They started in 1927 as the Southland Ice Company in Dallas Texas with a business model of “give the customers what they want when they need it.” The following is an excerpt from the History of 7-11.
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| History – 7-Eleven Corporate (archive.org) |
When a gallon of milk cost 56 cents and ice was sold in blocks rather than bags for ice boxes back in 1927, an enterprising Southland Ice Company employee, “Uncle Johnny” Jefferson Green, began offering milk, bread and eggs from the ice house.
He quickly saw a need to carry these items for customers who were out of these everyday staples. He sold a lot of these items on Sundays and evenings when grocery stores were closed.
Realizing the possibilities of Uncle Johnny’s idea to provide customers what they wanted and when they needed it, Joe C. Thompson, Jr., one of the founders and later president and chairman of The Southland Corporation, began selling the product line at other ice-dock locations. At the time, the company had eight ice plants and 21 retail ice docks.
Thus convenience retailing was born. More and more customers caught on to this new idea, and the company increased to 60 Southland-owned retail ice docks within a decade.
To continue reading how Southland Ice eventually became 7-Eleven and evolved to become one of the most successful franchises in the world (click here) and scroll down. Today, following a series of bad business decisions, they are now owned by a Japanese company (click here.) Does that mean they will now change their name to 7-Ereven?