Right here in Bealeton, we are lucky to have many fast food and gas station chains, but the most important would have to be 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven was founded by Joe C. Thompson Jr., in 1927. 7-Eleven originates in Dallas, Texas, with the name reflecting the hours they were open, 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Nowadays they are open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. 

7-Eleven is mainly known for its Big Gulp and Slurpee.  A Big Gulp is just your regular fountain drink. You can get drinks like Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, and Sprite. Other drinks you can buy include coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. A Slurpee is a carbonated slushie branded in 1966 when 7-Eleven made a deal with the ICEE company to sell slushies in 7-Eleven stores. Since 1966, the most popular flavors have been Coca-Cola and wild cherry, but people love many other flavors too. “My favorite flavor is Blue Raspberry because it is iconic and delicious!” said freshman Naleiah Tibbs.

Drinks aren’t the only thing 7-Eleven sells. They also sell foods such as pizza, chicken wings, hot dogs, taquitos, and more. “The pizza has a great flavor and the hot dogs are for sure hot,” said freshman, Timothy Castaneda.

“Their wings make me feel like a true eagle,” said freshman, Mauricio Cruz. 

I don’t know about you, but I love when things are free. Luckily 7-Eleven has a rewards app. When you walk into the store, all you have to do is get your item, take it to the cash register, and then type in your phone number. BOOM, you just got points! When you get a certain amount of points, certain items will either become free or they will have a discount. Speaking of free things, every year on July 11 you can get a free small Slurpee. This is because the date is 7-11! Cool right?! Another benefit of the rewards app is that you can get a few cents off of each gallon of gas you put in your vehicle. “This is great because I can save more money and buy more groceries!” said Wilfrido Perez. 

Not only can you use rewards through the 7-Eleven app, but you can also buy merchandise. 7-Eleven sells things like shirts, pants, hats, keychains, sweatshirts, and more! Don’t worry! That is just their regular merchandise. 7-Eleven collaborates with many other brands also! If you are a collector, you can buy 7-Eleven Funko Pops! If you are a sports fan, I would recommend the 7-Eleven X Overtime collection. That’s not all! With the spooky season right around the corner, you can now purchase the new Slurpee inflatable Halloween costume!!! 

The 7-Eleven franchise also runs their own social media accounts. On these accounts, they like to communicate and show appreciation to their fans. One way they do this is simply by replying to comments, but a more visible way to get recognition is by tagging 7-Eleven on your post. When you do this you have a chance of being featured on their Instagram story! They also are very active on TikTok. They post videos like interviews, and ads, or just simply keep up with the latest trends. The Slurpee franchise also runs its own social media accounts where it posts very similar content to the 7-Eleven page.

So next time you see a 7-Eleven pop inside! Buy a snack, drink, maybe some gas, or you could visit the 7-Eleven website and or social media accounts. After that, the only thing you have to do is enjoy the rest of your day. Because you know it’s a good day if you are at 7-Eleven!