Great. It's been years since I've been to a 7-11. I used to love their Slurpees. Back in the 1970s I would buy my comic books, and spend the last of my hard-earned money on a Slurpee. They had a series of cups with the DC heroes on them, and later with Marvel Characters. I loved those cups, and still have many happy memories of collecting them.
Lee's Favorite Slurpee Cup, featuring Jim Steranko's Nick Fury.
If you are a small business man like myself, you may think that you cannot compete with the huge companies. Think again. Just treat your customers well, and you will have a distinct advantage over most corporations.
Corporations think they are really smart when they think of new ways to trick their customers. Some genius at the 7-11 corporation (or whatever conglomerate owns the place) thought it would be a great idea to make July 11th (7-11, get it?) free Slurpee Day. Now instead of giving you a regular small size Slurpee, (12 ounces), which would be entirely acceptable, and within everyones expectations, they come up with a really nifty way to short change the customer. They make a special tiny cup. But this is no ordinary size. It's 7.11 ounces! It's like they are shining up a turd and telling you it's Almond Rocca!
Apparently 7-11 does not want you to drink deep. They just want to give you enough to whet your appetite, so you'll have to buy more on the spot just to quench your thirst. But hold on. This is not, free sample day. It's supposed to be free Slurpee day. Mrs. Fields gives away little tiny pieces of cookies every day. Does she call it "free Cookie Day?". I guess Costco should call every day "Free Food Day" since they hand out little tiny samples. The gelato shop I go to should announce "free gelato Day" since they offer a tiny spoonful for you to taste.
My philosophy is to treat each customer as a friend. When our industry has free comic book day, do you get a tiny comic book? Do you get a page, or a panel? No, you get a full-size comic book! At my store you get 2 of them. 4 if you bring in a coupon. The comic book dealer pays for these free samples in order to get new faces in the door. Each of these "free" comics we give away costs us 25¢ and up. Just how much would a regular sized Slurpee set back the 7-11 owner? I would be shocked if it was a nickel. But that's still too much, so they have to produce a tiny size cup, which likely cost more money to make than the Slurpee costs. All in the name of bilking the suckers that come through the door.
If it was free popcorn day at the movie theater you would expect at least a standard small size popcorn, right? Not a tiny size bag with 5 kernels in it! 7-11 went and produced a special tiny cup, slightly over half the size of the smallest drink that they sell. Shame on the corporation for thinking so little of it's customers to do this! I also blame each individual branch. If I owned a 7-11 I would have been giving out normal sized Slurpees, even if I had to pay for them out of my own pocket. You just don't treat your customers (your friends, remember) that way.
My plan was to get the free ones for the people in my group, and to buy more for the people at home. When I saw the crummy little insult of a shot they were giving out, I swore that I would buy nothing. It's going to be a very long while before I set foot in a 7-11 again. Shame one you 7-11. It's no wonder you are ridiculed as the "Quickie Mart" on the Simpsons. Your reputation for being a shoddy rip-off is well-earned. You had a chance to make a lot of new friends on July 11th, but instead you put greed first.
Shot-glass size free Slurpee. Is that any way to treat a guest?
