7-Eleven Takeover

By Gilmarie Brioso on February 18, 2013

As a New Yorker, there are many things you miss out on: driving, Sonic, nature.

7-Eleven owned a spot on that list. But lately, the chain has been taking over our little island of Manhattan.

 

I noticed the expansion about a year ago. As a senior at New York University, I lived at the loveable Lafayette dorm near Chinatown. One day, on my way back from class, I noticed a flyer that attracted the drunken college student within me. 7-Eleven was coming to the area.

Before then, I had only seen 7-Elevens on T.V. Widely known as a suburban treasure, it’s assumed to be a place one can only get to by car, which New Yorkers either do not have or cannot operate. Yet, I could already imagine my drunken self stumble into the franchise late at night to stack up on taquitos and bacon egg and cheese biscuits before bed.

I do not know why it hasn’t happened sooner. NYC houses many college students in need of slurpees. According to Willy Staley’s article in New York Magazine, a store on 28th street sold “8,000 Slurpees for an average price of $2 each.” That’s $16,000! On a good day, about 291 slurpees are sold. Which makes perfect sense, with the addition of a little tequila, a lemon-lime slurpee makes a very desirable Saturday night drink.

As I left NYU, I considered my 7-Eleven encounters over. But it seems that 7-Eleven execs have waken up to the gold mind college students can bring them. Now even The New School can munch on the deep-fried treats. There are two 7-Elevens near campus. The 14th Street/6th Avenue location is near our beloved computer labs on 55 West 13th Street, which came in handy last semester during finals. The 3rd floor computer labs were open 24 hours and I took multiple breaks during my almost all-nighter to grab taquitos (I’m addicted to them) and coffee. The next 7-Eleven can be found on Broadway between 12th and 11th street. Manhattan has a total of 19 stores.

Maybe this growth isn’t a pursuit of more profit but the result of profits already made. 7-Eleven is “successful at raising profits through efficient ordering … [which] increased revenue without charging a dime more to the consumer by leveraging 7-Eleven’s proprietary Retail Information System” The 28th Street store raised gross profit to nearly 80 percent in 2012. That is $165 of “previously untapped profit” per day or $5,000 a month.

According to Staley, “7-­Eleven managers can get … data much more easily than their counterparts at unwired corner bodegas, and the company believes that’s a huge advantage.” Could more 7-Elevens mean the death of bodegas? Are 7-Elevens the new bodega? What is a bodega, you ask? Urban Dictionary defines a bodega as,

1. A hispanic/spanish/latin mini-mart, kind of like a 7-11, but usually smaller and more like a liquor store atmosphere. Commonly used term on the east coast, especially in the New York City region, where you will find many of these. The word came from the actual spanish word for “grocery store” – la bodega.

Go to the corner bodega and get a couple of 40s.

2. A small grocery store, often found in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood.

I’m off to a bodega to buy some groceries. 

3. The ghetto 7-11

For me, bodegas are a childhood memory and an essential part of my New York City. So this is not only a profitable business endeavor but the cusp of social change in NYC!

 

But wait? Did you think 7 Elevens only existed in the US? There are 197 7-Elevens in Denmark and the company has successfully expanded to East Asia and Japan.

 

So is the 7-Eleven takeover good or bad? It might be great for students.

 I leave you with the college student pros to 7 Eleven:

Open 24 hours: Over-achieving night-time studiers and lazy procrastinators alike can rejoice in the 24 hour availability of coffee and energy drinks.

Cheap: Cheap is a college student’s best friend. $2 slurpees and $1 coffee make 7-Eleven a college student’s heaven.

Variety: Students can now buy not only food but necessities in the same place.

 

 

 

 

 

Images taken from The Big Gulp: How 7-Eleven plans to put the bodega out of business and 7-Eleven’s site.

 

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