8 Things You Didn’t Know About 7-Eleven in Hawai‘i

It’s Slurpee Day!

The world’s largest convenience store chain is all over the Islands—currently, there are 67 locations across Oʻahu, Hawai‘i Island, Kaua‘i and Maui—and since it was taken over by the Japan-based Seven & I Holdings in 2005, the offerings have noticeably improved in the last decade.

It’s Slurpee Day at all 7-Elevens.
Photo: Courtesy of 7-Eleven

Sure, most of us still think of 7-Eleven—and most U.S. convenience stores—as the place to go to get gas, bags of ice, beer, hot dogs and Slurpees. But in Hawaiʻi 7-Elevens offer more than that. You can get bowls of tonkotsu ramen and saimin, varieties of Spam musubi and manapua, freshly made mochi, Japanese snacks, even Pokémon cards.

That change is going to move across the U.S. soon, too, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The 7-Elevens in Hawaiʻi sell unique items like chocolate-haupia cream pie and local flavors of Slurpees.
Photos: Catherine Toth Fox

In honor of Slurpee Day 2024 (July 7 = 7/11, get it?), here are some fun facts about the convenience store chain. Oh, and don’t forget to pick up your free small Slurpee today!

• When 7-Eleven first opened, it was known as Tote’m Stores. The new name was introduced in 1946 once store hours had expanded to 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Now they’re open 24 hours.)
• The first 7-Eleven opened in Hawai‘i on April 14, 1978 on 2nd Avenue in Kaimuki. The shop is still in open today.
• In 1965 the Slurpee was launched. It was named after the sound made when drinking the frozen beverage through a straw. In Hawai‘i there are unique flavors of Slurpee, including haupia, ube and li hing gummy bear.
• Surprisingly, customers buy a lot of fresh fruit at 7-Eleven. According to the company, the chain sells more than 75 million bananas each year.
• The Spam musubi was first sold at 7-Eleven in 1994 and is one of the best-selling items. Other top sellers in Hawaiʻi include the breakfast scramble bento, chicken teriyaki bento, spicy ʻahi sushi roll, Spam katsu musubi and spicy dynamite ʻahi sushi roll.
• All of the letters in “eleven” are capitalized except for the “n.” That on is lowercase. The story goes that the wife of John P. Thompson Sr., one of the company’s presidents, thought the all-caps logo was too aggressive, so she suggested the lowercase n.
• The biggest 7-Eleven is in South Pattaya, Thailand. The two-story store has an outdoor seating area and looks like a cruise ship.
• In 2023, 7-Eleven Hawaiʻi raised over $200,000, which we designated to various local non-profits. The global 7-Eleven brand also donated over $400,000 to aid in the August 2023 Lahaina Wildfires.