"7-11" news and stories

This week, convenience-store chain 7-Eleven announced it would begin carrying its own budget brand of beers, dubbed Game Day. The news made me do a double take, nearly causing me spit out the sublimely hoppy Stone IPA I was drinking. Was 7-Eleven angling to be my low-cost craft-beer salvation?

Mmm...not exactly. As expected, the decision was driven less by a desire to sell great brews than the bottom line. Beer purchases in convenience stores dipped 4 percent last year, according to research group SymphonyIRI -- nearly double domestic beer sales' 2.2 percent decline.

But the silver lining is that purchases of sub-premium beers (Keystone Light, Natural Light) actually ticked up. Customers haven't stopped drinking. They just want to pay less for a buzz.

Sometimes this gambit pays off, such as the medal-winning Mission Street pale ales and IPAs that California's Firestone Walker brews for Trader Joe's. But brand-wise, Trader Joe's sits on a slightly more elevated plane than a convenience store selling unnaturally glistening, endlessly rotating hot dogs.


Would you buy budget beer from 7-Eleven? Spill it in the comments.

Look out Two-Buck Chuck. The home of the Slurpee and the Big Gulp is launching a line of value-priced wines targeting consumers looking for a boozy bargain during these tough economic times.

7-Eleven plans to sell a $3.99 Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay under the proprietary "Yosemite Road" label at its stores in the United States and Japan.

"The consumer is really pinched as far as discretionary income," Kevin Elliott, senior vice president of merchandising and logistics of Dallas-based 7-Eleven, Inc., told the Associated Press. "We're seeing a lot of success in products that really resonate on a value basis."

Hot Food Display, Photo provided by 7-Eleven.

7-Eleven is taking a "big gulp" out of the fast food industry. The convenience store will sell pizza and chicken tenders in 1,400 stores nationwide to offset lagging tobacco sales.

The new hot food program offers items such as whole or by-the-slice four-cheese and pepperoni pizza; chicken tenders; sausage, egg and cheese breakfast quesadillas; hash brown potatoes and three flavors of chicken wings.

The chain will be able to serve the pizzas using high-speed TurboChef ovens, which combine radiant heat, microwave and convection cooking methods to cook foods 12 times faster than the standard oven, the company says.

Margaret Chabris, a spokeswoman for 7-Eleven, told Slashfood Friday that each oven is equipped with a credit-card sized card that automatically programs the method and the cooking time for the various menu items. The ovens cook a 7-Eleven pizza in 90 seconds and the wings in 3 minutes.

The controversial energy drink, Cocaine, has been banned by 7-Eleven convenience stores, after the company received numerous complaints from parents about the drink. The drug-like effects promised to teens by a drink named after a drug crossed the line with them, especially considering that the beverage is marketed to teens. A spokeswoman said "the product's name promotes an image which we didn't want to be associated with." And 7-Eleven isn't the only company that feels this way. Many other stores in Chicago and New York have pulled the drink from shelves.

Representatives from the drink company said that "the company wasn't glorifying an illegal drug" - even though it seems that way to just about everyone. They also say that Cocaine will be available through Amazon soon, so teens in areas that don't sell it can get their fix that way.

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More and more stores are stocking the shelves with private label goods. This is especially evident in grocery stores, but it is spreading to convenience stores, as well. 7-Eleven has just introduced its own "Big Gulp" brand of sodas and candy bars, all marketed as "value priced" alternatives to major brands. The soda is sold in 2L bottles and comes in five flavors: cola, root beet, lemon lime, orange and cranberry-raspberry. The first four will clearly compete with national brands, but the cran-raspberry might be positioned to compete with juice drinks, despite the fact that it is carbonated. The chocolate bars will be available in milk chocolate and in dark chocolate with rice crisps. The company is also planning 20-oz bottled drinks and energy/sports drinks in the near future.

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