7 Eleven Convenience Food Stores

Rummaging through coat pockets, purses and automobile glove compartments, lottery players in West Los Angeles made a frantic last-minute search Thursday for a $25-million winning ticket that expired at midnight. The missing Lotto ticket was purchased at a 7-Eleven store at 11656 Wilshire Blvd. for the Jan. 8 drawing. Unclaimed for 180 days, the ticket was set to automatically expire at midnight--making it what officials said would be the largest unpaid lottery jackpot in California history.

In a move that could nearly double its Southern California footprint, the 7-Eleven convenience store chain is taking steps to lease up to 600 new locations in the region. The company hired commercial real estate broker CB Richard Ellis on Thursday to begin scouting locations for a planned seven-year expansion that would add to the 800 stores that 7-Eleven operates from San Luis Obispo County to the Mexico border. 7-Eleven, a Dallas unit of Tokyo-based Seven & I Holdings Co.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can pump books but his country's oil company can no longer pump gas for 7-Eleven Inc. Amid a growing backlash against anti-American comments by Chavez, the Dallas-based convenience store giant said Wednesday that it was dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo Petroleum Corp. as its gasoline supplier so it could launch its own brand. Torrance-based Tower Energy Group will deliver fuel to most of the 7-Eleven outlets that Citgo is losing.

Ever since 20th Century Fox and 7-Eleven teamed up to convert a dozen of its North America stores (including two in the L.A. area) into fictional Kwik-E-Marts as a monthlong promotional tie-in to "The Simpsons Movie," fans have been lining up for real-world versions of the Buzz Cola, KrustyO's and Squishees that previously existed only in the animated series. "I never thought we were going to do this kind of business," said Swarn Sahni, who owns the 7-Eleven franchise at 1611 W. Olive Ave.

The next time you walk into a 7-Eleven to buy cigarettes or beer and you look underage, a clerk will probably ask to scan your driver's license. A small electronic device will allow clerks to quickly determine whether you're old enough to make the purchase. The scanner reads information coded onto a magnetic strip on the back of a driver's license or state-issued ID, which includes a person's name, birth date, address, height and weight. The device, developed by VeriFone Inc.

In a move that could nearly double its Southern California footprint, the 7-Eleven convenience store chain is taking steps to lease up to 600 new locations in the region. The company hired commercial real estate broker CB Richard Ellis on Thursday to begin scouting locations for a planned seven-year expansion that would add to the 800 stores that 7-Eleven operates from San Luis Obispo County to the Mexico border. 7-Eleven, a Dallas unit of Tokyo-based Seven & I Holdings Co.

Southland Corp., parent of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday after two Japanese companies formally pumped $430 million in cash into the retailer by buying 70% of its stock. Southland's Chapter 11 reorganization plan, approved by a bankruptcy judge Feb. 21, proposed the $430-million purchase of Southland by Ito Yokado Co. and Seven-Eleven Japan Co.

They tried police patrols, curfews on arcade games and bright lights. Now officials at Southland Corp. are hoping that Thousand Oaks youths who hear the violin strains of a Brandenburg concerto at their local 7-Eleven store will take their Slurpees and run. For two weeks now, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, Southland has been dousing the store with Muzak as a sort of defense system against hordes of loitering youths, hoping to drive them away.

Customers soon will be able to pick up a sobriety test with their Slurpee. Convenience store chain 7-Eleven will be the first national retailer to sell the Guardian Angel Personal Alcohol Test at participating stores. Customers can determine their blood-alcohol level by placing a test strip on their tongues for five seconds after not eating, drinking or smoking for 10 minutes. The strip will indicate blood-alcohol content by changing colors.

Convenience-store leader 7-Eleven Inc., the nation's largest retailer of tobacco products, has agreed to toughen its procedures to catch underage shoppers who try to buy tobacco products. In a deal covering stores in about 30 states, including California, 7-Eleven agreed not to place tobacco signs next to products popular with minors, to ban vending machines for tobacco and remove outward-facing window signs for tobacco within 500 feet of schools or playgrounds.

7-Eleven Inc., the largest U.S. convenience-store company, said it planned to add 30% more North American outlets and would start selling hot meals to fend off rival chains and supermarkets encroaching on its territory. The Dallas-based company, bought by Tokyo-based Seven & I Holdings Co. last year, operates and franchises 6,100 stores selling snacks, slush drinks and soda in the U.S. and Canada. 7-Eleven intends to raise that number to about 8,000 by 2010.

This was one pitch on which the Chicago White Sox weren't going to whiff. The club confirmed Wednesday that "play ball" will sound at precisely 7:11 p.m. for weeknight home games next season in a promotional deal with convenience store chain 7-Eleven. "In baseball, you want to have the financial resources to put the best possible resources on the field," said Brooks Boyer, the team's vice president of marketing. "This allows us to do that."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can pump books but his country's oil company can no longer pump gas for 7-Eleven Inc. Amid a growing backlash against anti-American comments by Chavez, the Dallas-based convenience store giant said Wednesday that it was dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo Petroleum Corp. as its gasoline supplier so it could launch its own brand. Torrance-based Tower Energy Group will deliver fuel to most of the 7-Eleven outlets that Citgo is losing.

Seven & I Holdings Co., owner of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan and the United States, said Monday that it would buy department store operator Millennium Retailing Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal that would create Japan's largest retailer. Tokyo-based Seven & I aims to jump-start its growth with department stores that have been benefiting from improvement in Japan's economy, though the outlook for general merchandise and convenience stores remains gloomy because of market saturation.

On paper, it seems like the perfect fit: the city that never sleeps and the top purveyor of 24-hour-a-day convenience. In fact, when a 7-Eleven opened in Manhattan this summer for the first time in 23 years, New Yorkers happily queued up in long lines to purchase ice-cold Slurpees on a bustling corner of East 23rd Street. But not all residents have welcomed the presence of the world's largest convenience store chain.

Seven-Eleven Japan Co. said Thursday that it would launch a $1.2-billion cash tender offer for the 27.3% stake it doesn't already own in its U.S. affiliate, 7-Eleven Inc., in a move to take the world's largest convenience store chain private. Seven-Eleven Japan -- which is Japan's largest convenience store operator with more than 10,000 locations -- is 51% owned by Ito-Yokado, a Japanese retailer and Denny's restaurant franchisee. The company, which already holds 72.7% of the U.S.

The former manager of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Studio City pleaded no contest Thursday to increasing prices of food and other supplies after the Northridge earthquake. Mohiuddin (Dallas) Chowdhury admitted raising the prices of items sold at the store by more than 10% to capitalize on the needs of people affected by the Jan. 17, 1994, temblor, said Mike Qualls of the Los Angeles city attorney's office.

The 7-Eleven mini-market that opened in Montebello Wednesday looks a lot like other 7-Eleven stores in the area: The "Slurpee" soda machines are in place, and the aisles are stocked with the latest snacks. But unlike many other markets, this shop is not being operated by a for-profit franchisee.

Convenience-store leader 7-Eleven Inc., the nation's largest retailer of tobacco products, has agreed to toughen its procedures to catch underage shoppers who try to buy tobacco products. In a deal covering stores in about 30 states, including California, 7-Eleven agreed not to place tobacco signs next to products popular with minors, to ban vending machines for tobacco and remove outward-facing window signs for tobacco within 500 feet of schools or playgrounds.

For most of us, 7-Eleven's the place where you stand in line to buy a Slurpee and try to guess which month those hot dogs were put on the grill. It's probably not your first, second or even 10th choice for lunch. Maybe that's about to change. In a cooler in the back called "Big Eats," they've introduced a new line of wraps. How does a $3.69 turkey wrap with fire-roasted corn and black beans in a blue- corn tortilla sound?