The year 1927 represents the period when one of the most reputable organizations to date; namely 7-Eleven was founded in Dallas, Texas. However, the firm was initially known as Southland Ice Company until 1946 when its name changed to 7-Eleven. It is of significance to mention that one of the prime reasons that contributed to the name change was due to the fact they would open every day from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. in several cities of the United States in 1950’s. According to further observations, they realized that close to 10 million people were normally awake past those hours with 7 million of them working during the same late night hours. As a result of these market forces, 7-Eleven opted to extend their hours with an aim of satisfying and diversifying their customer base.
Generally, 7-Eleven is accredited establishing convenience stores that supply everyday necessities of its wide customer base; just like an express supermarket. As a result of this flexibility, Americans have changed their shopping trends from buying everything at the big chain supermarkets for storage in their homes to supplementary shopping which entails buying everyday items when need arises.
One cannot also fail to point out some worthwhile steps that this firm has taken in order to maximize their output. Firstly, the proximity factor whereby they have tried to put up each store away from each other and secondly, the fact that their stores are always stationed either next to a gas station or a street corner where people are normally congregated. Lastly, they have established outsized parking spaces for targeted rural customers making it possible to save their time and space. Following the above changes, 7-Eleven’s operations sort of became standardized. These developments also paved way for the opening of its first store outside of the United States. This store, located in Canada was opened in 1969 along with a number of others in diverse locations.