Oh Thank Heaven...for our 7-11's

A new one is erected every 6.5 hours; they have more outlets, two of which grace our 22308 locale, than any other retailer or food service provider and approximately 25% of the U.S. population lives within a mile of one…and no, I am not talking about the ubiquitous Peruvian rotisserie chicken restaurants that keep sprouting up everywhere.  But rather, 7-Eleven (7-11), Inc., which, per the company website (www.corp.7-eleven.com ), is the world’s largest convenience store chain (40,900 stores in 16 countries, 8,400 in North America alone, to be exact).  

The concept was formulated in 1927 when an employee of Southland Ice Company in Dallas sold staples like bread, milk and eggs from an ice dock.  The convenience of the idea took off, a store (star!) was born and it was named 7-Eleven in a nod to the (formerly) 7 AM to 11 PM hours of operation.  7-11 is credited with many retailing firsts:  the first to operate 24 hours a day, sell fresh-brewed coffee in to-go cups, utilize a self-serve soda fountain, offer super-size fountain drinks (starting in 1980 with a 32-ounce Big Gulp® which by today’s standards seems downright demure), and  sell pre-paid phone cards.  

1966 introduced Slurpee® beverages to the world, with recent tally totals indicating close to 6.5 billion …almost enough for each person on the planet…sold…about half of which I think I have single-handedly purchased for either child bribery purposes, post-soccer practice-carpools, or commemoration of various achievement milestones.  It’s not surprising to hear that the most popular flavors of Slurpee®  are Coca-Cola and Minute Maid Cherry.  Maybe more surprising is that the most Slurpee® beverages are sold in Canada (Winnipeg, Manitoba), followed closely by Detroit, MI.  Huh?  Really, with their climates?  So much for that old adage about selling ice to Eskimos… 

And a few more trivia items for those amongst us, who, oh, I don’t know, might be prepping for a Jeopardy audition and are anticipating a “7-11 for $400, please Alex” opportunity in their near future:  Washington D.C. buys the most hotdogs, the most coffee is sold on Long Island, the most nachos consumed in Colorado and the most Big Gulp® drinks get drank in Southern California.  And California also holds the distinction of having the most 7-11 stores of any state---about 1,200 to Virginia’s 683 (a big thank you to Margaret Chabris, Media Relations Manager for 7-11 for providing this information).

60 million freshly-baked donuts (glazed being the top seller) and pastries (blueberry muffins are the most popular), basically, enough for every person in the state of Virginia to have their own baker’s dozen, are sold in 7-11 each year.   The company website mentions that if you’d line up all of the bakery items 7-11 has made for a year, they would stretch almost 6,000 miles, roughly the distance from Boston to San Diego and back.  (Is it just me or is anyone else getting a visual of Michelle Obama tsk-tsk’ing right about now?).   Also, 7-11, when compared to all other U.S. retailers, sells the most USA Today newspapers, cold beer, cold single-serve bottles of water, cold bottles of Gatorade, hot dogs and money orders. 

But when it comes to pure volume, hands-down, the biggest seller for 7-11 is fresh-brewed coffee---1 million cups of java are poured a day which means 7-11 employees are making more than 10,000 pots of coffee an hour, every hour, every  single day of the year.  I get jittery just typing it.

After collecting all of these tidbits and in acknowledging that our two 7-11’s in 22308, due to their close  proximity to our houses, are, for all intents and purposes, like a next-door neighbor where we can go to borrow, I mean, buy, a cup of sugar, it got me to wondering how our  local outlets stack up to the rest of their brethren.  In turn, I  decided to pay a neighborly  visit (I called before popping in to make sure they wouldn’t still be in their pajamas) to both Jignesh (Jay) and Mukti Rana, Managers of Store #10781, 1910 Elkin Street and Josh McElhiney, Field Consultant Trainee of Store #28506 located at 7924 Fort Hunt Road.  And just like any good neighbor, they invited me in and we had a little klatch about the following:

1.        How long has your store been in business and how long have you been managing it?

Mukti:  It’s been around for over 50 years.  We have been managing it for 2.

Josh:    I am not sure.  I do know it used to be, I believe it was called, High’s Convenience Store before it became 7-11.  I have only been here since May 1.  Fara Abbassi is the Manager and she has been here for 29 or 30 years.

2.        Hours of operation?

Mukti:  Sunday –Thursday, 6 AM-11 PM; Friday and Saturday, 6 AM-12 midnight

Josh:  365 days a year, 24 hours a day, even on holidays.  We’re never closed.

3.        Busiest time(s) of day?

Mukti:  6-8 AM and 4-7 PM

Josh:  During the week we do get a pretty heavy coffee rush from about 7-8 AM is probably the peak and we do a very nice bit of business for lunch starting at 11 and going till about 12:30/1.

4.        Most popular item sold?

Mukti:  Slurpee®(s).  Our store is actually the top seller of Slurpee®(s) in Market #2544 which consists of 104 stores.

Josh:  We sell a ton of Slurpee®(s).  We do a great coffee business.  Fresh foods are right up there too.  Lots of donuts in the AM, sandwiches at lunch.  Per my beer distributors, we’ve got one of the top-selling stores in Alexandria for beer especially with the weather getting nicer.  Over like the past month, month and a half, our orders have been going up, and up and up.  Folks in this area seem to like their adult beverages and we do pretty well with that.

5.        Most popular Slurpee® flavor sold?

Mukti:  Coke. 

Josh:  The original Coca-Cola, Cherry Coca-Cola.

6.        Most popular donut sold?  Pastry?

Mukti: Glazed donut and blueberry muffin.  Blueberry is the only type of muffin we sell.

Josh:  Right now, the glazed donut and croissants.  Those are the #1 and #2 best sellers for the Alexandria market which consists of 104 stores.

7.        Ever had a lottery winner?  Biggest jackpot?

Mukti:  Someone won a couple million before we came here, not sure when.  We had a $10,000 winner on a $10 scratch-off about a year and a half ago.

Josh:  A few years ago I believe that there was a lottery winner here.  Roughly it was $250,000 or so.

8.        How often do you change out the food?  Where does it all get prepared?

Mukti and Josh:  Pizza every hour, chicken every two, tacquitos every three, hot dogs every 4.  It’s set in our industry.  Food comes prepared, we just heat it.

9.        Hate to ask, yet gotta, ever been robbed?

Mukti:  No, never.  But I heard someone tried to steal our ATM once when the store was closed.  They didn’t succeed.  We always have at least two people working at all times.

Josh:  As far as I know, it has not.  Now, granted, especially in our business, in the convenience/retail business, especially with kids being around, you’ve got some of the light pilfering.  Some of the trying to sneak a beer, that sort of thing.  Which everybody has that.

10.   How do you feel about being an unofficial meeting place for neighborhood kids? 

Mukti:  It’s okay other than they tend to waste more food like when they buy a Slurpee®.

Josh:  We don’t really have that much of an issue with loitering.

11.    Do you feel closer to your customers since you’re essentially a neighbor to so many?  Any regulars?

Mukti:  Oh yes.  We pretty much know all of our customers.  I’d say 90% are regulars or neighbors.

Josh:  We do have a lot of regulars who for instance, come in for their morning coffee.   And a lot of the same people who stop in on their way home from work.

12.   How come you never seem to lose power during storms?  Has Gerry Hyland been issued an unlimited Slurpee® card or something?

Mukti:  (laughing) We DO lose power, all of the time.  Last storm we lost $4,000 of food.  We have two freezers and each is on a different grid so we move the food to whichever freezer hasn’t lost power.  Or we will move it to the other store nearby if power goes out on both freezers.

Josh:  So far, since I have been here we have not lost power.  And we have actually benefitted from other store’s losing power as we then get their customers here.

7-11’s mission remains simple:  “to serve the needs of our communities”.   That mission seems like it’s getting accomplished if all of the traffic pouring in and out of our two local outlets is any indicator.