Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/74664
RET AILING TODA Y One on every corner 7-ELEVEN CONTINUES TO GROW, OPENING A NEW STORE EVERY TWO HOURS By Matt Hudgins T about 60 stores in the Carolinas from Sam's Mart, nearly that many again in North Texas from ExxonMobil, and about 20 in Wisconsin from Open Pantry. Internationally, the chain is ben- HE RECESSION SEEMS NOT TO have slowed down 7-Eleven. The Dallas-based convenience store chain opened some 4,600 stores around the world last year, bringing its total to nearly 47,000 across 16 countries. "We're opening a new 7-Eleven store every two hours globally," said Dan Porter, the company's vice presi- dent of development. Some 600 of those were opened in the U.S. and Canada, and this year the company is on target to break last year's re- cord growth in both countries with an additional 630 stores. The total in North America will thus be some 9,200. This year 7-Eleven acquired efiting from consumer disenchant- ment with hypermarkets. "I rarely go to supermarkets or hypermarkets now, perhaps once every few months," said Vivi Itovia, a 26-year-old hotel clerk in Jakarta, as reported by Reuters. "I get all my needs from minimarkets or 7-Eleven, which has become a must-go place for young people." The chain traces its roots back al- most 90 years to a Dallas ice company that began selling produce as a con- venience to customers. The company adopted its numerical name in 1946 to reflect its hours of operation. To- day, however, most of the stores could be called 24-7, because they are open around the clock and all week. A typi- cal 7-Eleven store employs as many as a dozen employees and sometimes more. Acquired by one of its largest fran- chise owners in November 2005, 7-Eleven is now a privately held subsid- iary of Seven-Eleven Japan Co., which trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. And within a few months of being ac- quired, the company began its growth streak, opening 80 stores in 2006 and ac- celerating the pace thereafter. A veritable army of real estate pro- fessionals keeps the acquisition and de- velopment pipeline flowing. "In 2006 in the U.S. and Canada, we more than doubled the size of the real estate team," Porter said. "Between the real estate rep- AUGUST 2012 / SCT 15