7-eleven is 24x7
7-Eleven is an American convenience store chain, founded in 1927 under the banner of Tote’m Stores (until 1946). Both the original and changed branding have a certain significance as to why they were named thus. It all began as a company selling ice blocks to homes (a time when household refrigerators weren’t commonplace). Before long, the company switched to selling general retail items. As an attention-grabbing device, it installed Native American totem poles in front of its stores, changing its name to Tote’m Stores – a pun on ‘tote’ (carry) your purchases home. Twenty years later, the chain decided to extend its store timings from 7 in the morning to 11 at night. To reflect this, it changed its name itself to 7-Eleven. Then, in the sixties, thanks to a football game, one store in Texas was forced to remain open well beyond its closing time. Soon, the entire chain began extending timings, ultimately becoming a 24x7 open entity. However, it wisely chose not to change its name to accommodate this. 7-Eleven is now a global giant with over 71,000 stores in 17 countries. They have even entered India in collaboration with Reliance, recently opening their first store in Mumbai.