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."
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.
Today, 7.11.08, 7-Eleven locations will celebrate the company's 81st birthday by handing out free slurpees!
When I was in high school, I served as Editor-at-Large for my school's super intense newspaper, The Black & White. We'd publish about every two weeks, and spend every Tuesday and Wednesday of those weeks holed up in our cozy office until 10 p.m., when we'd pack up the school's computers (I'm not sure if our adviser knew that we did this) and take them to our houses to continue working for the rest of the night.
On the way home, we'd stop by 7-Eleven for late-night snacks. My one friend would always fill up a double-gulp of Code Red, and the rest of us would stock up on Slurpees and Swedish Fish. I can't drink one without remembering how cool we thought we were, zipping around in our parents cars at 10 p.m. on a school night, sipping slurpees.
In honor of the memory I'm going to swing by a 7-Eleven today for a Coke-flavored one. What flavor will you be getting?
According to our sister site Gadling, a dozen 7-Eleven stores across North America have now been transformed into the fictional convenience store Quik-E-Mart (yes, I spelled it wrong) Kwik-E-Mart. The change will last for the month of July to help promote the upcoming Simpsons movie which is due for release on July 27.
Apparently, the 6,000 or so other 7-Eleven stores that weren't converted have also jumped on the promotional bandwagon by selling Simpsons-related snack items such as Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal, and - you guessed it - the infamous Squishee. In fact, one flavor of 7-Eleven's own Slurpee will be sold as "WooHoo! Blue Vanilla" Squishee for the month.
Sadly though, they will not be offering Duff Beer.
You can see a full listing of the renovated locations via the link below.
Do you pick up coffee in the morning? Well, if your regular cup of java isn't quite doing it for you, 7-Eleven has now released a new 'Fusion Energy' coffee with natural herbal extracts to help kick-start your day.
Their Exclusive Blend coffee is infused with all-natural herbs including guarana, ginseng, and yerba maté, which they believe will boost your energy and sharpen mental alertness. The flavor, however, is supposedly no different than their regular coffee.
The product was tested at Canadian 7-Eleven stores last summer, and has now been launched nationally in the United States.
A few months ago Nick mentioned that Fizzy Fruit may be introduced into some schools. Well many years before it made the news I tried my hand at making my own fizzy fruit at home. I had heard about the idea a few years earlier from people in the brewing industry when I was an assistant brewer during grad school in Seattle. It's pretty easy to do. I used an empty soda syrup keg, filled it with assorted fruit, added CO2 under pressure, and chilled it overnight. This carbonated the fruit, the same way soda is carbonated, so that it fizzed with tiny bubbles like champagne when you ate it.
Looking back, it was fellow blogger Joe D who taste tested that first batch with me in the winter of 1996/1997. Personally I didn't think much of most of the fruit. They all tasted good, and the fizz was fun, but except for the grapes, the fizz was more annoying than anything else. With the grapes it was actually enjoyable. I guess because they were small, sweet and tart, and you could pop whole ones in your mouth. I never thought the idea was going to go anywhere, but I guess it has.
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.
Today, 7.11.08, 7-Eleven locations will celebrate the company's 81st birthday by 
According to our sister site 
Do you pick up coffee in the morning? Well, if your regular cup of java isn't quite doing it for you, 7-Eleven has now released a new '
A few months ago Nick mentioned that 
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