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Are 7-Elevens dying?


TornACL

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Recently I've had occasion to pit stop at a few different 7-Elevens across FW and the Mid Cities during my daily commute. When did 7-Elevens turn into total shitholes?

Convenience stores have never been confused with a Neiman Marcus, but ....7/11 stores are fucking disgusting now. Floors that haven't seen a mop in days, the coffee stations look like Fallujah. Yesterday I left the house without making a pot of coffee, so I swung into a 7/11 just before 8am. All of the 8 or so coffee dispensers were empty, there's fucking trash all over the place, and if you didn't keep moving I'm pretty sure your shoes would get permanently affixed to the petri dish floors. Swung past the pastry display, and there's like two sad looking croissants in there -- they looked like they've probably been in there for a week and were probably better suited as a doorstop.

In the Metroplex, with the rise of QT and RaceTrac, and the spread of Fuel City and all those other mega stations, 7/11 needs to step up its fucking game quick. You walk into a QT, and there's like 7  employees in there at any time. If anyone of them are not working the register, they're cleaning or stocking.

I'm assuming there must be some kind of franchise tension or financial problems going on. I don't necessarily blame the hourly employees. In my recent visits to different stores, there's usually only one person on shift, so at a place with quick turns they're basically stuck behind the register.

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The ones they've bought are generally total shit... Montgomery/I-30 one specifically in my mind. The new ones and non fuel stores are solid still. I miss their chocolate chip cookies of years ago, they were greatness. 

I have discovered their store brand chocolate chip cookie dough is like crack though. It's in that island of sandwiches open cold section. And their storebrand ghost pepper peanuts are indeed hotter than shjt

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All the ones around here (nawf Dallas) are completely overrun by landscaping crews from about 7-9 and 11-2.  Parking is a disaster, lines nearly out the door.  If you happen to go in one at say about 930 or 230 it will be a national disaster area.  After 5ish or 6, they're fine.

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2 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Not in Japan.

I was in Bangkok a year ago, and 7-elevens were on just about every corner.  I had no idea they it was such an international company...

For what it's worth:
http://corp.7-eleven.com/corp-press-releases/08-17-2016-7-eleven-celebrates-60-000th-store-opening-worldwide

Quote

 

Store count by country as of July 2016   

Japan 18,860
Thailand 9,278
United States 8,378
South Korea 8,238
Taiwan 5,057
China (including Hong Kong and Macau) 2,244
Malaysia 2,016
Mexico 1,874
Philippines 1,760
Australia 628
Canada 504
Singapore 455
Denmark 186
Sweden 185
Indonesia 179
Norway 156
UAE  2

Total 60,000

 

Asian Countries seem to love 7-11s more than we do.

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7 minutes ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

I was in Bangkok a year ago, and 7-elevens were on just about every corner.  I had no idea they it was such an international company...

For what it's worth:
http://corp.7-eleven.com/corp-press-releases/08-17-2016-7-eleven-celebrates-60-000th-store-opening-worldwide

Asian Countries seem to love 7-11s more than we do.

Maybe because a Japanese company is the majority owner of the holding company

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7-11 stores are mostly franchisees, NOT corporate owned.  You have to have a very robust compliance program(McDonalds) for locations not to get rundown.

There is huge disagreement between corporate and the franchisees in their system.

Somehow I once stumbled upon a copy of Avanti magazine(7-11 franchisees full color 150 page monthly).  Holy Shit they really hate corporate 7-11.

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2 hours ago, AustinMT said:

Or Buc-ee's over all

I don't understand why people want to deal with 1000 stupid motherfuckers when you're trying to stop to get gas, take a piss, and buy a coffee or some cigs.

On a Texas road trip the best thing to do is to stop at the first exit PAST a Bucees. Those gas stations are usually dead as fuck and you can get in and out of there in no time.

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1 minute ago, TornACL said:

I don't understand why people want to deal with 1000 stupid motherfuckers when you're trying to stop to get gas, take a piss, and buy a coffee or some cigs.

On a Texas road trip the best thing to do is to stop at the first exit PAST a Bucees. Those gas stations are usually dead as fuck and you can get in and out of there in no time.

It makes wife happy...especially when the kids were younger( not sure why because they just went to use pisser just like i did.)

Beaver nuggets can pay off in mysterious ways...that's all i know.

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The buccees parking lot is some dangerous stuff. 

29 minutes ago, TornACL said:

I don't understand why people want to deal with 1000 stupid motherfuckers when you're trying to stop to get gas, take a piss, and buy a coffee or some cigs.

On a Texas road trip the best thing to do is to stop at the first exit PAST a Bucees. Those gas stations are usually dead as fuck and you can get in and out of there in no time.

Kinda agree, but who the hell buys cigs anymore?

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13 minutes ago, bluto said:

The buccees parking lot is some dangerous stuff. 

Kinda agree, but who the hell buys cigs anymore?

Fuck yes it is. It is a god damn shitshow. I don't know why anyone tolerates that place. It's like a WalMart with 5000 gas pumps. Fuck that.  As for cigs, it was just a matter of speaking.

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7-11 stores are mostly franchisees, NOT corporate owned.  You have to have a very robust compliance program(McDonalds) for locations not to get rundown.
There is huge disagreement between corporate and the franchisees in their system.
Somehow I once stumbled upon a copy of Avanti magazine(7-11 franchisees full color 150 page monthly).  Holy Shit they really hate corporate 7-11.
I believe that's changed to where corporate ownership is the major owner these days

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I believe that's changed to where corporate ownership is the major owner these days

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No it's not, I Franchise a couple in town (the nice ones ). But to someone's point above, yes most Franchisees loathe Corp. I run mine as I would my own independent store, but Corp is doing more harm than good making more and more expenses dependent on Franchisees while taking a bigger cut of the pie as sales increase.

Hence you need more labor but they're taking more as you grow.

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2 hours ago, bluto said:

The buccees parking lot is some dangerous stuff. 

Kinda agree, but who the hell buys cigs anymore?

 

3 hours ago, TornACL said:

I don't understand why people want to deal with 1000 stupid motherfuckers when you're trying to stop to get gas, take a piss, and buy a coffee or some cigs.

On a Texas road trip the best thing to do is to stop at the first exit PAST a Bucees. Those gas stations are usually dead as fuck and you can get in and out of there in no time.

At Buc-ee's

1). I've never had to wait for a gas pump

2). I've never had to wait in line for a bathroom (and, yes, they are always clean)

3) I've never waited for more than 60 seconds to check out

 

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In SW Florida, 7-11 is the only decent cup of coffee around when I’m out and about and (most of) the (many) stores are nice and seemingly well-run, despite the landscape-crew rush hours. Beats the shit out of WaWa. Yankee fuckers love that shit here. 

Coming back home to TX in a month. Moving to Lufkin. I fear there will be some changes. 

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37 minutes ago, Facemask said:

No it's not, I Franchise a couple in town (the nice ones emoji57.png).

Got it.  I thought I read an article where they were trying to take over. 

I agree that in Asia 7-11 and Circle dominate.  Ill never forget arriving in Sai Gon and expecting little bodgeas only to have my taxi pull up at a circle k so I could buy water and beer.  

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Got it.  I thought I read an article where they were trying to take over. 
I agree that in Asia 7-11 and Circle dominate.  Ill never forget arriving in Sai Gon and expecting little bodgeas only to have my taxi pull up at a circle k so I could buy water and beer.  
SEI, the parent company of 7-Eleven INC, wants 90% Franchise. The problem is they were giving out stores like candy and in turn to people that have NO CLUE how to operate a CStore.

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4 hours ago, slorch said:

It makes wife happy...especially when the kids were younger( not sure why because they just went to use pisser just like i did.)

Beaver nuggets can pay off in mysterious ways...that's all i know.

You get beaver nuggets from the wrong chick, and you’re dying like Al Capone 

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4 hours ago, pepper brooks said:

Bucees choke slams them all. I have to drive from Houston to Dallas and back on Friday to pick up my wife’s new car and I’m ready planning my bucees stops in Madisonville 

2 24 oz’ers for the way to Dallas and another onthe ride back in.   Perfectly spread out 6er

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5 hours ago, TornACL said:

I don't understand why people want to deal with 1000 stupid motherfuckers when you're trying to stop to get gas, take a piss, and buy a coffee or some cigs.

On a Texas road trip the best thing to do is to stop at the first exit PAST a Bucees. Those gas stations are usually dead as fuck and you can get in and out of there in no time.

Clean bathrooms. Your gas station smells as dead as it looks. No thanks.

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4 hours ago, TornACL said:

 

Fuck yes it is. It is a god damn shitshow. I don't know why anyone tolerates that place. It's like a WalMart with 5000 gas pumps. Fuck that.  As for cigs, it was just a matter of speaking.

Ah yes - why would anyone forgo the earnest authenticity of a Baytown piss-pot, covered in Spanglish vulgarities and drenched top-to-bottom with the putrid diarrhea and urine of so many highway ne’er-do-wells.

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The ones they've opened in downtowns are great.  Plenty of times as a downtown office worker, you just need a quick thing, and 7-11 is going to have it.  Those stores are new and, in my experience, well-run and clean.

But yeah--there is so much variation from one franchisee to another it's insane.  

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If you have a drop a roadtrip deuce there is no better place to do so than Buccees. I've never had a bad experience at one, though the Bastrop location can be a pain in the ass to get in and out of when you're headed east on 79 toward Houston.

To the OP's question, I think, like others have said, it depends on the individual store. Off the top of my head I can think of a half-dozen in Austin that seem fine every time I stop by. The one on Airport down past Springdale used to be a real shithole and then they renovated it not long after building the one at 38 1/2.

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