7-eleven is the largest chain store in the world beating out even McDonald’s by 1,000 stores. 7-eleven has also been a leader in the franchise business for over 40 years with 7,500 stores in North America and Canada and over 36,000 locations world wide in 18 countries. Stores are still expanding at an incredible rate with a new location opening every 4 1/2 hours. 7-eleven opened in 1964 and has plans to be fully franchise owned by 2013. Their business system is focused on serving the customer faster and more effectively than the competition. 7-eleven is a subsidiary of seven and I Holdings Co. of Japan.
A quick history of 7-eleven. Originating in 1927 in Dallas, Texas when an employee of an ice-manufacturing plant (Joe C. Thompson, Southland Ice Company) started selling milk, bread and eggs from a dock at the manufacturing plant. Joe found that selling these items became very popular because of the ability of the ice to preserve the items. He did well because it prevented people from having to travel to grocery stores even though there were stores present in the area. Joe eventually raised the money and bought South Land Ice Co. The name was changed to Southland Corporation and oversaw multiple locations in the Dallas area. The stores were originally called Tote ‘Em because the customers would tote their purchases away, but since the store were opened from 7am to 11pm, which was unheard of at the time, the name 7-eleven stuck and was started in 1946.
7-eleven has world-wide recognized products like the Slurpee and Big Gulp and constantly looks for new products like Movie Quik, an in store movie rental service, and Speak Out Wireless, a prepaid phone service that can be purchased and activated in the store.
7-eleven promotions and marketing are both traditional and original. They use traditional marketing like sponsoring the #11 car in the Indy Racing League and using a sponsor from the Dallas Mavericks. Part of the marketing with the Mavericks included giving fans that visited the 41 home games, free 7-eleven coupons as they left the stadium. Also, a promotional agreement with the Chicago White Sox was started that included starting their home games at 7:11pm.
An original marketing campaign included changing 12 of its stores to “Kwik-E-Marts” for the release of the 2007 Simpsons Movie. Those stores and about 6,000 other stores promoted the movie by selling Simpson’s products like Buzz Cola, Krusty O’s Cereal, Squishees and other well-known Simpsons icons. Other products like coffee and sandwiches were promoted with Simpsons wrapping. The promotion gave the ‘Kwik-E-Mart’ converted 7-elevens a 30% increase in sales, drawing Simpsons fans from hundreds of miles away to purchase the Simpsons themed products. So, that gives you an idea of how dedicated 7-eleven is to finding new successful marketing campaigns.
FACTS AND FIGURES
7-eleven id regularly featured in entrepreneur’s franchise 500 and has been selected as the #1 overall franchise. Also rated #38 fastest growing franchise and #2 in low cost franchises. In 2008 7-eleven was rated the #1 franchise over even Subway which held the position for 15 years.
7-eleven wants you to concentrate on satisfying the customer so things like bookkeeping, daily cash reports, store audits, payroll processing, and paying invoices is handled by the corporate staff. There are also corporate staff employees that visit your store twice a week to answer questions and give suggestions for improving sales.
What is the cost of starting a 7-eleven franchise? The cost varies a lot because the franchise fee is based upon last years sales, and since you don’t have a ‘last years sales’ its going to be based upon sales for other stores in the area. Its usually going to be between $50,000 to $350,000 but may be outside of that range depending on the sales of other stores in that area. Also, a one time gasoline fee will be charged in addition to the franchise fee of $10,000 to $50,000, which is also based upon last years sales. A partial cash down payment is expected for the store inventory,licenses, permits and bonds while the rest of the cost 7-eleven will finance. You’ll be expected to have a minimum net worth of over $15,000 and run the store for a contract time of 15 years. They will also help with finding a location for your new store.
To see other lucrative business opportunities that don't require the huge up-front capital and can be run online with automated systems visit http://www.AlternativesToFranchising.com
No comments:
Post a Comment