First 7-Eleven in WA to open in October
Convenience store business 7-Eleven will open its first store in Western Australia on 30 October 2014.
The new store will be at 100 High Street in Fremantle and 7-Eleven CEO Warren Wilmot said customers will be able to enjoy the various goods and services offered at 7-Eleven’s stores elsewhere in the country.
“Our stores are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year for our customers’ convenience,” Mr Wilmot said. “Customers can enjoy our iconic Slurpees, and our famous fresh ground coffee, anything from a latte to a long black, made in our quality machines from freshly ground Arabica beans. A regular coffee is just $1,” he said.
Mr Wilmot said the Western Australian store will also offer fresh food including handmade sandwiches, salads, hot pastries and sweet treats.
“One of the things that makes us different is that our market leading supply chain delivers fresh food into every store seven days a week,” Mr Wilmot said.
The Western Australian store will also have Commonwealth/Bankwest ATMs, and Moneygram money transfer services as well as drinks, sweets, snacks, and top up groceries.
“In time, we would like to offer more of the services we have on the Eastern Seaboard,” Mr Wilmot said. “This includes our quality Mobil branded fuel range in our fuel sites, transport tickets, and Australia Post Parcel Lockers in selected stores,” he said.
7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd, Australia’s first choice in convenience, is a private company owned by the Withers and Barlow family. The company has a license to operate and franchise 7-Eleven stores in Australia from the US based 7-Eleven Inc.
The first Australian store was opened in August 1977. Today 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd. operates approximately 600 stores in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, with 10 stores expected to open in Western Australia by the end of 2015.
Through its store network, 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd. conducts more than 180 million transactions a year, serving an average six customers per second, generating sales of approximately $3.4 billion.
Worldwide, 7-Eleven operates more than 53,500 stores in 18 countries, and is opening approximately six stores per day somewhere in the world.
7-Eleven franchisees interested in expanding to WA
The Company said its national success had seen a large number of existing Franchisees express an interest in moving to the west to take up the initial franchises. Mr Wilmot said the company will initially work with some of the more experienced Franchisees to establish the brand in Western Australia.
“We have some outstanding Franchisees that we’ve selected to come to WA to franchise the first few stores,” Mr Wilmot said.
“Our Franchisees and their staff are the face of our business, and it is their efforts in providing local customers with well-presented stores and fantastic customer service that makes our business successful,” Mr Wilmot said. “So it makes sense that we have selected some of our best to make the move with us to Western Australia,” he said.
Strong interest from landlords and developers
Since the expansion was announced earlier in 2014, the Company said strong interest had been shown by landlords, agents and developers eager to work with 7-Eleven on the business opportunities created by the company’s first expansion into a new market in 32 years.
With the aim of opening 75 stores in Western Australia in the next five years, 7-Eleven said it was interested in stand-alone stores and fuel sites with good footfall and customer traffic flow.
Additional non-fuel stores set to open later in 2014
7-Eleven said other non-fuel stores at Subiaco and central Perth were set to open in 2014. Additional sites, including the iconic McNess Arcade, are expected to open in early 2015. A temporary pop-up store in Perth is also being planned to help launch the brand in the new market.
