Archive for Author 'John Santiago', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.
It’s been nine years since the launch of the famous Apple App Store. Needless to say, a lot has changed since we first heard Apple’s pivotal ad campaign motto “There’s an app for that.” What started off as novelty items—simple time waster games, and clever ways to use your iPhone camera’s flash as a […]
We’ve been hearing for at least a year about SEI’s new Expand The Assortment program (ETA). Many of us assumed it was going to entail adding a few SKUs to each section in our stores, but as it continues to roll out, we see that there’s much more to ETA than we initially realized. […]
One of my favorite Saturday Night Live skits involves a scene in the Change Store, a retail outlet that makes change in currency for customers. Here is how I remember the skit: A newly hired clerk in training watches as an experienced employee changes a $10 bill into two $5 bills for one customer […]
Local FOAs can do a lot to help franchisees who are struggling. Competition comes in many forms, and franchisees sometimes need help improving sales at their stores. It becomes very frustrating when we invest tons of money to acquire a 7-Eleven franchise, or a 7-Eleven BCP store, and within a month, or six months, […]
It’s no small secret that our stores are targets for criminals, and in places like Chicago—where my stores are located—crime in general is on the rise and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep our stores, customers and employees safe. This is especially true during the overnight hours. That’s why I have been meeting with […]
As we welcome 2017, there couldn’t possibly be a better opportunity to reflect upon the future and growth of the 7-Eleven Enterprise. In this fine publication’s latest editions, you all must have seen some head-turning headlines such as minimum wage increases, new agreement negotiations, and competitive pricing issues. Although we have all been deeply […]
No doubt about it, 2016 was a busy year for 7-Eleven. But all the hard work we put in last year to implement new programs, systems and procedures in our stores have placed us in a better position to compete and grow sales in 2017 and beyond. Looking back at 2016, I would say […]
Many of us can remember the days when the cash report was done with three carbon copies inside the book, and couriers would deliver it to 7-Eleven, Inc. once a week. Back then we only had double keys, tax and non-tax, and all the prices were normalized by the cashiers. We have made a […]
In the last two issues of Avanti, I have exhorted SEI to pay attention to the culture of its franchise system as the single largest roadblock to meeting the internal and external challenges that it and each one of its franchisees face. In the most recent issue of Avanti, I urged each of you […]
In one of my previous Avanti articles related to our old and time-consuming ordering system, I asked SEI for a more efficient and modern ordering system, and many of my fellow franchisees echoed that call. What do you know? SEI has finally acknowledged our request and has given us a new and very efficient […]
