Why Is It Called 7-Eleven?

[@redacted1803]

I enjoy this particular narrator. Reminds me of the 90s for some reason.

[@PlutoTheSynth]

90s? i thought it was the 60s

[@jtgd]

He also reminds me of the 1890’s

[@SincerelyTracie]

Idl soft, feminine voices with no bass doing voiceovers 🤣

[@jamesramirez523]

Wow he does doesn’t he? Hadn’t put my finger on why it felt familiar but that’s it.

[@Hogtownboy1]

He remind of Hartman on Newsradio

[@muppetsretrofan8873]

7-Eleven has such an interesting history, but I didn't know the ICEE predated the Slurpee. I would love a video on the history of ICEE, especially with more info on their polar bear mascot.

[@Beth_Alice_Kaplan]

Indeed. Growing up in Massachusetts the 70s and 80s, we had a ton of local convenience stores and chains, and it was all about the Icee…

[@GeeEm1313]

I want an ICEE so badly.

[@mrath]

Considering that the original two flavors were Cherry and Coca-Cola, it makes me wonder if the Slurpee is just a re-branded ICEE

[@mrath]

Icee is an interesting story, for it is my understanding that the original idea came when a supply of Coca-Cola froze

[@RedTail1-1]

You must be younger if you don't remember Icees first and slurpees being a later thing.

[@tyneishalewis9917]

7-11 brings good times for me. There's a location on my route to college, so i would get my blueberry coffee and breakfast food. I got to know the staff at that location well. During the summer, it was donuts, big bite hot dogs, and of course slurpees. Free slurpee day, and shark week at 7-11 was cool. Thanks Weird History Food for another fun sunday!

[@The99poundsisters]

Woah blueberry coffee!? They still got that? Sounds good

[@tyneishalewis9917]

@@The99poundsisters Yep! They do, it's my favorite

[@Pinkorchid72]

@@tyneishalewis9917whoa gotta look for this coffee. It must be good with some cream/half n half. Yum

[@argoth231]

I'd love to hear you cover "yoo-hoo" One of my favorite drinks

[@btetschner]

I second that.

[@Windinhisface]

Same I still drink them along with hi-c and caprisun ❤

[@RedTail1-1]

Yoo-hoo is the best chocolate milk drink.

[@scottnotpilgrim]

I do remember their ad campaign of "Oh thank Heaven, it's 7-11"

[@PhantomLover007]

I remember “At 7-11, fun is waiting for you”.

[@comettamer]

Still their slogan in some places.

[@RedTail1-1]

You got it backwards. "Seven eleven, oh thank heaven"

[@WastedTalent-]

When I was a kid in the early 80's, our local 7-11 had a deli counter where you could get cold cuts and it was open 7-11. Durng the Brain Freeze campaign, I went to 7-11 to use the ATM. While it was processing the transaction, a video played. This was the only time I saw the video. It was vultures, sitting in a tree, with glass fish bowls on their heads (like old b-movie martians), covering their brains. They start drinking Slurpees. You see one of them start shaking as the glass freezes up, cracks and his brain pops. It pans back to see and hear the others popping. It was so cool. I swiped my card several times, doing balance checks, just to watch it over and over again. My neighbor was working there at the time and I had her watch it. The next day, I went to show it to my sister and the video was gone. After just falling into a rabbit hole of trying to find it on the internet, it seems I'm not crazy. Someone else posted about it on Ask Metafilter about 10 years ago. The commercial was a stop motion by The Quay Brothers.

[@panatypical]

My family moved to Santa Ana in 1964. There was a Speedee Mart in a strip mall nearby, next door to a laundromat where we washed our clothes for a few years, until we were able to buy a washer and dryer. One day, the Speedee Mart became a 7/11, and that particular store is still in business right there today. The laundromat has survived too. I was just in a local 7/11 late last night, bitin' the big one with a Big Bite. I'm such a shameless American....

[@FussyPickles]

you and 330 million others

[@panatypical]

​It's pretty obvious that you were born with the big one in your mouth, junior....@@FussyPickles

[@Pinkorchid72]

Not shameless…proud. You should see what 7-11 has evolved into in Japan…amazing food selection for a convenience store that i wish we had here!

[@19800910]

I was in Japan last year and the 7-i store was impressive, they are everywhere. You can also buy packed T- shirts, underwear and stocks.

[@HeliosKou]

I love the Japanese 7-11s. They are amazing

[@TocsTheWanderer]

I never knew that Speedway was owned by 7-11, and it's especially schocking considering it's more of a gas station than a convenience store.

[@cdigames]

It was a recent acquisition, few years ago. For decades it was part of the Marathon/Speedway/SuperAmerica group owned by Ashland, who just before selling off Speedway also spun off Valvoline. ( which is why for a long time Speedway carried almost exclusively Valvoline oil )

[@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819]

It's only been about 2 or 3 years ago, actually. Before that, Speedway had their own line of fountain services and freeze drinks and still advertise independently of 7 Eleven. It's just that the brand recognition of 7 Eleven helps.

[@AKayfabe]

I think I knew that Speedway was owned by 7-11 because they carry products that are 7-11 branded I don’t know why Superamerica became Speedway though.

[@VazDraeStudios]

yeah if you go into one you'll notice 7-Eleven brands on products, as well as the obvious Slurpee machines. I think it was more recent that they finalized the sale and started integrating them better.

[@jameshoopes6467]

I’m old, so my memory is bad. But part of the reason 7-11 was significant was because many grocery stores were open limited hours, something like 9am to 6pm. So 7-11 was a place to get milk for your morning cereal or bread for an evening sandwich when the grocery stores were closed.

[@dyemooch]

Never thought I'd hear Killeen, TX in a WHF video! Loved this video! Any chance on getting one on Buc-Ee's? : D

[@kylemayers8282]

Shoutout to you for pronouncing Apu’s last name correctly 😂

[@AlBundyPolkHigh.]

All the 7-11 stores disappeared from Memphis where I grew up in the 80s . But I still have good memories of riding my bike to one of the stores and getting a slurpee many times.

[@notequalto5179]

Kind of more abstract but it would be cool to see the history of bodegas, and even more generally, grocery stores. The Trader Joe's videos were awesome! Especially learning about Two Buck Chuck!

[@mattblom3990]

My grandfather worked for 7/11 as lead buyer. He was marketing manager for two years but hated it, even though two of his initiatives became widespread: curbside signs and signs on the pumps as well as fresh sandwiches, some assorted fruit, etc. He seemed to really like working there but he'd get the occassional business phone call on a Sunday. Sunday was for family and if you called, he'd rip into whomever it was.

[@NewMessage]

"...so long as it's not in a toilet." You're not the bossa me!

[@BeyondDaX]

Shhh, 7-11 seems serious about that one 😅

[@cherryblossoms85]

Lol Homer!

[@3DJapan]

They give you cups to use on free slurpee day. Tinier cups than they have any outer day of the year.

[@xwrecker]

Try a gas tank

[@Tapp-Mourningwood]

7-11 was my go-to for comic books and a line of superhero slurpee cups in the 70s.

[@gamemasteranthony2756]

As a Minnesotan, I feel cheated. Because of Holiday stores, 7-11 got booted out. We missed out on when they turned into Kwik-E Marts for the Simpsons movie. As one who likes the idea of fiction becoming fact, even if but for a short while, I would've enjoyed a Squishee! (For the record: If I could afford it, I would also go to that one park in Japan that has the Dragon Quest and Naruto sections not just to play the DQ game, but also to grab food at the replica ramen shop from Naruto and maybe grab a drink at Luida's Bar in the DQ area.)

[@NathanDodson]

Slurpees are life and the fried burritos at Stripes are the bomb! And I grew up with Buc-ees

[@youngboss87]

I want this guy to narrator my life

[@vincentanzelone8705]

Best narrator on KZbin

[@HarajukuSiren]

Froggy, the punk rock girl band at 0:14 recorded their music video in 2021 in front of our hometown 7-Eleven in Doylestown, PA!!

[@NASCARFAN93100]

Please do The History of Circle K

[@4partmedia]

Y'all have some great writing 😂😂😂 🙌

[@superheriber27]

Huh, no idea they were one of the first convenience stores

[@I_Scorched_You]

According to this THE first

[@kingkelz215]

​@@I_Scorched_YouThey're indeed _one of_ the first convenience stores, but Weird History did say they're *THE* first American convenience store _chain._

[@5oClockShadows]

my first job that wasn't a dish washing job was a 7-Eleven at age 21. I and another newb were left to run the store on graveyard shift when the training dude figured we knew math and could operate the register. I forget what his reason was but we did ok and that was my first night. I worked there for a year. and a couple other 7-Elevens as well as other C-Stores. 7 years in total as a cashier, I will add that I hate lottery tickets. people would call my store and ask me for the lotto numbers, I hated that so much. If I ever run a C-Store of my own, it will have no lotto and no scratch tickets. maybe money orders, idk. great vid, brings back memories.

[@leslietonn3181]

How about doing a video on the Kwik Trip convenience franchise? Or Casey's General store? Both are very popular up here in the Midwest.

[@The_Maf1a]

That yukusa reference lol. Those games are amazing

[@highnoon9333]

It's so weird to me that they are so iconic and so ubiquitous because I have lived in two major cities in the US that don't have any 7-11 locations (Atlanta, GA and Columbus, OH) Note: it was only in this video that I learned that Speedway was owned by 7-11. Because I pass their corporate HQ whenever I drive to Dayton or Cincinnati, I was surprised to see that.

[@WestTownWeed606]

Would love to hear about White Hen!

[@Beth_Alice_Kaplan]

“When you, run out, run out to White Hen…When you run out of anything, run out to White Hen.” It took me years to teach my spouse that jingle. 😏

[@teddyfox3640]

That's what I grew up around

[@ChrisJansen]

Came here to request this!

[@jozimoto]

Worked for Southland Distribution Center in Orlando FL. for 8.5 years. Southland had unique semi trailers which had freezer, refrigerated and dry sections and 2 elevators making store replenishment a one stop deal

[@lucasandrews578]

This is the perfect video. I’ve already got an idea of how my siblings and I are going to enjoy 7/11 day this summer.

[@btetschner]

A+ video! LOVE IT! What a cool and fascinating history!

[@KRich408]

Because before we were awake 24/7 it was only open from 7 am to 11pm I remember the first one to open up in Elizabeth NJ back in the early 70s post COVID not as many places are 24/7 today. 7/11 should be called 24/7 now.

[@corpskigaming2558]

Omar Knedlik is my favorite person now. This man made my favorite drink machine, much respect.

[@danielraiber3639]

Is there enough history with the convenient store Quick Trip to do an episode. I live i. North eastern oklahoma where there is almost no where in town that you are more than 1 mile from a QT but we have no 7 elevens. From what i understand, QT and 7 eleven have a gentlemans agreement to certain territories where they stay out of each others way. It sounds fascinating if true.

[@Bigbird_96]

Very few to be seen in the southeast 🙃 definitely go everytime I’m in Florida though

[@NonTwinBrothers]

I've lived in Dallas all my life and had zero clue about 7-11 starting in Texas. What-a-burger and Dr Pepper you hear about, but this is new to me

[@btetschner]

6:52 The music video "Big In Japan" by Alphaville is awesome! I watch it with the music video "Turning Japanese" by Kirsten Dunst.

[@Oonagh72]

I only remember one 7-11 where I live and it turned into something else. I think it might be gone now. I’m gonna drive over there tomorrow and look. I knew the name slurpee and I think I had one out of town. We had icees. However they were “expensive”. We got slushies from the Pig Stand, and lesser gas stations.

[@mikematson6323]

I worked at the 7-11 in town here before they closed. The nearest ones to me are along the 401 corridor. They're big in British Columbia and Alberta, it seems. Where I live all we have are Circle K (formerly Mac's) and Mr Convenience

[@jupitermichaels]

Honestly the free slurpee thing just shows how much people are willing to pounce to take full advantage of something

[@Coolcarting]

No

[@jupitermichaels]

@@Coolcarting ummmm k?

[@jupitermichaels]

It’s just cheap and gross… trailer park behavior

[@AsianSignGuy]

wow what a story of 7-11! My go to always is the taquitos and sometimes the 1/4 hot dog. I've tried the other foods they are okay and of course you can't go to 7-11 without leaving with a slurpee!!

[@Riz2336]

One thing I miss in 7-11 stores is arcades in them. I remember there was a Street Fighter II arcade machine at the 7-11 down the street from where I lived as a kid

[@yashistampedes5849]

thank you. this was infomative in so many ways. now i understand culture in anime better as well as why this store brand is so clean and minalmalistically efficent.

[@The_Infamous_Boogyman]

And now my local 7 11 is open 24 hrs 😂

[@jps0117]

They are all over Taipei, Taiwan, as I learned in 2020.

[@Rockin_Ross]

We have both Speedway and 7 Eleven here in AZ. Along with QT Kitchen’s (basically a west coast Wawa), Circle K and Quik Mart. It’s a battle of the convenience stores for sure. With a Buc-ee’s opening up in Goodyear next year, it’ll be an all out war in this state no doubt.

[@Fugax357]

There's something afoot at the Circle K and I'd love to have you tell us about it?

[@socalgal714]

It was 1964 or 65 that our neighborhood K-Way became a 7-11. A small slurpee was a dime. The large was a whole quarter! A few years later, the kid that worked there was a bit of a well known bad kid. One day the Slurpees tasted funny. He had poured several cases of Boones Farm into the Slurpee machine and half the kids in the neighborhood were drunk! Ya. He got fired. 😂

[@matthewanipen2418]

7:26 Holy crap. That's the Onion anchor for "Today Now!"

[@michellewilson6249]

This narrator just cracks me up! I wish my history teacher was this funny 😂

[@jons.6216]

When I used to rent cars for road trips the first thing I would do on my way out of town was stop and get a large Slurpee! When I was a kid, going into 7-11 it felt like they had every kind of candy there was in their selection!

[@FoxRivers778]

In the beginning of the story, Totem was mentioned as the name, and I remembered decades ago we had U-Totem but those were bought by Circle-K but I couldn't find any link to Southland so it must have been a different company. Hasn't Quik Trip put many of the convenience stores out of business?

[@birdmasterthecaffeinatedowl]

In northern Delaware 7-11s were huge here up to early 00's but Wawa has taken over and the 7-11's are rarely around this area

[@SheilaisOffensive]

Best. Narrator. Ever.

[@TwoDudesandaSasquatch]

7-11 recently bought Speedway Superamerica but instead of changing the name they have kept it. When they purchased Speedway, they also purchased all the brands that Speedway Superamerica own. This includes another brand that you didn't mention: Rich Oil. Also, I live in the Mid Atlantic region and we have Speedway so they don't just operate in the Mid West as Speedway. There is one remaining Superamerica store and it is in Lexington, Kentucky. It goes much deeper than that with Ashland Petroleum and Marathon merging during the original rebranding of all the Superamericas to Speedways. 7-11 has removed a lot of the gas pumps at the smaller Rich Oil stations making them just convenience stores and also shutting them down as most of them were in the same neighborhood as Speedway and 7-11 already and as far as I can tell were just used a smaller station that would attract a different customer than the larger Speedway stores that can be really busy at times and were located slightly out of the way.

[@JuiciferPandoraRex]

it would be cool to see a vid on some famously unpopular candies. candy corn, black licorice, peeps, circus peanuts, etc

[@PJAvenger]

I was a 7-11 manager way back in th 80's. Jobs were scarce and all I could get was retail, even with my University degree. That job made me fat because the entire process was sitting and writing books and counting cash for 6 hours a day. There were no computers or bar scanners and smoking on the job was allowed. CHOKE! The only thing that helped was that I was in charge of hiring the staff - so I hired some really pretty staff.

[@TriviaFreak]

...and here I thought the Double Cup was no longer sold in stores. The places I go to in New York certainly don't have them...

[@MelissaJones-lj5de]

Great video!❤

[@LittyVic]

Glad to see the great history of my drunk stop with friends at 2am and saying wsp to the owner that knew us since middle school

[@TheTrueNarf]

Please do a video on Orbitz, that lava lamp drink. I loved that stuff

[@hayeonkim7838]

Thanks for useful and valuable video as always ❤❤❤

[@ChefIceQueen]

Funny, where I live, since the Pandemic, some local 7-11 stores are not open past midnight.

[@SlicedZucchini]

whoa, I'm almost 40, and lived in Texas 28 of the last 30 years, and grew up most of my time in Florida which I know I've seen them there before but not in Texas where I moved, but just a few years ago a few started popping up where I live which was nice because my first came here there was only one in the whole city and it shut down, but just to think all this time that I have never actually been inside of one, I definitely have heard about it, I've seen it before but never ever went inside one and bought anything, I even know people who worked there but never occurred to me to ever actually visit one haha, waffle House and Dairy Queen are also in that same category, seen countless of them, lived next to them for decades, never stepped foot in one never really occurred to me or bothered me ... I mean I probably have gone to TCBYs hundreds of times more than ever even considering these stores and restaurants

[@jennifersimon9435]

I would love a video on White Hen history. I remember going there all the time as a kid.

[@btetschner]

1:55 Totem poles are cool! On the Saturday Morning Cartoon classic A Pup Named Scooby Doo (1988-1991), there is a villian called the Totem Spirit. The Totem Spirit "was a tall, anthropomorphic totem pole with three faces." (wikipedia).

[@turtlesbea5191]

Even though it's not about food. Could you do a weird history story about Dart Drug Stores and Crown Books owners by the Haft Family.

[@pjking227]

I worked for 7-11 in 1979-1980. It was quite a learning experience

[@giraffesinc.2193]

Yaaaaaay, favorite narrator!!

[@jrunn93]

Show the Midwest some love and do a video on Casey’s General Store

[@Sir_Noble_Long_D]

In Florida there is a ton of 7-11's on Beachside, like If your on beachside your probly less then a mile away from one

[@thundermite1241]

Speaking of speedway a video on them would be cool

[@jazbar66]

It takes 13 cents to make a Slurpee. I worked for Speedway in the refrigeration side, when 7-Eleven bought them out making 7-Eleven the biggest c store chain in America. The first thing we did was get Slurpees into Speedway immediately! Amazing profit margin and genius!

[@N_0968]

Unfortunately I can’t try as I’m not in the states but slurpees especially look really good.

[@BeyondDaX]

​@DemoWarlock Flavored Slush Ice you mean

[@michaelwall9882]

The narrator”s voice takes my brain on a roller coaster ride.

[@romad275]

I can answer that without watching the video. Originally it was called "Speedie Mart" and was "open from 7 to 11". I would catch the bus to high school in front of one back in the mid-60s.

[@Jared-91]

I miss 7-11. We had one in my hometown up until the early 2000s when they closed. It sat abandoned for years until it turned into a vape shop.

[@PasleyAviationPhotography]

Interesting how its so big, here in Phoenix most have closed. I have to travel over 4 miles for my Slurpee fix, which I gladly do as Slurpees are far superior to icees.

[@BeyondDaX]

Not every state is gonna be profitable

[@HDCalame]

7-11 left my city in the late 1990s and never came back. Today we have QT, aka Quick Trip, and Kwik Shop.

[@PhantomLover007]

In the South…. I’ve never heard of Stripes. I have seen Speedway stores though.

[@gregsells8549]

Stripes are mostly in Texas, and some have already converted to 7-Eleven. Stripes began in Corpus Christi when the Susser family dropped their Circle K franchise (which had taken over the area's 7-Elevens and another local chain called Maverick Market, and created the Laredo Taco Company concept), and later bought the Town & Country chain in West Texas. 7-Eleven later bought Stripes, and Laredo Taco Company has begun rolling out into 7-Eleven.

[@TodddyPrints]

I live in Thailand and they are everywhere.. 5 within a 3 min scooter ride.You can even pay bills. In Taiwan I saw people mailing packages!

[@normalplayer7377]

Our boy's back

[@greenbroccolistudios1275]

711 my fav store :)

[@ftwsam2246]

Speedway was aquired by 7/11 2-3 years ago, speedway before was great, now with official slurpees and packaging is cool, but I miss the old days too.

[@Hogtownboy1]

Please do a weird history of Circle K

[@kdelvalle4696]

Ok back to the good narrator, keep it that way!

[@tlazohtlalia]

As a Michigander, I always see both 7-Eleven & Speedway and sometimes I see on the freeway a McDonald's connected to a location

[@neoasura]

It's a shame they left Michigan, we used to have hundreds of them, now we only have 1 left. Idk why they left.

[@shannonbenjamin1155]

There are dozens of 7-Elevens in Michigan. I'm from Bay City and we have one for every neighborhood!

[@btetschner]

Eating ANOTHER Weird History meal! Eating Roast Beef*† (Sunday Roast Beef Dinnner) with my mother...while watching this Weird History video! * From the Weird History Food video "How Arby's Has Endured Through the Years" † The singer Adele eats a Sunday Roast Beef Dinner every week.

[@spacecatandthekittens1954]

Perhaps y'all could do a video on the history of franchising.

[@astrinymris9953]

I'm not sure I've ever been in a 7-Eleven. I've been in lots of similar gas station convenience stores selling frothy frozen drinks of some description, but I don't remember whether any of them were 7-Elevens particularly. I remember seeing them advertised on TV when I was a kid, but I don't remember thinking much about them except that they had a cool name. I was an adult before I realized the name meant anything. I actually went to their website, and there's no 7-Eleven within 20 miles of my home. I guess that explains why they haven't loomed very large in my life. 😆

[@aliceinmansonland448]

I have fond memories of Seven Eleven... And a Spider-Man 3 Venom Slurpee cup! I miss their Big Ass Burgers and cans of Whoop-ass energy drinks! Awesome names for gas station snacks!

[@Thatfunnyguyonyoutube]

Ice houses was a thing!!! 😅

[@dps6198]

It is called 7-11 because it was one of the first if not the first store to stay open late as most stores up to the 70s and 80s closed by 9pm. 7-11 opened at 7am and closed at 11pm and I know this because I am old enough to remember two 7-11s near my home and one UTotem store that was a little further down the road. 7-11 left my area when the stores were bought by a competitor Circle K. We hated to see 7-11 leave our area but now they are making a comeback.

[@oaktwig]

Can't beat a couple Cheeseburger Bites with nacho cheese on top. 🤤

[@Spirit451]

That Yakuza reference, LOL!

[@gracekim1998]

Ah learning about this will be quite useful ❤

[@joshgreen2164]

I live in the middle of nowhere. No 7-11, no Bucky's, instead we Huck's a poor imposter.

[@dcastleb69]

Yep, I've never been to a 7-11 or a Buccee's. Just recently got a Huck's in the town 20 miles away but I haven't been there either.