7-11

It’s quite jarring to see 7-11 stores on almost every corner in Japan!  

There is a Texas connection here.  In 1927, an ice-house owner in the Dallas area decided it would be a good idea to also sell things like eggs and milk to his customers as a “convenience”.  So was born Southland Corporation and the brand that became 7-11, along with a new retail system that spread through-out the United States.

Southland, through many acquisitions and mergers, good years and bad, ultimately fell upon hard times and reorganized.  In 1991, a Japanese corporation assumed ownership of 70% of the 7-11 company.

Today, 7-11 has about 64,000 stores, almost one-third of which (over 20,000) are located in Japan (a country about the size of the state of California).  The United States has just over 8,000 stores nationwide.

The stores look familiar in many respects, including the presence of a heated rotisserie near the front with hot dogs that appear to have been there since the Reagan administration.

Here, however, they also boast a comprehensive selection of attractive bento boxes.

 It is also the only place other than the Japan post office where foreigners can use debit cards to get local currency.

Feels like a taste of home, but actually, I’ll hope some day to find a bento box for lunch when I stop for a fill-up on a US road trip.