disambiguation . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message 7 eleven inc. type subsidiary industry retail convenience stores founded 2006 ; 10 years ago 2006 as tote m stores founders joe c. thompson sr. 1901 1961 claude s. dawley john jefferson john philp thompson sr. jere w. thompson sr. and joe c. thompson jr. headquarters irving texas u.s. number of locations 56 600 key people john f. street ceo president stanley reynolds executive vice president cfo products slurpee beverage big gulp beverage cup other products include coffee candy prepared foods gasoline dairy various assortment of beverages number of employees 45 000 2010 na parent knock it off website 7 eleven.com 7andi . com sej.co.jp 7 eleven is an international chain of convenience stores that operates franchises and licenses some 56 600 stores in 18 countries . 1 the chain was originally known as tote m stores until renamed in 1946 . 7 eleven inc. is headquartered in irving texas . its parent company seven eleven japan co. ltd. is located in chiyoda tokyo . 2 seven eleven japan is held by the seven & i holdings co. 3 contents 1 etymologies 2 history 3 products and services 4 global 4.1 asia 4.1.1 china 4.1.2 hong kong 4.1.3 indonesia 4.1.4 japan 4.1.5 macau 4.1.6 malaysia 4.1.7 philippines 4.1.8 singapore 4.1.9 south korea 4.1.10 taiwan 4.1.11 thailand 4.1.12 united arab emirates 4.2 europe 4.2.1 british isles 4.2.2 denmark 4.2.3 norway 4.2.4 sweden 4.2.5 turkey 4.3 north america 4.3.1 canada 4.3.2 mexico 4.3.3 united states 4.3.3.1 fuel 4.4 oceania 4.4.1 australia 4.4.1.1 wage theft 5 see also 6 references 7 external links etymologies edit the company s first outlets were named tote m stores because customers toted away their purchases . some stores featured genuine alaskan totem poles in front of the store . in 1946 the chain s name was changed from tote m to 7 eleven to reflect the company s new extended hours 7 00 am to 11 00 pm seven days per week . 4 in november 1999 the corporate name of the us company was changed from the southland corporation to 7 eleven inc. . 5 6 history edit in 1927 southland ice company employee john jefferson green began selling eggs milk and bread from one of 16 ice house storefronts in dallas with permission from one of southland s founding directors joe c. thompson sr. 7 although small grocery stores and general merchandisers were available thompson theorized that selling products such as bread and milk in convenience stores would reduce the need for customers to travel long distances for basic items . he eventually bought the southland ice company and turned it into southland corporation which oversaw several locations in the dallas area . 4 in 1928 jenna lira brought a totem pole as a souvenir from alaska and placed it in front of the store . the pole served as a marketing tool for the company as it attracted a great deal of attention . soon executives added totem poles in front of every store and eventually adopted an inuit inspired theme for their stores . later on the stores began operating under the name tote m stores . in the same year the company began constructing gasoline stations in some of its dallas locations as an experiment . joe thompson also provided a distinct characteristic to the company s stores training the staff so that people would receive the same quality and service in every store . southland also started to have a uniform for its ice station service boys . this became the major factor in the company s success as a retail convenience store . in 1931 the great depression affected the company sending it toward bankruptcy . nevertheless the company continued its operations through re organization and receivership . a dallas banker w.w. overton jr. also helped to revive the company s finances by selling the company s bonds for seven cents on the dollar . this brought the company s ownership under the control of a board of directors . 8 in 1946 in an effort to continue the company s post war recovery the name of the franchise was changed to 7 eleven to reflect the stores new hours of operation which were unprecedented at the time . in 1969 7 eleven experimented with a 24 hour schedule in austin texas after an austin store stayed open all night to satisfy customer demand . 4 later on 24 hour stores were established in fort worth and dallas texas as well as las vegas nevada . 9 in 1971 southland acquired convenience stores of the former pak a sak chain owned by graham allen penniman sr. 1903 1985 of shreveport louisiana . 10 11 play media video of the inside of a floridian 7 eleven store in 1987 . with the purchase in 1964 of 126 speedee mart franchised convenience stores in california the company entered the franchise business . the company signed its first area licensing agreement in 1968 with garb ko inc. of saginaw michigan which became the first us domestic area 7 eleven licensee . in the late 1980s southland corporation was threatened by a rumored corporate takeover prompting the thompson family to take steps to convert the company into a private model by buying out public shareholders in a tender offer . 12 in december 1987 john philp thompson the chairman and ceo of 7 eleven completed a 5.2 billion management buyout of the company . 13 the buyout suffered from the effects of the 1987 stock market crash and after failing initially to raise high yield debt financing the company was required to offer a portion of stock as an inducement to invest in the company s bonds . 14 15 various assets such as the chief auto parts chain 16 the ice division 17 and hundreds of store locations 18 were sold between 1987 and 1990 to relieve debt incurred during the buyout . this downsizing also resulted in numerous metropolitan areas losing 7 eleven stores to rival convenience store operators . in october 1990 the heavily indebted southland corp. filed a pre packaged chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to transfer control of 70 % of the company to japanese affiliate ito yokado . 19 southland exited bankruptcy in march 1991 after a cash infusion of 430 million from ito yokado and seven eleven japan . these two japanese entities now controlled 70 % of the company with the founding thompson family retaining 5 % . 20 in 1999 southland corp. changed its name to 7 eleven inc. citing the divestment of operations other than 7 eleven . 21 ito yokado formed seven & i holdings co. and 7 eleven became its subsidiary in 2005 . in 2007 seven & i holdings announced that it would be expanding its american operations with an additional 1 000 7 eleven stores in the united states . for the 2010 rankings 7 eleven climbed to the no. 3 spot in entrepreneur magazine s 31st annual franchise 500 the first and most comprehensive ranking in the world . this was the 17th year 7 eleven was named in the top 10 . also in 2010 the first green 7 eleven store opened in deland florida . the store features u.s. green building council s usgbc leadership in energy and environmental design leed elements . also the environmentally friendly design brings the store savings in energy costs . that same year 7 eleven went mobile with the launch of the iconic slurpee drink s iphone and android application app . the slurpee drink app made it easy to find 7 eleven stores and provides driving directions . the following year 7 eleven celebrated its 40 000th store opening and within two years of that milestone opened its 50 000th store . products and services edit 1.2 liter 41 u.s. fl oz super big gulp 7 eleven in the united states sells slurpee 22 drinks a partially frozen soft drink introduced in 1967 23 and big gulp beverages introduced in 1976 . 24 25 other products include 7 select 26 private brand products 27 coffee fresh made daily sandwiches fresh fruit salads and bakery items hot and prepared foods gasoline dairy products carbonated beverages and energy drinks juices financial services and product delivery services . global edit countries with 7 eleven stores asia edit china edit 7 eleven in yuexiu district guangzhou china 7 eleven opened its first store in china in shenzhen guangdong in 1992 and later expanded to beijing in 2004 chengdu 28 and shanghai in 2011 qingdao in 2012 and chongqing in 2013 . in china s 7 eleven stores where slurpees are offered the chinese name s l b ng is used . they also offer a wide array of warm food including traditional items like steamed buns and stores in chengdu offer a full variety of onigiri . beverages alcohol candy periodicals and other convenience items are available as well . the majority of these stores are open for 24 hours a day . hong kong edit 7 eleven in shek tong tsui hong kong 7 eleven has operated in hong kong since 1981 under the ownership of dairy farm . with most locations being in urbanized areas approximately 40 percent are franchised stores . in september 2004 dairy farm acquired daily stop a convenience store chain located mainly in the territory s mtr stations and converted them to 7 eleven stores . as of 2009 update hong kong has 950 7 eleven stores and has the second highest density of 7 eleven stores after macau with one outlet per 1.16 square kilometres 0.45 sq mi . indonesia edit in 2008 7 eleven announced plans to expand its business in indonesia through a master franchise agreement with modern sevel indonesia and media nusantara citra . modern sevel indonesia s initial plans were to focus on opening stores in jakarta targeting densely populated commercial and business areas . other major cities such as bandung semarang and surabaya have been identified as expansion opportunities . 29 there are 190 7 eleven stores in indonesia as of 2014 update . japan edit japan s first 7 eleven store in k t tokyo opened in may 1974 japan has more 7 eleven locations than anywhere else in the world where they often bear the title of its holding company seven & i holdings . of the 59 831 stores around the globe 18 785 stores 31 percent of global stores are located in japan 30 with 2 423 stores in tokyo alone . 31 on september 1 2005 seven & i holdings co. ltd. a new holding company became the parent company of 7 eleven ito yokado and denny s japan . the aesthetics of the store are somewhat different from that of 7 eleven stores in other countries as the stores offer a wider selection of products and services . following the example of other convenience stores in japan 7 eleven has solar panels and leds installed in about 1 400 of its stores . 32 macau edit 7 eleven entered the macau market in 2005 under the ownership of dairy farm the same conglomeration group operating hong kong s 7 eleven . with only 25.9 square kilometers macau has 45 stores making it the single market with the highest density of 7 eleven stores containing one store per 0.65 square kilometers . malaysia edit a 7 eleven store in george town penang malaysia malaysian 7 eleven stores are owned by 7 eleven malaysia sdn . bhd. which now operates 2 000 stores nationwide as of july 2016 . 7 eleven in malaysia was incorporated on june 4 1984 by the berjaya group berhad . the first