Taking pictures of your ride at sunset is so outdated; cars are part of the gritty city, so forget about ‘nature’ stuff. Instead, use your local 7-Eleven and it’s neon lights as the dramatic backdrop. Seems the home of the Big Gulp has some gearheads working in their marketing department that encourage car content and culture on their official Instagram account using the popular #carsof7eleven hashtag.
Over a million followers and some of the coolest images outside of Car & Driver magazine, all from an random social media trend that’s been going on for years.
7-Eleven is part of car culture, as the popularity of the late-night convenience store grew with vehicle ownership in the 60s. The chain of stores expanded across the country just as the national highways were being built. And in small towns across North America, the 7-Eleven might be the only place to drive to meet up with your buddies and their rides for caffeine, nicotine and gasoline.
In Japan, the 7-Eleven is ubiquitous, and they’re much more upscale than over here. Fresh food is brought in daily including popular sushi dishes to-go. In 1973 the first 7-Eleven opened in Tokyo, and today there are 20,000 locations across Japan. In fact, the Japanese division acquired ownership of 7-Eleven from the Americans back in 2005. That probably helped the trend of JDM cars photographed at night at the Yokohama 7-Eleven.
While heading out to a late night car-meet in Mississauga, we stopped at the local 7-Eleven for a quick photo shoot and snacks. The marketing people say that they usually feature vintage JDM cars, with stunning paint work, posed under the 7-Eleven sign.
Not sure f the Bugeye WRX is retro enough or rare enough to be featured, but we’ll post the pics online and see what happens.
You have me wondering if 7-Eeven is a car spot out here. I have not seen one in a long time, but that’s because there are no 7-Elevens near me or on my way to the places I drive. Did you know the parent company, Seven & i, is for sale, and a Canadian retailer is trying to purchase it? Here’s a brief summary from “The Economist”:
Seven & i, the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven convenience stores, resumed negotiations with Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Canadian retailer, over a $47bn takeover—which would be Japan’s biggest ever. Seven & i rejected a previous bid, worth $39bn, in September. Seven & i also received a rival buyout bid from its management, led by members of the Ito family that founded the company.
There used to be 7-Eleven stores all around Toronto, but many disappeared. There’s still a few, but oddly, none in the east end of the city where I live. Like…none.
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So, I was totally unaware of 7-Eleven as a car spot. I’d seen a few pics online, but didn’t get the JDM car connection. That’s kinda why I posted the article. Here’s a video I watched that explained how 7-Eleven accidentally became relevant in car culture; https://youtu.be/pfKdbXgweVs?si=nGQhMrEPzInvTJUP
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I didn’t realize that Couchee-Tard was trying to buy 7-Eleven! I vaguely saw the news stories, but I thought it was the other way around.
Interesting video. I had no clue. I didn’t know it was Japanese.
Is that gas price per liter?
No that’s per Imperial gallon (which is like 20% larger than a US gallon). $1.44 per gallon.
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Betcha wanna move to Canada NOW don’t you?
Already wanted to!
And I thought things were looking pretty good here at $2.79/gal.
I am lying.
$1.44 per L.
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For my 94 octane fuel I pay well over $6 per gallon.
You are so bad.
Also, gullible much? I ask myself.
Hey, I thought it would trigger an influx of Americans to come to Canada.
I daresay there are a few Americans considering their options.
Just look at that commercial. So dope. So dope.