7-Eleven
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7-Eleven

7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings.

The chain was founded in 1927 as the Southland Ice Company, operating an ice house storefront in Dallas. Then owned by Southland Corporation, the number of convenience stores expanded and were named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. Southland Corporation changed the stores' name to 7-Eleven in 1946, reflecting expanded hours of operation (7 am to 11 pm).

Southland Corporation started franchising its stores in 1961; in 1973 Ito-Yokado, a Japanese supermarket chain, signed a franchisee agreement with Southland Corporation to develop 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan. Operating the Japanese stores under Seven-Eleven Japan, Ito-Yokado acquired a 70% stake in Southland Corporation in 1991; as majority owner, it changed Southland Corporation's name to 7-Eleven, Inc. that same year, then expanded to 100% ownership in November 2005, making 7-Eleven, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan. Ito-Yokado reorganized its collective businesses as a holding company in 2005, Seven & I Holdings, with 7-Eleven, Inc. wholly held by Seven-Eleven Japan.

7-Eleven operates, franchises and licenses roughly 85,000 stores in 20 countries and territories as of August 2024. Its stores operate under its namesake brand globally, including the United States, where it also operates as Speedway nationally but mostly in the Midwest and East Coast, and as Stripes Convenience Stores within the West South Central United States. Both Speedway and Stripes operate alongside 7-Eleven's namesake stores in several American markets. 7-Eleven also operates A-Plus locations with the name licensed from owner and fellow Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex-based Energy Transfer Partners, though most of these stores have since been rebranded as standard 7-Eleven stores.

The company's first outlets were in Dallas, named "Tote'm Stores" because customers "toted" away their purchases. Some stores featured "native" totem poles in front of the store. In 1946, the chain's name was changed from "Tote'm" to "7-11" to reflect the company's new, extended hours, 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven days per week. In July 1999, the corporate name of the US company was changed from "The Southland Corporation" to "7-Eleven Inc."

Since 1968, 7-Eleven's logos have included a lowercase n. The first wife of John P. Thompson Sr., the company's president during the 1960s, thought the all-capitals version seemed a little aggressive. She suggested the change "to make the logo look more graceful".

In 1927, a Southland Ice Company employee named John Jefferson Green began selling ice. He subsequently began to sell eggs, milk, and bread from 16 ice house storefronts in Dallas, with permission from one of Southland's founding directors, Joe C. Thompson Sr. Although small grocery stores and general merchandisers were available, Thompson theorized that selling products such as bread and milk in convenience stores would reduce the need for customers to travel long distances for basic items. Thompson eventually bought the Southland Ice Company and turned it into the Southland Corporation, which oversaw several locations in the Dallas area.

In 1928, a manager named Jenna Lira brought a totem pole from Alaska and placed it in front of her store. The pole served as a marketing tool for the company, as it attracted a great deal of attention. Soon, executives added totem poles in front of every store and eventually adopted an Alaska Native-inspired theme for their stores. Later on, the stores began operating under the name "Tote'm Stores". In the same year, the company began constructing filling stations in some of its Dallas locations as an experiment. Joe Thompson also provided a distinct characteristic to the company's stores, training the staff so that people would receive the same quality and service in every store. Southland also started to have a uniform for its ice station service boys.

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