Since the early 1920s modern transportation and communications systems were rapidly
developing within and around cities in the USA and at varying rates throughout much of the
world. The beginnings of the 7-Eleven franchise began in the city now known as Dallas in
the US state of Texas which was going through a rural to urban transformation. At this time
7-Eleven, then known as a Tote’m shop, probably resembled what is now often blandly
identified as ‘mom and pop’ stores. Convenience goods including ice, bread and milk could
easily be picked up on the way home from work without spending too much time or
expending too much energy. From the standpoint of sales and marketing, the main difference
for these Tote’m stores in contrast to the mom and pops stores was that they branded
themselves with a symbolic totem out in front of their stores. This allowed them to expand
and gain familiarity within an increasingly connected network of transportation that
facilitated the integration of lifestyle patterns found in work, social life and residence. The
Tote’m stores continued to spread and develop along with the society and the US economy
until they had emerged as 24 hour convenience stores by the 1960s and had really started to
internationalize themselves in the early 1970s.
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and other services, their geographical concentrations and their focus on the use of modern
information technologies to gain advantage against competition. CP 7-Eleven in Thailand is
no exception as it has shared, borrowed and adapted from these developments. Yet it appears
to have maintained a significant degree of independence and autonomy in the way it manages
its operations. It is possible that its management success with the 7-Eleven brand in Thailand
will allow it to be involved with the 7-Eleven brand in other still developing regional nations
such as Vietnam or even in China.
The expansion of 7-Eleven convenience stores has all taken place in a context of rapid
trade liberalization, increased regional trading arrangements and immense demographic and
spatial shifts in the population that involve significant migration. More recently a global
supermarket revolution has been taking place reconfiguring supply networks of procurement
and often negatively impacting small traditional retailers, particularly in Asia.1
Thailand is
no exception and as one of the world’s top agricultural exporters, feeding four times its
population, it should be no surprise there would be significant retail commercialization in the
food sector of this middle sized capitalist economy. Thailand along with the Philippines is
part of a “second wave” of such retail penetration following the NIC countries of East Asia
and to be soon followed by a “third wave” in China, India and Vietnam. Similar expansions
of Western European retailers have been ongoing and spreading to Eastern Europe and
Russia. This involves the commercialization of food as modern retail venues continually try
to gain control of the lucrative fresh food market, fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile, modern
retail venues such as CP 7-Eleven introduce a diverse and centralized collection of packaged
and processed foods to a more demanding and cash rich public. The internationalization of
the 7-Eleven chain has allowed for diverse patterns of localization and this is particularly
clear in the USA, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.