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Yay, New York's getting more generic convenience stores like the rest of mini-mall America! Because the city has more retail vacancies and rents are down, the 7-Eleven chain is capitalizing on the changing market to aggressively expand in the metropolitan area, which had 431 stores at the end of 2008. Executives at the company, which was founded in Dallas in 1927 but is now a subsidiary of the Japan-based Seven & i Holdings Company, plan to open at least 44 more 7-Elevens around the area this year, more than twice the number that opened last year. And they promise 350 more to come in the next five to seven years! An article in the Times offers an interesting look at 7-Eleven’s business conversion program, in which the owner of an existing convenience store gets an average of $280,000 to convert his or her space into a 7-Eleven. Holy smokes, we'd open a 7-Eleven in our apartment for half that...but first we need to get rid of the Starbucks location that's still operating out of our kitchen.
Big Gulp: 7-Eleven Will Open 44 New Area Stores, 350 To Come!
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This is a bad idea. The long-term impact on the local economy will be negative.
how does it feel to be like a blind cassandra, foreseeing doom but impotent to change it?
I dispute the idea that we are impotent to change the future.
And the reason chain stores are bad for the city's economy is because they homogenize otherwise unique places. As these places become less "special", outside interest in them decreases. Products become commoditized, etc...
BTW, how does it feel to have the handle "imadick" above everything you write? It doesn't exactly lend an air of credibility to your opinions. :)
you're right. WE aren't impotent to change the future. on the other hand, YOU are impotent. whining on the comments section of a blog is just going to get assholes like me making fun of you.
oh, and what makes your corner bodega special? is it the name?
7-11 franchises are locally owned just like your corner deli.
Yep, so are most Subways, Dunkin' Donuts, etc... It's not just a question of being locally owned (although that is certainly preferable to the Walmart model).
What is at stake is the unique qualities of a given community.
Also at stake: my command of the English language.
I'll take a 7-11 in my community over the corner bodega (on EVERY corner) any day. It might make them clean up their acts. My not buying there doesn't.
I much prefer a good bodega. Bodegas are an integral part of our city and neighborhoods.
Wait, there's 431 stores in the metropolitan area? How many of those are actually in NYC, because I can only think of two?
There are dozens in Brooklyn and Queens, and basically one every mile on Long Island.
As of August 1st, 2009, these are the number of 7-Elevens in the 5 boroughs of NYC:
Manhattan: 5
Bronx: 6
Brooklyn: 16
Queens: 31
Staten Island: 4
Total: 62 in New York City proper
The hundreds of 7-Elevens in Tokyo are convenient and have decent packaged food (and Tokyo is still Tokyo).
I'm not scared that 7-Elevens will "kill" NYC. NYC is still NYC despite Barnes and Noble, the Gap and Starbucks.
Personally though, except for exorbitant prices (probably due to low profit margins, mafia kickbacks and high rents), I don't see any room for improvement over the corner bodega.
Looking at their store locator, unless the metropolitan area contains all of LI as well as Jersey City, I do not see how they could break 200.
Huh, it does.
Do they have vegan food selections?
http://failblog.org/2009/06/29/bulletin-board-win/
:) Thanks!
It's all well and good to want to preserve the local economy.
The reason 7-11 will succeed is because there are many areas where the stores are terrible. Bad selection, service, sometimes price, and limited hours.
I would welcome a few 7-11 stores and whole lot fewer Duane Reades.
I want a Slurpee NOW!
This will greatly help out NYC's desis who were left broken and unemployed when several Dunkin Donuts recently closed.
I'm surprise they don't have many locations in the Hudson Valley. The rest of the NYC area is flooded with them especially in Queens and really Long Island.
Stewarts and Cumberland Farms are the generic convenience store overlords up there.
Slurpee > Tim Hortons
"I met her at the 7-11, now I'm in seventh heaven..."
I prefer the food at a good local deli or bodega to the offerings at 7-11. Unfortunately, there are more not-so-good than good. I won't feel bad if 7-11 puts some of those crummy ones under.
7-11 is a chain, and it gots health standards. Bodegas give you rock hard bread and green deli meats that give you runs for the week.
I can't imagine people buying bodega deli meat for their own consumption. Not sure if 7-11 is any better though; reminds me of Apu's Kwik-E-Mart.
the 7-11 at church street is very spacious.
I see they have Moonpies at the counter.
now where do I find Slush Puppies?
To preserve the aesthetic of NY, 7-11's should be required to reek of cat urine.
Love their Big Beef Bite... Burger in hotdog form, why didn't I think of that??
BRING BACK THE SPICY CHICKEN SANDWICH.
I want wa wa instead.