Maples has been a 7-Eleven franchisee since 1988with one store in Tucson, Ariz.and an active national coalition board member since 1989. He is also president of the Tucson Franchise Owner's Association. Previously, Maples served six [image-nocss] years as Southwest regional chairman of the national coalition, five years as a NAC member and as chairman of the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance.
Although he deferred any discussion of specific plans pending upcoming strategy sessions, Maples told CSP Daily News on his first official day in the office, "My job is to work with 7-Eleven, and to work with franchisees to help make the system better and grow the trademark. Long term, that's our goal."
He added, "We've got some challenges looking forward into 2010both in retail and with the economy. We're putting together some plans to address those."
When the recession ends, "we want to come out stronger than we were going in. We're looking forward to 2010. Some exciting things are going to happen. 7-Eleven is positioned well with fresh foods, and if we can get the economy turned around and everyone starts spending some money again, we'll be on the road and running."The coalition, previously based in Quincy, Mass., has relocated, openingits new office in Tucson.
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