― James Joyce, Ulysses
One of the things I abosolutely love is the feeling of being anonymous in a city I've never been before.
Walking around, looking whatever and not caring about speding time in observing.
It's been almost 5 years since I came back.. but who knows why.... you really never come back from a journey or...if you do... you are not the same person anymore.
Yeh... I know... a commonplace :) but damn true!!
I have actually to thank a person for that...I have never written about him and I don't even think that I'll start now to write about this person... but everyone has an epiphany in one's life and my breakup was exactly that... I usually like to define it a moment of impact... but this time I prefer to bother Joyce and to steal his words..."epiphany".
“I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real
adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.”
― James Joyce, Dubliners
Well... in my "wanderings", I often ended up in one of those convenience stores... sometimes it was because I was waiting for friends, some other times to take a 1-dollar-capuccino (of course... in its beautiful taking aways cup) and some other times to rest a little bit after a shift or before starting a new one.
I remember there was a standing chair just close to the windows in one of those at the corner between Elizabeth St. and Liverpool St. (in Sydney -- btw, is it still there?) and while sipping my capuccino... I was spending my time in observing people running everywhere... I loved that. That was my first 7-Eleven "meeting".
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Out of curiosity I made some research and I have just learned that it is a Japanese-American international chain of convenience stores founded in 1927 as Tote' m Stores.In 1946, it changed its name into "7-Eleven", for the opening times from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, seven days per week. The first convenience store was born after a Southland Ice Co employee in Dallas started selling milk, eggs and bread from an ice dock.
Today (June 2019), the chain has grown to about 68,000 stores in 17 countries (more than McDonald's just to have an idea). Customers can grab drinks, snacks and everyday products on the go. Its main core is to meet the market needs. It has actually become a real case study. 7-Eleven is a very good example of how a brand needs to and benefit from adapting to a local market.
What does it mean "to adapt to a local market"?
For example, customers in Taiwan can service their bicycles or photocopy at a local 7-Eleven, in Hong Kong they can pay their phone and utility bills, and in the US they can pick-up their online Amazon shopping there.
The first 7-Eleven in Australia opened on August 24, 1977, in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria. One of the main traits of the Australian stores opened in suburban areas was that to operate as petrol stations.
Actually, in 2010, 7-Eleven bought Mobil's remaining Australian petrol stations, converting them to 7-Eleven outlets, resulting in a huge success.
Well...there are other things to tell about its history and its development, but it'll be for another time... now I'm getting a bit tired :)
Just a note:Each year on November 7, 7-Eleven promotes "7-Eleven Day" by giving away a free Slurpee to customers. - so please... do not forget to get yours!!
A man who swears to do something which it is not in his power to do is not accounted a sane man. ― James Joyce, Stephen Hero
