DALLAS -- 7-Eleven Inc. wants to add 100 new convenience stores in Orange County, Calif., by 2010, including five this year and plans to do it mostly by converting other businesses rather than building new stores, reported The Orange County Register. The county currently has 128 7-Eleven locations, said the report.
"Basically, we plan to grow our store numbers in major markets through our Business Conversion Program (BCP), and Los Angeles is one of the top areas we plan to develop," 7-Eleven spokesperson Margaret Chabris told CSP Daily News.
Mom-and-pop businesses with at least 2,000 [image-nocss] square feet of space—it does not have to be a food store or retailer—can apply to convert a business to a 7-Eleven franchise, Chabris told the Register.
Benefits, added Chabris, include a globally recognized brand; an operating system that includes payroll and billing handled by the franchisor; operating information down to such details as the latest weather forecast to help determine whether to brew more coffee before the freeze or stock more ice ahead of a strong Santa Ana condition; and national and local advertising.
Converting existing businesses has a couple of advantages for 7-Eleven, she said. It is faster than finding, negotiating and building new ones, as little as 23 weeks. Orange County and many other locations have few prime locations that do not have buildings on them already.
The chain, which started franchising in 1963 with Speedy Mart in San Diego, Chabris told the paper, has more than 32,000 stores worldwide including 5,600 in the United States. The conversion strategy is part of 7-Eleven's goal to add 1,400 U.S. stores and transition to an all-franchise operation, said the report. Some areas, such as Florida, have a lot of corporate-owned stores. Those can be sold to franchisees, but in areas like Orange County where 95% of 7-Elevens are already franchises, business conversions are the way to grow.
A business conversion costs the franchisee $25,000 up front, the report said, some of which will pay for employee training and grand opening. The corporate office will spend as much as $250,000 to convert the store—from new Slurpee machines to computers that run the operation, Chabris said.
Approximately 4,100, or 76%, of 7-Eleven's U.S. stores are now franchised, the Dallas-based company said.
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