Wherever you go today, there seems to be a convenience store at the corner of an intersection. And 7-11 is king of the convenience store world. In fact, he could even be considered the father of the convenience store world considering the age of the company. Today the company is a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co. of Japan, but this was not always the case.

7-11 began in 1927 in Dallas, Texas, by a man named Joe C. Thompson. You see, Mr. Thompson, who was an employee of the Southland Ice Company, had an idea. In the days before refrigerators, you needed to buy blocks of ice to keep everything cold. Well, Mr. Thompson, who worked at an ice plant, thought that he could make some money selling basic items like milk, eggs, and bread right off the dock, since he had a lot of ice. He focused on convenience items and the fact that he could keep them cold. This was something that other merchants in the area could not do.

Needless to say, Mr. Thompson’s idea was a success. So much so that Mr. Thompson was able to purchase the Southland Ice Company, which he renamed the Southland Corporation. He soon had several locations in the Dallas area. It was because of the hours their stores kept that the stores were named 7-11 in 1946. It was unheard of for other merchants in the area to open at 7 a.m. and not close until 11 p.m. By 1952, 7-11 had opened its store number 100. In 1961, the company was incorporated under the name of The Southland Corporation.

It was in 1962 that the idea of ​​the 24-hour store was first tested in Austin, Texas. 24-hour stores were soon established in Las Vegas, Fort Worth, and Dallas. For the next 35 years, business as usual as the company continued to steadily expand. But in 1987 the company would be dramatically shaken by the stock market crash. That was the year that John Philip Thompson, the CEO and son of the founder of 7-11, would attempt a $5.2 billion management buyout. The company had tried to obtain high-yield debt financing, but was unable to meet its need due to the crisis. The company was forced to sell part of its shares to attract investors to its bonds.

Within a few years it was on the brink of bankruptcy until Ito-Yokado, the largest franchisee, bailed it out. However, soon the Japanese company gained control of 7-11 and all of its stores. In 2005, Ito-Yokado formed Steven & I Holdings Co. with 7-11 Inc. as a subsidiary. And while the family that originally formed the company no longer owns it, they have created a global icon in the convenience store business. If you say you’re headed to 7-11, everyone knows you’re headed to the corner store. Although nowadays you can buy a little more than milk, eggs and bread.