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7-11 in Japan is a way of life. I've been to an American 7-11 once or twice in my life. (I didn't want to go back.) In Japan, I went at least once daily - sometimes twice per day. They almost function the role of a NYC bodega, but with more and fresher food options. In addition, they often have a stack of microwaves run by the staff, allowing for inexpensive, fresh, and warm meals.
Indirectly related: before visiting Thailand I heard that 7-Elevens were everywhere (they were) and a core part of daily life for locals and tourists alike. I expected them to be more like the Japanese model, but was surprised that they all had a very limited number of salty snacks, energy drinks, and toiletries - similar to the US. Other than a nice selection of tourist-friendly pre-paid mobile plans, I couldn't rea…
What kills me is they're possibly just realizing this in 2024. What on earth has the corporate analytics team been doing all this time to not make that sort of opportunity cost screamingly obvious? Even if the margin is good, you're moving no volume.
I realize that it's probably cleaning products and other shelf stable items, but that just blew my mind.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not just Japan, it's largely Asia in general (e.g, Taiwanese 7-11's and Korean 7-11's are also so far above their US counterparts in terms of offerings/feel). (A fun trivia fact is that like 7-11, Lawson also originally started in the USA. They only recently-ish returned stateside with locations in Hawaii (IIRC).)
I'd be surprised if there is any place where 7-11 is worse than in the US given how bad they are in here. Having lived most of my US time in PA I always either drove longer or waited for a Wawa to shop because all 7-11s were pure garbage.
What was more surprising to me is the realization by corporate that 40% of the in-store SKUs in their US stores (in a given location) only sold through 1 or fewer units per month. That means if a franchise store got shipped a box of 12 units of a SKU, it might take a year or more to sell that box through. What kills me is they're possibly just realizing this in 2024. What on earth has the corporate analytics team bee…
7-11 is franchised with a ton of autonomy given to franchisees (relative to other franchises) so as long as the fees keep coming in, corporate doesn't care.
Also, corporate is owned by a Japanese company so it's likely to be kind of "old-fashioned" in a way, and the US entities are a whole ocean away.
A friend from Japan said 7-11 was an upscale store there. It features the top products in every category, and is maintained in an organized and clean japanese way.
I feel like the parent company is going to have an interesting time of it when convenience store wages collide with stocking and food prep processes more complicated than "load hotdog roller then studiously ignore for the entirety of shift", especially in the markets that are currently served by 7-11.
7-11 in Japan is a way of life. I've been to an American 7-11 once or twice in my life. (I didn't want to go back.) In Japan, I went at least once daily - sometimes twice per day. They almost function the role of a NYC bodega, but with more and fresher food options. In addition, they often have a stack of microwaves run by the staff, allowing for inexpensive, fresh, and warm meals.
Is the US equivalent of 7-11 something more like WaWa?
A friend from Japan said 7-11 was an upscale store there. It features the top products in every category, and is maintained in an organized and clean japanese way.
7-11 and convenience stores in general in Japan (the other big ones are Lawson and Family Mart) are vastly superior to American offerings. Almost every American who goes to Japan seems to comment on this.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
7-11 and convenience stores in general in Japan (the other big ones are Lawson and Family Mart) are vastly superior to American offerings. Almost every American who goes to Japan seems to comment on this.
With that in mind, I've never noticed a difference between the various brands of Japanese convenience stores. Lawson / Family Mart / 7/11 all seem the same to me. The only thing that ever stood out about 7/11 was that I could use their ATMs to take money out of my American bank account circa 2002 when I lived there. (The post office also worked.)