

On September 1, 2005, Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd., a new holding company, became the parent company of 7-Eleven, Ito Yokado, andDenny’s Japan.

Like some other convenience stories in Japan, Seven-Eleven has solar panels and LEDs installed on about 1,400 of its stores, making it the chain with the most, as of mid-2012.^[26]

Malaysia[edit]

Malaysian 7-Elevens are owned by 7-Eleven Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. which now operates 1,367 stores nationwide (as of August 2012). 7-Eleven in Malaysia was incorporated on June 4, 1984 by the Berjaya Group Berhad. The first 7-Eleven store in Malaysia was opened in October 1984, in Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.^[27] In October 2008, 7-Eleven achieved a milestone opening of its 1,000th store in Bandar Sunway, Selangor. It is today the market leader in convenience store chain landscape in Malaysia.^[28]

Philippines[edit]

In the Philippines, 7-Eleven is run by the Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC), founded by former Senator Vicente Paterno, Jose Pardo and Francisco Sibal. Its first store, located at Quezon City, opened in 1984. In 2000, President Chain Store Corporation (PCSC) ofTaiwan, 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.

On May 19, 1988, PSC’s sister company, Philippine Seven Properties Corporation (PSPC) was registered with SEC. PSPC undermined the difficulties posed by the Constitution, and made it easier for PSC to raise money through acceptance of foreign and corporate investments. PSPC was able to successfully generate additional funds which were used by PSC in the construction of six stores in 1988, and five stores in 1989. Now there are more than 900 7-Eleven stores in the Philippines.

Singapore[edit]

In Singapore, 7-Eleven forms the largest chain of convenience stores island-wide. There are at present 569 7-Eleven stores scattered throughout the country. Stores in Singapore are operated by Dairy Farm International Holdings, franchised under a licensing agreement with 7-Eleven Incorporated, headquartered in the United States.

The first 7-Eleven stores were opened 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.^[29] In September 2007, the change-over of Shell Select stores to 7-Eleven were fully completed.^[30]

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. Slurpees and Big Gulp super size soft drinks are available at most 7-Eleven stores in Singapore, although a small minority of stores do not sell Slurpees and Big Gulp due to space constraints.

South Korea[edit]

7-Eleven has a presence in the South Korean convenience store market where it competes with Ministop, GS25 (formerly LG25),FamilyMart and independent competitors. There are 6,621 7-Eleven stores in Korea, with only Japan, the United States and Thailandhosting more stores. The first 7-Eleven store in South Korea opened in 1989 in Songpa-gu in Seoul with a franchise license under theLotte Group. In January 2010 Lotte Group acquired the Buy the Way convenience store chain and rebranded its 1,000 stores under the 7-Eleven brand. Branded products such as Slurpee or Big Gulp are no longer carried in South Korean stores.

Taiwan[edit]

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 4,830 stores as of March 25, 2012.^[31] Taiwan has the world’s fifth largest number of 7-Eleven convenience stores after Japan, the United States, Thailand and South Korea. 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[edit]

The franchise in Thailand is the CP ALL Public Company Limited, which in turn grants franchises to operators. There were 6,773 stores 7-Elevens in Thailand in 2012, half of which are in Bangkok, making Thailand have the 3rd largest number of stores after Japan and theUnited States.^[31] CP All plans to increase the number of stores to more than 7,000 by 2013. Mr Piyawat^[who?] said the company plans spending of 5 billion baht to expand business. Of the total, 2 billion will be used to open 500 new outlets, one billion to renovate existing stores and the rest to develop a new distribution centre in the East.^[32]

Europe[edit]

Scandinavia[edit]

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 Sweden 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.

Norway[edit]

In Norway, the first 7-Eleven was opened at Grünerløkka in Oslo on September 13, 1986. As of January 2012, there are 162 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.

Sweden[edit]

The first European location of 7-Eleven was Swedish; the first 7-Eleven in Sweden was opened on Tomtebogatan in Stockholm in 1978. Reitan Servicehandel Sverige has had the license in Sweden since December 1997. In the mid-1990s, 7-Eleven in Sweden received adverse publicity due to the unfavourable labour contracts offered by its then-licensee Small Shops, an American-based company, resulting in many stores being sold and closed down. For a time there were only 7-Elevens in Stockholm and Gothenburg. 7-Eleven returned to the south of Sweden in 2001 when a convenience store opened in Lund. Later in the 2000s the Swedish 7-Eleven chain was embroiled in controversy when the Swedish TV channel TV3 exposed widespread fraud on the part of Reitan Servicehandel in its management of the 7-Eleven franchise, which Reitan Servicehandel eventually admitted to on its website. 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.

For a time in the early-1980s Slurpees were in 7-Eleven stores in Sweden, but nowadays Slush Puppies in Denmark.

North America[edit]

Canada[edit]

The first 7-Eleven store to open in Canada was in Calgary, Alberta on June 29, 1969. There are 476 7-Eleven stores as of January 1, 2012.^[33] Winnipeg, Manitoba 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 corporately operated.^[34]

A limited number of 7-Eleven locations feature gas stations from Shell Canada, Petro-Canada, or Esso. In November 2005, 7-Eleven started offering the Speak Out Wireless cellphone service in Canada. 7-Eleven locations also featured CIBC ATMs—in June 2012, these machines were replaced with ATMs operated by Scotiabank. 7-Eleven abandoned the Ottawa, Ontario market in December 2009 after selling all its six outlets to Quickie Convenience Stores, a regional chain. Following concerns over the fate of Speak Out Wireless customers, Quickie offered to assume existing SpeakOut customers and phones into its Good2Go cellphone program.^[35][36]

Mexico[edit]

In Mexico the first 7-Eleven store opened in 1971 in Monterrey, N.L. in association with Grupo Chapa (now Iconn) and 7-Eleven, Inc. under the name Super 7. In 1995, Super 7 was renamed to 7-Eleven, which currently has more than 1,400 stores in several areas of the Republic. 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 OXXO (Femsa), Super City (Soriana), Farmacias Guadalajara and other local competitors. Slurpees are available at some but not all Mexican 7-Eleven stores.

United States[edit]

7-Eleven currently has more than 8,200 owned, operated and franchised stores in the United States — almost all as franchises.^[37]

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, Oklahomametropolitan 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 theUniversity 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 Oklahoma City to Brown. Narrowing down the choices he decided upon Oklahoma and opened store No.1 at NW 23rd & N. Portland Avenue in Oklahoma City.^{[citation needed]} At their inception the Thompson family were part owners of the Oklahoma City 7-Eleven 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 United States. as they do not serve hot dogs or nachos. Instead, they have their own bakeries, called Seventh Heaven.^[38] 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.^[39] 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 Hillfrom 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,^[40] 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 (1988–2013), Galveston, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, San Antonio (1989–2012) – 7-Elevens in these cities after 1988 (1989 for its San Antonio locations) were sold to National Convenience Stores, which owns the Stop & Go franchise,^[41] later acquired by Diamond Shamrock in November 1995,^[42] now part of Valero since 2006), even though the United States headquarters is based there.^[43] Prior to December 31, 2012, 7-Eleven had no plans to re-enter Southeast Texas although Houston-based Landmark Industries is dominant with their Timewise convenience stores which has over 200 locations, usually co-branded with aMcDonald’s and a major name-brand oil company. 7-Elevens are prevalent in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, Temple, Killeen, Fort Hood, and Austin, in West Texas (Midland,Lubbock, El Paso – the West Texas locations west of Interstate 35 are co-branded with Alon gas stations, part of Alon USA’s retail business interests which includes Southwest Convenience Stores; 7-Elevens with Alon (formerly Fina) gas stations are licensed franchises), and two individual franchises in Smithville and San Marcos, Texas. The current Texas locations are located north of Interstate 10 and west of the Interstate 35 corridor including the Smithville location east of Bastrop. In North Carolina, 7-Elevens were only seen in the northeastern part of the state, as part of the Hampton Roads market, between 1988 and 2012. 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 Stores 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;^[44] 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.^[45] Based on 2005 revenue, 7-Eleven is the twenty-fourth largest retailer in the United States.^[46]

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, Shell, 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.”^[47]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.”^[48]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. 7-Eleven signed an agreement with ExxonMobil‘s retail interests in December 2010 by acquiring 183 sites inFlorida^[49] and in August 2011 by acquiring 51 of their On The Run stores to the existing 239 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.^[50] 7-Eleven expanded their business interests with a partnership with Dallas-Fort Worth–based Cinemark Theatres after July 2011 where the Slurpee beverage is sold at Cinemark locations in Dallas and Houston, Texas and Portland, Oregon (which is deemed as a re-entry into the Houston, Texas metro area since 1988). In past years, 7-Eleven had their marketing tie-in with blockbuster summer film releases on their Big Gulp and Slurpee cups and partnering with Cinemark officially marks the first time that a 7-Eleven branded product is sold outside its parent franchise since this was demonstrated at a Dallas, Texas sports arena. Some locations where Cinemark Theaters are located e.g. State of Utah or Houston, Tex. (a former metropolitan area which 7-Eleven once served) do not have 7-Eleven locations where marketing a 7-Eleven branded product would attract future customers.^[51] Citibank ATMs can be found in locations across the United States.

On April 27, 2011 7-Eleven signed an agreement to purchase Wilson Farms, a Buffalo, New York-based convenience store chain with 188 outlets in New York state. The addition of Wilson Farms significantly increased 7-Eleven’s presence in the western New York area.

In 2012, 7-Eleven entered into an agreement with Sam’s Mart convenience stores to purchase 55 stores in the Charlotte, North Carolina market and convert them to the 7-Eleven brand. This marked 7-Eleven’s re-entry into the Charlotte market after a 24-year absence.

In June 2012, 7-Eleven entered into an agreement with Open Pantry convenience stores to purchase around 2 dozen stores in Wisconsin and convert them to the 7-Eleven brand. This marked 7-Eleven’s first presence in Wisconsin since the late 1990s.

In August 2012, 7-Eleven entered into an agreement with Tetco, Inc. to purchase all Tetco’s stores that are company-operated in Utah and the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio areas. TETCO stores will be remodeled and rebranded as 7-Eleven outlets once the transaction closes in November. This will also mark the first time 7-Eleven has been back in San Antonio, Tex. since 1989.^[52]

As of December 31, 2012, 7-Eleven officially announced that they acquired 143 convenience stores in Texas where a bulk are located in the South Texas region which includes Speedy Stop and Tigermarket stores including two Speedy Stop stores in northwest Harris County adjacent to the Cypress-Fairbanks area. This will mark a return of 7-Eleven to the Houston Metro area since the October 1987 sale of their stores to National Convenience Stores after 25 years. The company purchased the assets of Victoria (Tex.)-based C.L. Thomas which has brought the grand total of operated or franchised 7-Eleven stores to 700. With the Thomas acquisition, 7-Eleven will expand their stores east of Interstate 35 and south of Interstate 10.^[53][54][55] As a result, former Exxon Tigermarket locations in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metropolitan area once part of the C.L. Thomas business portfolio were rebranded as 7-Elevens.

7-Eleven celebrates its birthday in the United States and Canada every year on July 11. Free samples are given out in 7.11-ounce cups and patrons can choose any flavor Slurpee that they wish.^[56]

In June 2013, after 15 stores were raided, mostly in the Suffolk County, Long Island area where undocumented Pakistani immigrants were smuggled in, given fake Social Security numbers stolen from children or the deceased, and made to work up to 100 hours at lower than minimum wage, 7-Eleven issued the following statement: “7-Eleven, Inc. will take aggressive actions to audit the employment status of all its franchisees’ employees.”^[57]

Rankings[edit]

7-Eleven has been consistently ranked in Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500,^[58] most recently being selected as the No.1 overall franchise. In addition, they were also ranked No.38 in Fastest-Growing Franchises^[59] and No.2 in Low Cost Franchises.^[60] 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.^[61]

In popular culture[edit]

• 7-Eleven is parodied in The Simpsons television series, as a convenience store called Kwik-E-Mart.^[62]
• 7-Eleven is parodied in the Futurama television series, as a convenience store called 7¹¹.^[63]
• 7-Eleven is also parodied in the Grand Theft Auto series of video games as a chain of convenience stores called 24/7, and similarly inNeed For Speed: Most Wanted as “24-Seven”.
• 7-Eleven is parodied in Beavis and Butt-head as a convenience store called the Maxi Mart.
• 7-Eleven is mentioned in the 2005 song “Jesus of Suburbia” by Green Day, referring to the practice of loitering in front of convenience stores by unaffected youth.
• 7-Eleven is used in the 2013 movie Escape from Planet Earth
• 7-Eleven is also mentioned in Lana Del Rey‘s song “Diet Mountain Dew“.
• A “7-Eleven store” is mentioned in Bruce Springsteen‘s song “Racing in the Street” published in 1978 on the album Darkness on the Edge of Town.
• 7-Eleven is mentioned in Billy Idol‘s 1983 song “Rebel Yell“.
• 7-Eleven is mentioned in U2‘s song “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” from the album Zooropa.
• 7-Eleven is mentioned in Bonnie McKee‘s song “American Girl“.
• 7-Eleven is mentioned in David Lee Roth‘s song “Big Trouble” from the album Eat ‘Em and Smile.
• 7-Eleven is mentioned in Swedish singer Mauro Scocco‘s song “Sarah” from the album with the same name.
• 7-Eleven is mentioned in the Eels‘ second single “Susan’s house“.
• In the Back To The Future trilogy, a child asks character Marty McFly, “Where he learned to shoot like that?” Marty tells the child that he learned to shoot whilst playing a Wild Gunman shooting game at 7-Eleven.”