Freshly cooked: 7-Eleven’s quest to conquer Thailand

Well hi there! You're looking good today. What have you been up to? Never mind... I don't really need to know. I'm glad you're here so fill your mug with some robust Bob's Special Dark Roast coffee (no elephants were harmed in the making of our coffee) and snag a virtual treat or two...unless you stopped off at 7-Eleven on the way here and are already full. Speaking of 7-Eleven...

7-Eleven has reportedly launched an a la carte meal booth inside one of its stores on Soi Prachasongkroh 23 in the Din Daeng area of Bangkok, Thailand.

While some have speculated the booth probably serves the usual frozen meals, others pointed out a sign on the bottom left of the photo which said  “every meal is freshly cooked, ready to serve.”

Rice with pork, gravy BBQ pork with steamed rice, fried rice served in an omelette, and different types of noodles come at prices from THB35 to THB55. These are favourites of students and, not surprisingly, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce is located nearby.

7-Eleven or 7-11 is part of an international chain of convenience stores. 7-Eleven is the world's largest operator, franchisor, and licensor of convenience stores with more than 50,000 outlets. This number surpassed the previous record-holder, McDonald's Corporation, in 2007, by approximately 1,000 retail stores.

7-Eleven branded stores under parent company Seven & I Holdings Co. The stores are located in 16 countries with its largest markets being Japan (15,000), the United States (7,800), Thailand (6,800), Indonesia, Canada, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore.

7-Eleven, Inc. is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, while its globally operating parent company, Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd., is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In turn, the holding company of Seven-Eleven Japan is Seven & I Holdings Co. Ltd.

Stores in Canada all seem to be in Ontario or the West. 22 in Toronto. None in Ottawa or the thriving community of Cornwall. I remember reading about their expansion within Thailand a few years back. At the time they had 3600 stores there and were aiming for 10,000. As you can see a couple paragraphs above, they are well on their way with a current 6,800 stores in the Kingdom. Is Thailand a moneymaker for them or what? Maybe Nong and I ought to get a franchise, eh? Maybe one in 
Cornwall?

On second thought, I just looked at the initial costs:

• A one-time initial franchise fee based on the store’s gross profit . The range of this fee is from $50,000 to $750,000, however, the actual fees depend on the store you select
• A down payment on the store’s inventory, supplies, business licenses, permits, bonds (approximately $29,000)

 I may wait a few days...

See ya, eh!

Bob