First convience store

[oflguy]

The first convenience store was actually an ice house. Since they opened at 7am and closed at 11pm, they were open past usual hours of grocery stores, so they began to sell items like milk and eggs.

Thus the name 7-Eleven

[Muddling Through]

The first convenience store was actually an ice house. Since they opened at 7am and closed at 11pm, they were open past usual hours of grocery stores, so they began to sell items like milk and eggs.

Thus the name Seven-Eleven

SRSLY???

That's really cool.

Thanks!

[FOIA]

I knew that 7-11 came from the hours but not the ice house part.

[oflguy]

I knew that 7-11 came from the hours but not the ice house part.

I saw this on Story TV.

I think I'll research it a bit. It sounds like a cool story.

Found this:

The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. After Ito-Yokado, a Japanese supermarket chain and the parent company of Seven-Eleven Japan, acquired a 70% stake in the company in 1991, the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan in November, 2005.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-Eleven

And this:
The stores called 7- Eleven trace their origin to 1927, when several icehouse companies—which primarily sold block ice for food preservation to households without electric refrigerators—merged to form the Southland Ice Company in Dallas. Either after the merger, or shortly before it, one of the icehouses also began selling food items. Southland Ice soon took up general retailing, installing attention-getting Native American totem poles in front of some of its stores and adopting the name Tote’m Stores, which served as a punning invitation to customers to “tote” their purchases away. Joe C. Thompson, Sr., became president of Southland Ice in 1931. During the Great Depression the company went through bankruptcy. It emerged with a new emphasis on food and drink, especially after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, when beer and liquor were first offered for sale.

In 1946 the stores were renamed 7-Eleven to call attention to their extended hours of operation—from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM, seven days a week. About the late 1950s, Southland began to expand beyond Texas, opening 7-Eleven stores on the East Coast. Joseph Thompson’s son, John P. Thompson, became president in 1961 and further expanded operations in the United States and elsewhere. Starting in 1963 some outlets stayed open 24 hours a day, and the following year the company began to franchise its stores.

Southland licensed a Japanese affiliate in 1973, and by 1974 there were 5,000 outlets worldwide. The company expanded beyond food, drink, and conveniences into other fields, purchasing such businesses as Chief Auto Parts (1978). Because many of its stores also served as automobile filling stations, Southland bought CITGO Petroleum in 1983 as a supplier. The company sold off 50 percent of its stake in CITGO in 1986.

During the heyday of corporate raiders in the 1980s, the Canadian financier Samuel Belzberg threatened a hostile takeover of Southland. In response, the Thompson family took the company private in a leveraged buyout in December 1987. Many subsidiaries, including Chief Auto Parts, were sold off in order to pay the heavy debt that resulted from the repurchase of shares. Even so, the company went bankrupt for the second time in 1990, the same year that it sold the remaining 50 percent of CITGO. It emerged the following year with 70 percent of its stock owned by the Ito-Yokado Co., a Japanese retailer, and Seven-Eleven Japan, the company’s Japanese licensee.

In 1999 Southland Corp. renamed itself 7-Eleven, Inc. Continuing to expand, the company opened its 25,000th convenience store in 2003. In November 2005 the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven & i Holdings, a diversified retailer formed only a few months earlier by Ito-Yokado.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/7-Eleven

[def_con5]

How interesting. I always thought the name came from the date when the first store opened July 11th.
Thanks.

The first convenience store was actually an ice house. Since they opened at 7am and closed at 11pm, they were open past usual hours of grocery stores, so they began to sell items like milk and eggs.

Thus the name 7-Eleven

[oflguy]

How interesting. I always thought the name came from the date when the first store opened July 11th.
Thanks.

Who We Are
OUR BRAND STORY OUR LEADERSHIP
A Success Story Fueled by Customers’ Needs

In 1927, 7-Eleven showed the world just how convenient shopping could be – and we’ve been doing it every day since. Today, 7-Eleven is a global brand with more stores than any other retailer in the world – more than 84,000 across 19 countries to be exact. 7-Eleven, Inc. now operates a robust family of banners and brands, including Speedway®, Stripes®, Laredo Taco Company®, and Raise the Roost® Chicken & Biscuits locations throughout the U.S. The brand also has a history of firsts — coffee in to-go cups, 24/7 hours and self-serve soda fountains, to name a few. Not to mention iconic products – like Slurpee® and Big Gulp® drinks – that have become a part of American culture. As the world’s largest convenience retailer, 7-Eleven also helped pioneer the franchise model and is now consistently ranked as a top-10 Franchisor – a true testament to our entrepreneurial spirit. Although we’ve grown significantly over the years, we remain laser-focused on innovating to meet the needs of customers. Today, 7-Eleven, Inc. is wholly owned by Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd.

https://corp.7-eleven.com/corp/our-brand-story

Cool photo at link of a store with a sign that reads SOUTHLAND ICE COMPANY

[oflguy]

How interesting. I always thought the name came from the date when the first store opened July 11th.
Thanks.

Obviously, The Southland Ice Company was no mom and pop operation:

1927, June - Southland Ice Company was chartred in June 1927 with capital stock of 400,000 shares, non-par value, at Austin, Texas
(Wichita Daily Times Thursday, Jun 30, 1927 Wichita Falls, TX, Page: 21)


1927, July 19 - Southland Ice Company Buys Consumers' Plants
The Southland Ice Company, new $5,000,000 company chartered under the laws of Texas, has bought the six ice plants and twenty-four service stations of the Consumers Ice Company and will open headquarters at 1100 South Beckley Avenue. J. C. Thompson, secretary and treasurer of the company, announced Monday.
C. S. Dawley, prominent Southwestern utility man, heads the new corporation, with W. W. Rogers as vice-president and Mr. Thompson. Everett S. Owens, Dallas Banker, and Arthur Hargrave, Kansas City utility man, are included in the directorate of the company. The new corporation contemplates extension throughout Texas and the Southwest.
The Consumers Ice Company has an important business throughout all of Oak Cliff. J. C. Jones, who has been actively in charge of the Oak Cliff manufacturing and distributing, will remain as manager.
(Dallas Morning News Tuesday, Jul 19, 1927 Dallas, TX, Page: Thirteen)

1927, July 24 - Southland Ice Company Buys McKinney Plant
(Dallas Morning News Sunday, Jul 24, 1927 Dallas, TX, Page: Four)