7-Eleven Inc.
Address:
1722 Routh St, Ste 1000
DALLAS, TX 75201-2506
Telephone:
972-828-0711
Website:
www.7-Eleven.com
Total Current Stores (North America Only):
10,200
Year Founded:
1927
Total Revenue:
$23 billion (e)
Senior Executives:
Toshitumi Suzuki- Chairman
Joseph DePinto- CEO, President
Ten Year Sales History*
North America sales in billions
*Source: Chain Store Guide Supermarket, Grocery, & Convenience Store Chains Database.
If you were to type 7-Eleven into Google and hit the news button, 11,900 results would come up in 0.22 seconds. Unfortunately, many of the results have titles such as “Suspect Caught on Tape Using Machete to Rob 7-Eleven” or “Man Attacks 7-Eleven Clerk Over Nacho Cheese Restriction.” While not all the press is bad or about burglary, murders, and shooting; if someone had never heard of the world’s largest convenience store, and just saw it in the news, they might never want to step foot in one. To counteract negative press, the company has a great website highlighting all of its accomplishments in its 87 years, interesting facts on its consumer’s consumption, and a solid Mission which it sticks to no matter what. Fortunately for 7-Eleven, the company has had a secret weapon to keep customers returning and the crime that its stores attract apparently has had seemingly little to no effect on its store growth or increasing sales.
In 1927 Jefferson Green, aka “Uncle Johnny,” decided to sell a couple of grocery items such as milk, bread, and eggs, from the back of one of Southland Ice Company’s ice houses. I don’t think he, or any of the other founding partners, could have guessed that by 1952, just 25 years later, the company would be opening its 100th store, by 1960 its 500th store, and by 1963, its 1,000th store. Along with its store growth, its sales quickly grew as well. By 1971, the company hit $1 billion in sales for the year, and by 1979 it made $1 billion in the first quarter of the year. Today, the company makes an estimated $23 billion in North American sales alone.
It seems contradictory that a company that apparently attracts so much crime can also attract millions of customers and have a continued steady growth rate. The reason for this? Innovation. The company has been producing a slew of firsts since 1946 when it was one of the only stores to be open as late as 11pm. Some of its other firsts include: the first convenience store to have a TV commercial, to be open 24-hours as day, to sell fresh-brewed coffee to go, have a self-serve soda fountain, and offer super-size fountain drinks. Along with these first are its many promotional events, charity contributions, and acquisitions.
While 7-Eleven just reported it is adding a new nutritionally balanced health line of food, the company attracts millions of customers with its Slurpee’s, hot dogs, donuts, and other foods. On its website, it boasts that its customers drink almost 13 million Slurpee beverages per month, that it sells over 169 million donuts and pastries per year, it uses over 666,000 pounds of glaze each month, that customers eat around 100 million hot dogs per year and drink almost 38 million of fountain drinks a year. While these numbers are enormous, and sound like a good example of why America has an obesity problem, the company owns close to 53,000 stores around the world and continues to open stores every day. According to its website, “Approximately 25 percent of the US population lives within one mile of a 7-Eleven store.”
Since its origin, the company has had a set Mission, to be a convenient neighborhood store, and Vision, to be the best retailer of convenience, in order to create the Culture it desires. So while in most cases the negative outshines the good, 7-Eleven has made sure to stick to its beliefs and carry out its sole purpose to customers. “Oh Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven.”