Happy Free Slurpee Day!
Your local 7-Eleven will be busy today as the convenience store chain celebrates free Slurpee Day in honor of its 85th birthday.
July 11 also marks the 45th birthday of 7-Eleven’s popular Slurpee, which will be given away for free at participating locations. Customers will be able to grab their free 7.11 oz Slurpees between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., while supplies last. Here’s 7-Eleven’s store locator for those interested in free drinks.
The convince store currently has 46,000 locations nationwide, so it’s probably a good idea to call the store before heading over.
In 1927, a Southland Ice Company worker known “Uncle Johnny” Jefferson Green started offering milk, bread and eggs from the ice house. One of the founders of the Southland Corporation, Joe C. Thompson, Jr., took note of “Uncle Johnny’s” idea and began having other ice-dock locations sell the same goods. Eventually, these ice plant/retail shops would expand their products and come to offer gas and, after the repeal of prohibition, liquor and beer.
Early on, the company’s convenience outlets were open under the name Tote’m. This was because, according to the official 7-Eleven history, customers “toted” away their purchases, and many stores even featured genuine Alaskan totem poles out front. The name 7-Eleven was created in 1946 in order to reflect the stores new hours (7am – 11pm). Business boomed in the 50’s and 60’s, allowing for the chain to expand beyond anyone’s expectations.
In 1965 it introduced “Icee,” which 7-Eleven’s ad agency reintroduced as the Slurpee.
