Early days
7-Eleven is the world’s largest operator, franchisor, and licensor of convenience stores, with more than 21,000 stores in 18 countries. The largest licensee is Seven Eleven Japan. 7-Eleven serve approximately six million customers each day. 7-Eleven is known internationally for Big Gulp fountain soft drinks, Big Bite hot dogs, Slurpee beverages, and Café Select fresh brewed coffee.
The company started by John Jefferson Green 1927 as Southland Ice Company in Dallas. In addition to selling blocks of ice to refrigerate food, an enterprising ice dock employee began offering milk, bread and eggs on Sundays and evenings when grocery stores were closed. This new business idea produced satisfied customers and increased sales, and convenience retailing was born!
However the great depression in 1931 plunged Southland into bankruptcy. Despite the financial confusion, profits from the Southland Stores continued to climb, and with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, ice and beer sales surged.
Rapid expansion
By 1945 Southland owned stores scattered over north-central Texas, operating from 7 in the morning to 11 at night, seven days a week. In 1946 the firm Tracey-Locke, commissioned to create a new name, chose '7-Eleven' to emphasize the firm's commitment to long operating hours to serve customers better.
At the end of the 1950s, John Thompson began to introduce 7-Eleven stores outside of Texas, in Virginia, Maryland, and eastern Pennsylvania. In reaction to mass migration to the suburbs, Southland opened more suburban stores.
Through a new computer inventory system, 7-Eleven was able to pinpoint its strengths and discover that single purchase items were its best sellers. In 1999, company changes its name to 7-Eleven, Inc.
History of 7-Eleven
