7-11 - Dallas, TX Review

Yes, I guess you could say I am a "loyal shopper" since for the last 32 years I have dropped in nearly every day at our neighborhood convenience store, erstwhile known as "The White Hen."  Occasionally, I would miss but usually -- rain or shine -- there I was buying another large cup of carbonated joy straight out of the pump with a liberal dose of ice (which I never seem to have room for in my freezer).  Sometimes I would pick up Sunday newspapers and other odds and ends.  Over the years I became acquainted with a vast legion of clerks who came and went.  I got to like some those people very well and the White Hen became a significant part of my life.  On my road back from surgery in 2004, a walk over to the White Hen was my first pale and sweating venture out into my ordinary routine again.

Time passed and unbeknownst to all us faithful, diet pop swigging customers, mysterious things like business mergers and takeovers were happening behind the scenes and LO!, last year all the White Hens were magically reincarnated as 7-11 Convenience stores.  Some of my friends who knew that I was a White Hen aficianado have asked me "how things are now" and in response to that, well, here is what's slappin' over at the White ... er ... Eleven these days, as I see it.  

There is more equipment now which is new and really works.  Several flavors of Slurpees are available, likewise different types of coffee with fancy syrups and flavors offered to add to those hot beverages.  The plain old White Hen cups have morphed into the tackier but more cheerful "BIG GULP" containers.  Generally speaking, the whole beverage situation has upgraded in the store, which doesn't mean doodly to me as I just keep going for the same old stuff I went for all along.  (But it's nice to know we now have other options.)

There are a greater line of delicious fresh bakery goods and I do mean FRESH because they are delivered every day.  (Alas, the "doodly" element of significance for me is low here also because I can't eat stuff like that very often and have restricted myself to ONE GOODY A WEEK on Sunday BUT it's nice to know that great stuff like that is available.) 

The real adventures for me have been in the refrigerated sandwich, salads, and produce section.  Here we have the best of both worlds -- the store has continued to make the same great pre-wrapped deli sandwiches and salads that the White Hen was always famous for but new more exotic things have begun to creep in.  Different kinds of produce are available now and frankly in better condition than before; imagine my delight to one day find a very decent quart of fresh Green Giant strawberries priced for not much more than at the supermarkets.  Adventurous dips and sushi-like appetizers have infiltrated also.  It took me four months to work up the nerve to try "California Rolls", slices of chopped fresh crab rolled in cooked white rice, but these are delicious garnished with a little soy sauce and lemon juice (and the odds are good that this sort of thing is better for you than those fresh pastries).

In addition to the very decent but limited assortment of greeting cards and wrapping paper, 7-11 has added a choice of gift cards of varying values.  That's a nice touch, especially for some well-meaning person on their way to a celebration who perhaps didn't have time to shop for a gift somewhere else.

Of course, in this mortal realm, there is no such thing as a perfecto situation and the 7-11 is no exception.  Now the assorted lottery "scratch" cards are displayed under glass in the counter next to the cash register, which is supposed to make it easier for the customers to select a card.  Alas, in our 7-11, someone has mistakenly displayed these cards pointing towards the cashier instead of the customers so they are more difficult to choose now than in the old days when the cards were behind the cashier and farther away from us, but facing in our direction.  My polite attempts to point this out have fallen on deaf ears so far.

Also, although some of the prices are consistently cheaper, gone are the great deals and sales the White Hen used to have.  Fancy ice cream is now $4.29 a pint, like it or leave it.  Though this is also the supermarket price, I tend to make it a rule for myself to buy ice cream only when it goes on sale.  Perhaps it isn't true that the ice cream manufacturers are trying to systematically fleece us at the cash register but I'm old fashioned ... I feel that no pint of ice cream is worth THAT much unless it is scooped into a fancy glass dish and topped with a cherry and whipped cream.

These are trifling points, however, and I am impressed with the great way the White Hen locations were converted into 7-11's.  They never did close and we could continue to buy a lot of our usual stuff there as the work went on.  Like the White Hen Stores, 7-11 is getting the job done.  I'm old enough to remember the '50s and early '60s when there were no such things as convenience stores.  When I remember what it was like to not be able to buy anything all day Sunday or late in the evenings, then I can fervently say "Oh thank Heaven for 7-11!"