DALLAS – 7-Eleven Inc. has been recognized as the number-one franchise opportunity in Entrepreneur magazine’s “Annual Franchise 500” rankings for 2008. This marks the first time the convenience retailer has captured the top spot and recognizes 7-Eleven for its accelerated franchising activity, expansion and solid business system.
Entrepreneur’s “Franchise 500” is the most comprehensive franchise ranking in the world. Factors considered for the honor include financial strength and stability, growth rate, size of the system, and initial investment.
“After researching hundreds of opportunities, 7-Eleven rose to the top based on their strong growth, financial stability and long-term commitment to franchising. Their ranking is particularly significant since they’re a new No. 1 title holder in the ‘Franchise 500’ for the first time in seven years,” said Rieva Lesonsky, editorial director/senior vice president of Entrepreneur.
“7-Eleven is committed to supporting entrepreneurs who wish to run their own retail outlets with an industry-leading brand, strong infrastructure, cutting-edge technology and a passion for innovation,” commented 7-Eleven President and CEO Joe DePinto. “We are very proud and appreciative of this recognition, and it is shared by our franchisees across the country, who are contributing to our joint success and profits.”
In other news, Weight Watchers is bringing its proprietary line of snack cakes and muffins to 7-Eleven stores by January or February 2008, reports Reuters.
Bringing individually wrapped snack cakes and muffins to 7-Eleven stores marks the first distribution deal for Weight Watchers at a national convenience store chain. National grocery chains already sell many of the Weight Watchers-branded food products.
Stacy Gordon, vice president of licensing and products at Weight Watchers, told the news source that she hopes “a broader array of products could follow.”
Gordon also noted that the target consumer is the weight-conscious consumer who is “looking for satisfying but sensible and great-tasting food products…A subset of those people are Weight Watchers members.”