7-ELEVEN: Is 7-Eleven a Good Franchise to Own?

43 thoughts on “7-ELEVEN: Is 7-Eleven a Good Franchise to Own?”

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• I am a Field Consultant for 7 Eleven and I hear everything from FZ’s listed above. I have been in the C-Store Industry for 20 years doing everything from Managing, opening new stores to a Consultant. 7 Eleven is a great company and well put together. I feel that most just expect things to happen, I find consulting a challenge when it is apparent that everyone just expects things to happen. As a Franchisee, you have so much control on how GREAT things can be. I go in and start from the ground up, basics of the business and try to show how all of the small details play such a big part in continued success. How to “WIN” over 1 new guest everyday, the power of suggestive selling, freshing assortment, clean and sparkley stores, fresh assortment, sampling and having the right associates, in the right place, doing the right things. Never settle, never stop “thinking outside the box”, get involved in the community. The possibilities are endless and it doesn’t happen overnight. I teach FZ’s how to pick the right teams, I assist with training, I do suggestive selling roleplays with their staff to show them how easy it is and the difference they can make. ONLY to find they don’t continue and just settle. It is frustrating to invest time and not get the buy in… I care and you should BELIEVE~

• If I only had the money to become a franchisee what a difference I would make. I enjoy sharing and genuinely am excited to see great things happen.

  Good luck!!

• Field Consultant
  You do not have any first hand experience of operating a store and yet you advise on right things and what to BELIEVE? Nice!

  Are there any corporate owned stores? Will corporate put you in-charge of that? I guess not. I am glad that you do not have money. You do not realize, if the store is not making money, only way out of this trap is to go bankrupt. Be thankful that you are not working for free and paid for such a horrible life.

• My stores ALL make money. I have both corporate and franchise stores. I work hard to build solid infrastructure in my corporate stores so they are profitable and ready to franchise. In 1 year I have half my corporate stores getting ready to franchise. And, my franchisee’s have good stores making money and I work hard to influence them in the power they can have to make things GREAT…

  I enjoy and take great pride in going above and beyond to show them the different ways to grow and keep their guests coming back. I have built strong relationships in the community and have a great reputation for what I have accomplished and the customers know me in every store I oversee. I actually have 18 years operating 7 different stores, training manager and was the lead in my Market.

  I have taken stores and tripled sales over several years and know first hand the possibilities are endless. Get into the schools, local businesses, car dealerships, repair businesses, banks, volunteer and sponsor groups in the community. Network and get yourself involved and create a culture in your store that sets high standards from any other store. Shop your competion to see what they offer and what their service is like. The service is horrible in most of the competion and guests have the choice to shop anywhere, but, WILL choose to shop where they are treated great, in a clean store, where the associates are friendly.

  Give the guests something to talk about, keep them coming back and they will tell others. My Managers ALL must be top notch with the best staff and I set the expectation and am involved in everything they do. I takes time to build a great business and if you invest time in your people you will have success. It is important that employees are happy and enjoy working and they are the ones, the face of your business and they are who the guests come to see. Never give up and remember that everything you do should be for the guest.

  I have been consulting for a little over a year and took a horrible sub group from failing to being top in my Market and every one of my stores are now making money with the best results and we are not finished yet. Our great results have gotten attention and others are trying to catch up. I promise if you commit fully and never lose focus you will make a difference….

• And remember to always make things FUN and exciting…. Create fun challenges around sales between associates every week and reward them with things that cost your nothing, such as a weekend off, working first shift the following week or something similar that makes them feel appreciated. Motivate them to love what they do and they will reward you back…

• That sounds real good FC…..let me guess you are in an area where 7-eleven is the big dog in the market…..what about areas where brite shiny new operators build 6000 sq ft palaces and SEI slaps a coat of cheap paint on an old horse? The Wawa’s and QT’s of the world kick SEI’s behind all over the place. Doing your happy dance routine is something I did too BUT IF SEI WONT INVEST IN REMODELS AND ADVERTISING your are playing to an empty house. Customer counts have steadily declined EVERY YEAR since 1992 coincidently at the same time the Japanese became obsessed with “item by item control”. SEI is so focus inwardly the outside world walked away….it may be too late…..go into any store in the vital morning day part and all you see is empty coffee and two people flying about with their order terminals in a sweat…..God forbid if the modem is down….what was truly a great brand with great products has become a shell of its former self……very sad.

• I need to remind everyone…it was and is franchisees who have been the innovators with 7-11. First fountain drinks: franchisee 7-11 response “you can’t do that!” First hot coffee to go: franchisee….7-11 response “you can’t do that!” First hot dogs to go: franchisee….7-11 response “you can’t do that!” More new ideas were implemented by franchise owners trying to build sales than any hairball idea that ever came out of an HQ bldg. anywhere……sadly those days are going and fading fast

• My Grandfather knew the man that started this company and even commented saying ” The founder of 7 eleven would be disappointed with stores being outdated ” My opinion is they are. Wawa has dominated my area and continues to grow.

• When the top management at SEI went on the “centralization” kick several years ago it accelerated the disconnect between stores and decision makers. Some things make sense to centralize (accounting etc) but making ALL merchandising decisions in Dallas is insane…..who better knows the customer in a Baltimore or Orlando than the folks there….just look at the “MADE FRESH YESTERDAY” food offerings….southwest mayo may make sense in the southwest BUT on the east coast I need a kosher style dog or a real Polish….not some cowboy interpretation…who better to sell a lavash (don’t know what that is…look it up) than a Detroit store…..pierogi’s in Chicago anyone? All the brain trust in DFW knows is jalapeno peppers…..and they wonder why they struggle to sell food…oh I forgot blame the franchisee!! The Wawa’s and QT’s and Sheetz’s outperform 7-11 because they market their fewer stores to the concentrated markets they are in…

• Poor FC is full of BS.
  We operated two reasonably high volume stores in the Southern California Division and it was NOT the FC or anyone else from SEI who made those sales happen. We had what we believe were two of the most experienced and knowledgeable FC’s in the system, and they came from different retail environments prior to working for 7-Eleven. They both fully understood that diversity within community was a driving factor and not what someone in the “Dallas Palace” dreamed up. (everyone remember from “The Undercover Boss”, “pizzandwich”? What a wet dream that was. Whoever came up with that should never be allowed to work in retail, and whoever believed it was a good idea should…. well you get my drift. There are some good stores and some good FC’s, and then there are those store that should have been closed or remodeled 15 years ago and the FC’s who just blindly follow anyone. A 7-Eleven Franchise was once a great, fun business to operate. Even when we entered the system you had a reasonable amount of freedom to actually “run your own store” and “live the dream”. That was before the Japanese decided to “change our culture”. Today, I would not take a 7-Eleven store if they gave it to me without having to pay a Franchise fee. I am ambitious and i wouldn’t take them if they offered me three or four of them. No how, no way!!!
  DO NOT PAY FOR A 7-ELEVEN FRANCHISE!!! DO NOT TAKE ONE IF THEY OFFER IT FOR FREE!! UNLESS YOU ARE SOMEONE WITH MORE MONEY THAN SENSE, OR USED TO BEING A FOLLOWER AND TOLD WHAT TO DO AND WHEN TO DO IT, RUN AWAY FROM ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU IT WOULD BE A GREAT INVESTMENT! 7-ELEVEN SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL AUTHORITIES FOR THE MISLEADING AND FALSE STATEMENTS THEY PUT IN THEIR ADS AND AGREEMENTS.

  Joe DiPinto once said that ex-military make great franchisees. That’s because they are used to saying “yes sir” and “how high” and following ORDERS without question. Doesn’t that tell you something about what they really want??

  I recently met with a group of “Franchise Attorneys” and their consensus was that NOT ONE OF THEM WOULD RECOMMEND PURCHASING A 7-ELEVEN FRANCHISE!”

  Head their advise, stay away from this system.

• The best and easy solution for all the poor FZ’s is to call your state attorney general and your local congressman.
  I did it last week atleast they gave us the hope that they are willing to look into it and then probably investigate the matter.
  So please do call your local politicians and attorney general.
  Time is running out you need to do it now as SEI will think no one is above them.

• Call your local FOA and contact them as lot is happening.Ask them for updates.
  BE BRAVE ATLEAST AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FOA
  DO NOT BE COWARD AND AFRAID THIS SEI KNOWS THAT THEY WILL THERATEN AND THROW A PIECE OF BONE AND KNOWS HOW TO SHUT YOU DOWN.
  PLEASE DO NOT BECOME THEIR PIECE OF ANIMAL.
  THEY DO TREAT YOU LIKE ANIMAL. OR PROBABLY WORST THEN ANIMAL.
  PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

• Unfortunately state attorney general’s will rarely get involved in franchise disputes, as they are not classified as consumer protection issues.

  7-Eleven franchisees may want to contact franchisee attorney Jerry Marks at Marks & Klein because he is interested in possibly pursuing a class action on behalf of 7-Eleven franchisees. He is representing franchisee Sodhi but speaking to many others. Here’s his info:

  http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/resource-directory/franchise-attorney/jerry-marks/

• United we stand, divided we fall.
  Even the weak become strong when they are united
  Unity without verity is no better than conspiracy
  Customer Review for 7-Eleven, Inc.:

  ——————————————————————————–
  22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
  Review:
  September 5, 2011
  Reviewer:
  Frustrated 7-Eleven Mafia Franchisee from NY,MO,CO,TX,CA,WA everywhere.
  Review Title::
  7-Eleven A Very Bad Franchise, A Total MAFIA like Operation!.
  Rating:
  1 Star (or Unacceptable).
  Review:
  Dear Prospective Business Owners !!

  I have been a 7-eleven Franchisee for past 2 years. This is a TOTAL MAFIA operation, please DO NOT fall for them. They mistreat their franchisees on different levels, neither good accounting infastructure nor maintenance infastructure.

  They make various promises as you are signing up for their franchise but the ones who make the promise disappear or make a 360 degree turn on their commitment. Old stores and equipment which keep on breaking and expect you to get fixed and pay and on top of it have the audacity to ask and force you through their different cheap legal business tactics to keep shining their almost dead equipments around the store such as old hotdog grills, sandwich case , bathrooms , floor tiles etc.

  They keep finding ways to charge its franchisees for various things and take their hardworking monies from them. On their mistaken charges it takes months and years to get your money back, their accounting ways and gross profit sharing is completely controlled by them like MAFIA like they have an on off button as to how much money you should make and keep slogging yourself like a modern day slave for their profits with no empathy of ones commitment to their family.

  Their merchandise ordering system is again so slow and frustrating and their stupid FORMULA of ordering F+M-I=O which these idiots swear by and are so wrong about and embarrassed but cant even take it back. 7-Eleven idiots if F or Forcasting is wrong to begin with then nothing in left over formula matters and but these idiots cant even go back on their idiot ways of doing business.

  I challange their President the very idiot Joe De Pinto to manage low profile store and employees on min. wage as a franchisee with no future for your employees and no family life, you will break and run away in 7sec and runaway in the 11sec. but its easy to sit in nice ac office with polished black shoes with your feet on table and allow this degree of disrespect for your current hard working franchisees and for future businessmen and investors who are considering investing their hard earned money with 7-Eleven in any way. SHAME SHAME on 7-Eleven the Mafia Convenience Store Business. Thank God for Heaven but 7-Eleven Mafia Corporate belongs in HELL, God If you are listening punish these idiots for their sins.

• It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today
  a franchisor is not the franchisee’s parent, and the franchisee is not the franchisor’s child. They are businesspeople in a contractual relationship – and that is the reality.

  Fraud and Misrepresentation
  Fraud in connection with the sale of franchises is so serious that the Federal Trade Commission and a third of the states have singled it out for special treatment under the law. In some states, it is a criminal violation. In all states, fraud is unlawful.

  What is Fraud or Misrepresentation?
  If your franchisor did not deliver the franchise that it told you it was selling, or if what you got is not what you bought, you may have a claim against your franchisor for fraud. Ask yourself these questions:

  Did the franchisor, a broker or someone on the franchisor’s behalf talk about how much money you could make in order to get you to buy the franchise?

  Did the franchisor tell you it had a “proprietary,” “unique” or “patented” system, product or service when it did not?

  Did the franchisor tell you that its system was “proven,” but you’ve since found out it’s not – or the franchisor has changed the system so that it’s different from what you were told?

  Were you promised training, support and assistance that never materialized?

  If the answer to any one of these questions is yes, or if you feel you’ve been misled in some other way, then you very well might be the victim of fraud.

  What are my rights?
  If you’ve been victimized by franchise fraud, you have the right, in most cases, to obtain damages in an amount that will put you back to the position you were in before you bought the franchise. In some states, you may have the right to multiple or punitive damages. In many states, you have the right to sue not only the franchisor, but also its owners and officers.
  Investor Protection and Securities Bureau
  New York State Office of the Attorney General
  120 Broadway
  New York, New York 10271
  (212) 416-8200 (phone)
  (212) 416-8816 (fax)
  COMPLAINT FORM
  Consumer Hotline For Hearing Impaired
  1 (800) 771-7755 TDD (800) 788-9898
  http://www.ag.ny.gov
  Instructions for filing a complaint:
  1. Please type or print clearly
  2. Please complete the entire form
  3. Please enclose copies of any documents relating to this complaint
  1. YOUR NAME: 2. DATE:
  3. YOUR ADDRESS:
  4. HOME PHONE: 5. BUSINESS PHONE:
  6. COMPANY NAME:
  7. COMPANY ADDRESS: 8. COMPANY PHONE:
  9. SALESPERSONS NAME:
  10. DATE OF TRANSACTION: 11: NATURE OF INVESTMENT:
  12. TOTAL AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT: $
  13. DID YOU COMPLAIN TO THE COMPANY?
  YES NO
  14 IF YES, WHEN?:
  15. TO WHOM DID YOU COMPLAIN?
  16. DO YOU HAVE AN ATTORNEY?
  17. IF THERE COURT ACTION PENDING?
  18. DID YOU RECEIVE THE SECURITY YOU PURCHASED?
  19 FULLY EXPLAIN THE NATURE OF YOUR COMPLAINT:
  Signature: __________________________________________________
  Date:______________________________ Complaint taken by ____________________ ( ) Mailed in
  Return To:
  Investor Protection and Securities Bureau
  New York State Office of the Attorney General
  120 Broadway
  New York, New York 10271

• For those Field Consultants that think a 711 Franchise is such a great business to OWN, get a life. Did your Market Manager tell what to write?
  Are you afraid of losing your job like the most of FC’s I know? Most HATE their M Ms . Some say It is a job they don’t wish on anyone to have, but they have families to feed.
  I am a successful Franchisee that has been around before and after 2007 people took over, so I know what I am talking about , at least I felt I OWNED a business not a job. I made more money by making my own decisions and felt it was part of a partnership. FCs were able actually to work with us understanding we were INDEPENDENT business partners.
  How is the turnover rate on FC’s nowadays? Do you know? Check it out it will tell you a lot about 711.
  Recently I have seen to many of my fellow franchisees HURT AND LIED by 711 to let no response to your comments.

• if you purchase a 7-Eleven FZ store, do you get any money from the ATM’s – if so how many transactions per month. Do you get a percent of the ATM fees- or does SEI keep all this money?
  Also – how much money do you make from Redbox machines per month or quarter on average?

• You get a “piece of the piece” ….I get 700-800 dollars a month on ATM not sure how many t-counts that is and about 200 on red box in both cases 7-11 adds this to the GP calculation and takes half, plus out of that revenue stream SEI takes a rent and utility “fee” before sharing anything with store.

• “A piece?’…..more like a sniff and a lick of the scoop at a Friendly’s after they make a big sundae.

• I love my 2 stores and income and at 4300000.00 and 38gp one just has to work the system and yes its not what we thought but my family is all working together to over come issues that run very deep…
  Thank god we have a strong FOA team, helping us

  The posts from FC are fair, but are complaints are fair also, 7-11 shouldn’t sell off stores that they know the new FZ can not make earning.

  the gas income is a joke, I sell a total of 300000+ gals a month and takes a lot of work and maintiance to keep up the grounds

  But I sell any product I wish, delete any product that doesn’t, I sell beer and cig but that isn’t the goal… hotfood and coffee soda slurpee

  small coffee 1.00 not 1.25, and they leave me alone

• Everyone,

  If your soooo unhappy sell your stores, take the money you have and go elsewhere. Why give yourself the headache of a job you don’t love?

• Sell to who? For how much? SEI has franchise fees so high franchisee can no longrr get decent goodwill on a sale. Soon noone will want to buy theee at any price.

• Franchise Faux says “If your soooo unhappy sell your stores…”

  Ask Danny Wong if it’s that easy. He claims he found a buyer, sent them to SEI and SEI sold them a corporate store. Then when the allotted sales period was up, they moved to take his store because he hadn’t sold it.

  http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/7-eleven-targets-portland-franchise-for-seizure/

• Do not spend your money here. As with any business, there are good people and bad people. I’ve witnessed very good FCs but most I’ve seen are horrible. The good ones are people that have been in the system a long time. They understand what needs to be done and can truly provide insight as to what works and what doesn’t. The new ones are mostly bad. They were brought in with the new culture which is less consultative and more focused on adherence to policy. Also, they are new and do not have any frame of reference to make suggestions. Many are unhappy themselves. When we transitioned our store, the FC was in the office, playing games on his phone and on Monster.com looking up jobs. The store (was a corporate store) was loaded with out of code food that I had to personally try to find. It’s interesting in that this brand new corporate store would not have passed their own audits.

  Sell the franchise is a joke. The fees are too high. Stay away from it as much as possible. I was out of Denver and the experience was the worse experience of my life. DO NOT BUY!

• 7eleven Australia is even worst, i owned the franchise for so many years and the franchisor cheat the money every month with an average of $2000 by accounting and system errors on the top of taking the 57% of Gross profit from merchandise sales. they pays only 1 cent/litre on thr fuel and all drive offs you have to pay. Franchisor insists the franchisees to hire the international students and train the franchisees regarding how to pay $10 an hour and record $22 an hour on books.
  7eleven franchisor controls all accounting and its errors and when you complain to correct it they never listen to you, they says check the reports it is explained over there or sell the store if you are unhappy. average franchisee earns aprrox. $3000-$6000 a month after investing aprox. 800K AUD and working above 50 hours per week. Be careful, everything that glitters is not gold. This business is great for franchisor and shit for franchisees

• It is a simple scam, 7-eleven’s goal is to franchise all store for the simple reason that franchising is the only way for them to survive, by franchising the will get a slave that will pay them to work for free. Just by doing the Math you will agree with me, in my case I paid $200K for a store. I am working as a manager of the store this way I can save money on pay roll and by the end of the month taking the 50% share 7eleven takes from you and all the maintenance fees, I only end up with between $4k and 5k, no more than $5,000.00 per month, this means that I am only getting pay for my work (salary) but you will never see the return of your investment. 7 eleven on the monthly financial statements will take everything from you, they will charge you for maintenance on equipment that they never maintain and if they break, you have to pay for the repair. The worst month come when they do the Audit, that particular month you end up in negative, 7 eleven will charge you for items missing and you and only you are responsible for this charge, so by this and many other issues that occurs in a daily 24 hrs 7eleven store operations, DO NOT INVEST with 7ELEVEN, you will regret and you will never get your money back, you will be a slave for 7 eleven for the time of your franchise agreement.

• Alex, you summed it up well. It is a losing proposition. Tony, you are correct also. A good part of the challenge is trying to wade through the reports to ensure that you are being charged correctly. In most cases, you will need to spend significant effort trying to fight charges that are in appropriate, but they are your responsibility to fight. And again, as a new franchisee you will be on your own or dependent upon the goodwill of other franchisees to help you wade through the myriad of reports and know which ones really matter. The FCs are unable to understand even the simplest financial reports. The reason, few have ever run a store other than their one month opportunity to run the store, even though they have an experienced store manager watching over them. The audits are a joke and are a painful process. I’ve seen gigantic swings from one audit to another with little accountability on the audit company since they are managed by corporate 7-Eleven. The people are rude and could care less what the franchisee thinks. Again, you are not the true business owner. Corporate 7-eleven manages the relationship, therefore that is who they are focused on pleasing. You are not truly the owner. You are an employee at best. I will reinforce what has been said. If you want to invest several hundred thousand dollars to hopefully take home $60k a year, best wishes.

• I was planning to invest in 7-11 store, but reading all negative, I will look in other investment.i don’t like people who are not smarter then me, telling me how to run a business.

• Ranjit – can you share what other opportunities are you looking at?

• I too will no longer invest in seven eleven after doing my own due diligence and talking to several franchisees. They are now offering underperforming stores without franchise fee..glad I didn’t fall for trap. I will be finding another investment opportunity because of how management treats it’s franchisees.

• 7 – Eleven are pure evil crooks! They lie and cheat on financials find excuses. It takes them seconds. To take money from you. And you have to jump through hoops to get the money back. They work hand and glove with maintenance and vendors at your expense.

  If you are making average salary at your job do not even think about getting a 7 Eleven. It’s a mixed bag not all franchises are rolling in money. Some are struggling to make ends meet with extra head ache. The field consultants are touts who distort the realities. If it’s such a great bargain then they should quit their jobs and become franchisees!

• How much would you make if 711 showed your gross at $185,000?

• Can you net 33% of your gross profit if you work 40 hrs. Weekly as manager

• In answer to your question, in simple terms that leave no doubt…..NO!

• You do the math…15400 month in Gross Profit $ to pay your labor (which is headed to $15 HR and you are open 24hrs) plus taxes and insurance any shortages of cash and merchandise. Monthly maintenance on old bRosen equipment….license fees worders comp, security expenses….get the picture? IF….IF you walked out wit 20K yr it is bease you, your wif and kid’s ran the store yourself..

• You do the math…15400 month in Gross Profit $ to pay your labor (which is headed to $15 HR and you are open 24hrs) plus taxes and insurance any shortages of cash and merchandise. Monthly maintenance on old bRosen equipment….license fees worders comp, security expenses….get the picture? IF….IF you walked out wit 20K yr it is bease you, your wif and kid’s ran the store yourself..

• I have a friend who runs a store for a Franchisee and pays him $8000 a month.
  Pretty much a rent agreement. He claims he makes a good living.
  This what made me look into buying a 7-11.
  I read a lot of bad experiences and it seems like it’s impossible to make that kind of money.
  Any thoughts

• What city? What are sales? Gross Profit Percent? Yes that is possible. …but not the norm. Each location is different. …sell cigarettes and beer good sales, lousy GP% high theft…sell much food service, high labor and cost control makes or breaks you.

• I read that 2 years ago before buying a 7-ELEVEN but didn’t trust comments above and I am feeling angry and upset that why I didn’t trust those comments and safe myself from destroying my future now I am going to file bankruptcy and about to lose my store for not even a penny getting back from 7-ELEVEN. This company is nothing but a Fraud they lie in beginning and made us sign the contract without reading it but all they said was wrong. I can’t even afford to have a lawyer and I didn’t even have a $100 in my pocket after spend hundred of thousand dollar anyway this company is scam but nothing more. Beware from it and safe your and your family future from investing in it.

• Please don’t consider becoming a 7 Eleven franchise after 41 years as a franchisee I just sold my store and retired, At one time it was a great business to own but it isn’t any longer. All the negative things said are true. Do your self a favor and run from this company. They lie, steal and cheat you at every opportunity. corporate greed is out of control, I’m actually surprised that the government continues to allow all the things that they do and get away with. This is a company with no respect for its employees or franchisees

• Having worked in 7-Eleven’s system, I have to say that the company treats its franchisees like slaves. It is a brutally miserable system with an intentionally confusing accounting system meant to keep their franchisees in the dark about how badly the franchisor rips them off. It has only gotten worse since they began expelling any franchisees who spoke out against this insane system. It was once a great franchise 20 to 30 years ago, but has continually gone downhill. The fact that company has hired so many stooges to simp for them online shows how desperate they are for new franchisees. All his while they’re closing stores left and right!