7-Eleven Headed For Major New York City Expansion

Despite recent, reassuring statistics indicating chains were actually spreading more slowly in New York City, 7-Eleven is determined to reverse the trend with new plans to open 14 stores in just 2012. Even worse, the mega-chain will rapidly increase its presence with 20 locations a year for the next five years.

According to Crain's, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Upper East Side, and already chain-infested midtown are on the roadmap to fall victim to 7-Eleven's neighborhood expansions till 2017.

Vice president of real estate at 7-Eleven insisted, "Between the number of folks living in Manhattan, coupled with the worker population, there's significant demand and opportunity."

Really? When EV Grieve posted news of the chain's new East Village outpost, commentors and neighborhood residents lambasted 7-Eleven's arrival saying, "It's official, 7-Eleven's are the new bedbugs." Another succinctly lamented, "the horror, the horror."

Perhaps even more disturbingly, 7-Eleven's city-wide expansion may also include "working with existing bodega owners to persuade them to transform their businesses into 7-Elevens." Sort of like asking Joe's Pizza to volunteer to become a Pizza Hut.

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Comments

[lavarrock]

10:37 AM on 02/28/2012

I do realize there are millions of people on this tiny island, but no one needs THAT many banks, coffee, or drug stores. At any point, I could see at least 3 or 4 or these on any given corner in manhattan.

[lavarrock]

10:50 AM on 02/28/2012

And Ill take Ben's Pizza over Joe's Pizza anytime. Joe's is great but its always filled with egotistical morons and the price seems to be higher and higher every time I go.

[brklynivn]

08:09 AM on 02/27/2012

Why don't they just stick to Midwestern suburbs or southern exurbs? The last thing anyone wants to see here is a corporate and expensive 7 eleven.

[Pole Dancing for Jesus]

09:45 AM on 02/25/2012

"the horror"? Whatever. Just don't buy anything. These stores don't hurt anybody. And with how expensive food and other necessities are in New York, some will find these stores to be a public service.

[ludichris212]

08:13 PM on 02/24/2012

So what? I'd rather see more 7-11's and less Dunkin Donuts, honestly...

[David Spivak]

12:30 PM on 02/24/2012

7-11 is a hell of a lot better than the corner delis in NYC that sell outdated products and offer very little selection.

[tatansasi]

12:24 PM on 02/24/2012

This article is pure comedy. More stores want to open up and have jobs and places to buy stuff cheaply without old dusty products like the bodegas they will replace...so sad. what a scourge! LOL. I can't. Thank god I left. LOL.

[Sheriff J W Pepper]

10:48 AM on 02/24/2012

7-11's never close down.
All the 7-11's that were open 35 years ago are still there.
They were good for buying beer after 10:00 pm, when all the other stores closed.
Back in the day . . .

[brklynivn]

08:09 AM on 02/27/2012

So keep them in the suburbs what the hell do they want in the city.

[Henry Jumkins]

10:26 AM on 02/24/2012

say it with me now, BO-DE-GAS.

[SeeknDestroy Again]

10:23 AM on 02/24/2012

A large Cherry _Coke_Slurpee_and some_Funyons_please.

[pinetreee]

09:44 AM on 02/24/2012

I LOVE SLURPEES bring on the 7-11 renaissance!!

[mmonzeglio19]

08:58 AM on 02/24/2012

7-11 is great...i get the whole local businesses thing, but we had a store called 'quality convenience' here for a while, and they were cool. but then 7-11 came around, and they are so much better...cry about it all you want, i guarantee you will be visiting the one near you on a regular basis

[skatscan]

09:35 AM on 02/24/2012

7-11s were in Manhattan in the 70s and 80s, So I don't know what the big deal is.

[KarateKid]

08:49 AM on 02/24/2012

I don't know why anyone would shop in Duane Greade, who's prices are outrageously high.

[emmeaki]

09:31 AM on 02/24/2012

Duane Greade, LOL!

Is it just me or were the prices reasonable at one time? I remember going in DR after having not gone into one for a long time and I chose to go elsewhere for better prices.

[MrBadExample]

08:48 AM on 02/24/2012

A massively dumb idea, surely egged on by Bloomie and the borough presidents (Hello Marty Markowitz!). The big chains take money out of the community and send it back to the corporate office in Texas or Delaware. They can lean on the city for deals that no bodega owner would get--tax abatements, changes in rental agreements, etc. And after they've done their damage and wiped out all the local stores, the corporate office decides they're not making the desired profit rate, pulls the plug and neighborhoods are completely underserved. The Borders on 2nd Avenue wiped out local bookstores and specialty record places and then went under--the businesses it trashed aren't coming back. Ditto for all the local coffee places wiped out by Starbucks (now undergoing 'shrinkage'). And Walgreens' buyout of Duane Reade has left a giant retail space on my block empty for the better part of two years.

The bodega owners are also going to keep local suppliers in place--I guarantee you that 7-Eleven will not buy its bagels from local bakeries. And unless the clerks in the local 7-Eleven have stock options, the profits from the local store are going to reinforce the 1% in the form of dividends. The guy who owns the store on the corner is far more likely to give to local charities, support local schools, etc.

I don't plan to shop at 7-Eleven if more of them come here.

[Moarku]

08:44 AM on 02/24/2012

I'd love to know what the bodega equivalent to Joe's Pizza is.

[hilaritee]

11:58 PM on 02/23/2012

NYC, you have my sympathies. 7-11 has just taken over a local convenience chain in Buffalo and is currently converting stores. We are losing a set of stores that customized inventory based upon a neighborhood's needs and "gaining" generic slurpee outlets that stink of rotisserie hot dogs. Buffalo has been historically resistant to supporting national chains, especially restaurants, in favor of local merchants but recently we have had an influx of cheap chains like Dunkin Doughnuts and now 7-11. Not an encouraging trend.