DALLAS -- Monday marked Kelly Buckley's first visit to the University of 7-Eleven. Buckley, who started with 7-Eleven on January 16 in the newly created position of vice president of fresh foods innovation, will be adding new food items to the convenience chain's menu, as well as assembling a "restaurant-quality" foodservice team, reported the DallasMorning News.
Innovation through food and technology is a main objective of the company to "align with the trends of society," Jesus Delgado-Jenkins, senior vice president of merchandising, marketing and logistics, told the Dallas Business Journal earlier this week at the convenience retailer's University of 7-Eleven event at the Dallas Convention Center.
More than 1,000 operations and merchandising employees for 7-Eleven Inc., as well as invited franchisees and licensees, attended the gathering, which runs through Wednesday, sampling new food products and learning about the direction of the company. New foods such as beef and chicken empanadas, fresh fruit, mini beef tacos, beer-infused brats and salads are on the horizon for 7-Eleven stores.
Attendees also go to breakout sessions to learn about various aspects of the company, said the report. A model store showed suppliers and franchisees important information about how different products sell.
Buckley's hiring by 7-Eleven follows more than 20 years spent in the restaurant industry, including a stint as the chief food innovation officer for Plano, Texas-based Pizza Hut that ended in 2010.
In the coming months, she plans to assemble a team that will include workers with culinary backgrounds, food science backgrounds and "perhaps engineering and design backgrounds," she told the paper.
The company is committed to "bringing in people like Kelly who have foodservice in their DNA," spokesperson Margaret Chabris told the Morning News.
"I think historically, people that were in foodservice stayed in foodservice and people who were in retail stayed in retail. But the lines are very blurred these days," Buckley added. "Everybody's playing in everybody else's area now. I don't think there are classical silos in place any longer."
As 7-Eleven joins other convenience stores in expanding its hot and fresh food offerings, the chain will be seeking a fresh crop of foodies to help it think and act more like a restaurateur, said the report. Many of them will be plucked from restaurant chains that are also working to hang on to top talent.
Fresh food is the fastest-growing category at 7-Eleven, Chabris said.
"We're continuing to upgrade and to improve the quality of our food," Delgado-Jenkins told the Morning News, adding that up to 25% of the space in a typical 7-Eleven is dedicated to fresh and hot foods, up from about 15% 10 years ago.
Increased growth feeds the need for increased expertise. Some of that will come from suppliers and vendors with extensive research and development teams, but much of that bench strength will have to be imported, said the report. While culinary students still gravitate largely to established restaurants, c-stores are hoping to snag more restaurant industry veterans like Buckley.
Chains like 7-Eleven are aiming to shake the traditional image of bad gas station food, with company executives saying they want their food to be "better than restaurant quality."
To accomplish that, they will need restaurant-quality workers.
In other company personnel news, Robbie Radant was recently named 7-Eleven's new vice president of mergers and acquisitions, succeeding Sean Duffy, who, in turn, has succeeded the retiring Jeff Schenck as senior vice president of development.
Previously, Radant (pictured, right) was in payment acceptance, then moved to M&A as a director, Chabris told CSP Daily News.
Duffy first joined 7-Eleven as vice president of gasoline. Before joining 7-Eleven, he was division manager for ExxonMobil's New York and New Jersey business. In his 19-year career with Mobil Oil and ExxonMobil, he held various retail business positions. Starting as a territory manager, he progressed to division roles as district programs coordinator, financial analyst, new business acquisition manager and retail asset manager. After that, Duffy was responsible for unifying both Exxon and Mobil's companies' retail programs during the merger as the retail programs coordinator. He also held positions as tobacco and distribution category manager, global ebusiness development manager and U.S. distributor pricing and analysis manager.
Schenck previously served as 7-Eleven's vice president of national franchise. Before that, he served as vice president of the Great Lakes division with store operations responsibility for 600 franchised stores in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Western New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
He was also vice president and division manager for store operations in the Greater Midwest division with responsibility for 360 convenience stores in the upper Midwest.
Schenck began his career with the company as a store sales associate in 1976 and soon became a field consultant. He later served as a sales manager, district manager and zone manager. Schenck was named merchandise manager in 1986 and division manager the following year.
Dallas-based 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 9,000 7-Eleven stores in North America. Globally, there are more than 44,300 7-Eleven stores in 16 countries. During 2010, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales of more than $62.7 billion.
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