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| One of the many 7-Eleven stores in the city |
Did you know that Japanese convenience store company, 7-Eleven, has highest number of franchise in the world? Yes, it surpassed McDonald's in this race long ago.
Do you know which country has the lowest number of Customer to 7-Eleven store ratio? Bingo! its Taiwan. Since its first store opened in 1980s, Uni-President, its Taiwanese owner has not looked back and opened over 4500 stores in every livable corner of this island. Each store now claims to serve no more than 6200 repeated customers. There is a 7-Eleven store in my residential building and I can literally walk less than 100 metres in any direction from my building and bump into another one. I have also seen several streets with these stores almost facing each other.
Having a 7-Eleven right where you live is super convenient and it stands unbelievably true to the concept of convenience store. Extent of service and products it offers is beyond comprehensive. Above and beyond all the paid products and services it offers, it ends up providing one free service and that is sense of 24x7 security. These stores are open all the time with bright florescent light and security cameras. I can walk alone with my girl friends late hours of the night from a night market and not be worried because there are 7-Eleven almost everywhere and there are always people in there shopping! Enter any time of the day and you will be greeted by a loud sweet sounding cry from super friendly 7-Eleven employees which sounds like "Good Morning" said in a little stretched southern US accent but actually they are saying "Huan Yin" meaning welcome. In some of the busy stores at busy hours, you will hear a constant chant of "Huan Yin" as people constantly pour in and out.
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| Typical store from inside: clean, organized and well lit. |
Taiwanese people rely heavily on these stores and it is now embedded in there daily life and culture. They have several 7-Eleven souvenir (only) stores as well! Now who would buy a convenience store souvenir? hmm, you will be surprised, but these stores witnesses some decent traffic! 7-Eleven mascot is cute and cheerful and sits proudly on desks, cell phones, bags, books of many of my local friends and colleagues. God forbid but if this ubiquitous chain of 7-Eleven stores decides to close down some day in Taiwan then I think country could actually crumple. In the spirit of adopting Taiwanese culture and lifestyle, one of my first and easiest thing was to imbibe in to the 7-Eleven culture, after all the store and I shared same notion of "keep it simple, silly".
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| 7-Eleven Taiwan Mascot |
In Taipei, kitchens and pantries are smaller than what I am used to from my days in India and US. I quickly figured out that there was no point (and place) to stock a lot of extra stuff in the house. My fridge is full of Indian spices, flours and lentils and there really isn't enough cabinet space beyond my extensive set of pots and pans. We decided very early that "Buy it as you need" was the most efficient way to go. Within few weeks of living in this apartment, we realized that you can go down to 7-Eleven for almost anything and it will cost barely any additional time or money. It takes 15 secs to go down stairs, pick what you want, get out in 45 sec, back up in 30 secs so in total 1.5 mins max you are back at your place with things that you need. There is one more advantage of shopping at 7-Eleven, you can get point stickers every time you shop something and after you have collected enough points you can exchange your point card for its cute toy of the month. By now I have a collection of little toys and I have to confess that I am a little addicted to collecting stickers or lets say those cute toys!
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| Some of the 7-Eleven toys that I have collected. |
Need cash and stamps? No problemo pick it up from ATM at 7-Eleven.
Want to buy books online but not sure about giving your credit card? Don't worry, use pick up and pay service at 7-Eleven.
Out of sugar? ill get you in a minute honey from 7-Eleven, says by hubby
Party night and out of drinks and chips? Smirnoffs and lays back on the table without your friends realizing that you actually left your home for a minute.
Can't keep your eyes open for this late night conference call? Gourmet caramel machiato from 7-Eleven City Cafe might just do the trick for you.
Pay Bills? Sure, bring all your cell phone, gas, water, electricity and any other utility bill. Oh and you can also bring your parking ticket!
How about a trip to South Taiwan? Buy High Speed Train tickets from 7-Eleven
Hungry kya? Take your pick from a huge array of good quality healthy salads, cut fruits, noodles, soups, trail mixes, gourmet pastries, yogurt, jellies, crackers, cookies and lot of unusual local products that I do not recognize.
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unusual local product (Black fungus drink) on 7-Eleven Shelf.
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Missing home? Buy a little Taiwan souvenir and a card from the store and send it back home using its courier service
Visiting Taipei but forgot your essentials? Don't worry be happy we have 7-Eleven downstairs. ( no kidding but one of our very close friend did it. Peace and hugs my dear friend, I will not disclose your name ever :) )
Send receive fax, make photo copies, buy magazines, DVDs, cosmetics ( DHC, Maybelline, Burt's Bee, Mentholatum, Herbacin...etc), first-aid, govt garbage bags, sit in the cafe area drinking tea, reading newspaper or surf with free wi-fi, travel toiletries, festival goodies and gifts, umbrellas or simply come and people watch. List is truly endless, as there is a constant introduction of new products and services at my 'extended pantry and lot more' store. Its hard to keep up but I assure you that I will continue to explore them and amaze myself as long as I am here.
Oh but before I conclude this blog there are few tips for y'all.
- Firstly, Never ever give 7-Eleven as a meeting point or as a landmark in your directions when you are in Taiwan. You will be lost for sure.
- Secondly, You have not truly visited Taiwan if you have not visited one of its 7-Eleven.
- Lastly and most importantly, Keep it simple, darling!
Just came across your blog... love this 7-Eleven post!
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