Retail entry brief · 7-Eleven · San Diego, CA

EASY DAYS.
× 7-ELEVEN.

Franchisee-first. FMM-driven. A 90-day plan to secure 20–50 stores, prove velocity, and build the foundation for regional and corporate expansion.

12,960
7-Eleven US stores
System locations, YE 2024
$26.8B
US system sales
Approx. FY2024
$5,657
Avg daily sales / store
2024, per SEI
20–50
Target pilot doors
Franchisee-owned, 90 days
FMM-LED FIELD MOTION 20–50 FRANCHISEE DOORS NCASEF · FOA REGIONAL SHOWS ECRM BUYER SESSIONS NACS SHOW · LAS VEGAS 90-DAY VELOCITY PILOT PROVE SELL-THROUGH COMPLIANCE-FIRST FMM-LED FIELD MOTION 20–50 FRANCHISEE DOORS NCASEF · FOA REGIONAL SHOWS ECRM BUYER SESSIONS NACS SHOW · LAS VEGAS 90-DAY VELOCITY PILOT PROVE SELL-THROUGH COMPLIANCE-FIRST
Section 01 · The short answer

The path in.

Our best path into 7-Eleven is to secure 20 to 50 franchisee-owned stores through local field marketing managers who can open doors, support placement, and drive reorders.

At the same time, we enter the official supplier process, use ECRM, join NCASEF, and prioritize regional FOA shows. This is where Shiky and the team can build strong franchisee relationships quickly.

We also need a NACS buyer strategy, a clear distribution solution, and a complete sales and compliance package. The goal is a 90-day pilot that proves velocity and creates the foundation for regional expansion.

Section 02 · Why 7-Eleven

The largest c-store footprint in America — and it runs on franchisees.

7-Eleven is not one buyer, it's thousands of owner-operators. That's an advantage — it's the same 'one owner, one yes' motion Easy Days is already built for.

01
Why us

Franchisee-controlled shelf

Franchisee-owned stores control much of their SKU mix outside the mandatory core. That's where our FMM-led, one-owner-one-yes motion wins fastest.
02
Wedge

Category already exists

Feel Free and other functional shots already sit at 7-Eleven counters. The buyer is pre-educated. Our pitch is SWITCH / ADD — clean formulation, better margin, no lawsuit baggage.
03
Leverage

Velocity story = corporate story

20–50 franchisee doors with real reorder velocity is the deck we walk into the NACS / SEI buyer conversation with. Doors first. Chain second.
Section 03 · FMM — feet on the street

Why we need Field Marketing Managers.

Even in markets where we already have distribution — like New Jersey — we still need someone locally driving store visits, opening doors, supporting placements, and hitting velocity + reorder goals.

A
Field

Open the door

Franchisee is not answering a cold email from a supplier portal. They're answering a rep who walked in, sampled them, and left a display.
B
Merch

Support placement

Counter unit day-one. Cooler decals, danglers, and shelf strips owned locally so we don't lose the shelf in week two.
C
Reorder

Drive reorders

Velocity comes from a rep walking back through every 10–14 days to check inventory, retrain staff, and reload the display. This is the whole game.
D
Data

Log the story

Every visit into GoHighLevel: reorder cycle, units per store per week, staff education completed, lost-store reasons. This dashboard is what we bring to 7-Eleven corporate.
Section 04 · 20–50 doors

Build the base. Then walk in the front door.

While we build the initial 20-to-50-store base, we simultaneously enter the official 7-Eleven supplier process, complete RangeMe submissions, and use ECRM to build relationships with the relevant buyers and category decision-makers.

01

Supplier portal

Register through 7-Eleven's official supplier onboarding. Product setup, W-9, insurance, COIs, item catalog, and every SKU-level compliance doc.

02

RangeMe

RangeMe is 7-Eleven's discovery front door for buyers. Full profile, sell-sheet, COAs, and case-level pricing loaded and kept current.

03

ECRM sessions

Pre-booked 20-minute buyer meetings — beverage, functional beverage, alt-alcohol, private-label. Fastest buyer conversion per hour in the industry.

Section 05 · NCASEF · FOA

Where Shiky and I kill it.

The National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees (NCASEF) and its regional FOAs are the direct line to the franchisees who control their shelf. Regional FOA shows may be our strongest near-term opportunity.

12,960
Franchisee-controlled surface
US 7-Eleven system locations, YE 2024
30+
Regional FOAs
Each a room full of decision-makers
1:1
Owner conversations
Alex, Shiky, sales team + FMM leads
Annual · Las Vegas cycle

NCASEF National Convention

The room where multi-unit owners actually meet vendors.

Rolling · 30+ regions

Regional FOA Trade Shows

SoCal FOA · SFBA FOA · Chicagoland FOA · United FOA (NY/NJ) · Florida FOA — highest-leverage rooms for us.

Board-level

FOA Advisory Councils

One franchisee-leader intro can unlock 20 stores in a single conversation.

The play

Join NCASEF as a supplier partner. Sponsor at least two regional FOA trade shows in Q1. Send Alex, Shiky, and one FMM per event. Leave with signed pilot commitments — not scans.

Section 06 · Trade shows

NACS Show — book meetings, don't attend.

There is a strong opportunity to develop a buyer-meeting strategy around the NACS Show. We should not simply attend. We identify the right buyers, franchisee groups, and distributors in advance and pre-schedule meetings.

The show

NACS Show

Las Vegas · October 6–9
  • Pre-scheduled buyer meetings with 7-Eleven category teams
  • Multi-unit franchisee group intros through NCASEF network
  • Distributor conversations — McLane, Core-Mark, regional
  • Cool New Products showroom submission (buyers-only preview)
Pre-work

30 meetings.
Not 3,000 scans.

  • 01 Buyer target list — SEI category managers, McLane, Core-Mark, top FOA leaders.
  • 02 Pre-show outreach 60 days out — video sell-in + samples shipped ahead.
  • 03 Calendared meetings, not booth loitering.
  • 04 Post-show follow-up sequenced into GoHighLevel within 48 hours.
Section 07 · Distribution

The question every franchisee will ask.

"Can I order Easy Days through my normal purchasing system?" We need an answer per market, per store, day one.

01
National

McLane

Primary 7-Eleven distributor of record for most of the US. Get onto the McLane item catalog — this is the door that flips 'yes' at franchisee scale.
02
Regional

Core-Mark / Eby-Brown / regional

Regional distributors service specific FOA territories. Layered coverage means we can service any franchisee who says yes.
03
Bridge

Direct service (bridge)

Until authorized distribution lands, our FMMs and 3PL service the initial 20–50 pilot stores directly. No franchisee is left waiting.
Section 08 · Phase 1 route to market

Six metros. One realistic sales map.

Every 7-Eleven metro is not created equal. Phase 1 concentrates the sales team where franchisee density, an active FOA chapter, and workable distribution overlap — so a single FMM can open, service, and prove velocity inside one drive-time radius.

Alpha · Days 1–45Beta · Days 30–75Watch · Days 60–90
#MetroStore densityFOA chapterDistribution pathWaveStore list
01
Los Angeles / SoCal
Largest franchisee density in the country. Active FOA leadership. Energy-shot category is already familiar to the operator base.
~115 LA metro · ~2,014 CAAlliance of 7-Eleven Franchisees FOARegional DSD + Core-MarkAlpha · Days 1–45View & export ↗
02
Dallas–Fort Worth
Second-largest state footprint. Franchisee-friendly market. Home office proximity opens category-manager doors after pilot velocity is proven.
~195 DFW · ~1,089 TXDFW-area FOACore-Mark + regional DSD; CDC optionAlpha · Days 1–45View & export ↗
03
NYC / Long Island
Existing CDC infrastructure lowers logistics friction. Dense franchisee cluster within a 60-mile radius of a single FMM route.
~600 NY state · LI clusterMetro NY / Long Island FOABohemia, NY CDC + DSDAlpha · Days 1–45View & export ↗
04
South Florida (Miami / Broward)
Fast-growing c-store base. Active FOA that welcomes new-brand pilots. FMMs open to placement resets outside corporate planogram.
Dense FL clusterCentral / South FL FOAFL beverage DSDBeta · Days 30–75View & export ↗
05
Chicagoland
Cohesive, historically strong FOA. Single-metro win creates a case study repeatable across the Midwest.
Chicagoland clusterChicagoland FOACore-Mark DSDBeta · Days 30–75View & export ↗
06
Bay Area / Northern CA
Second CA hub, distinct FOA reach from SoCal. Extends CA volume without cannibalizing LA activation.
Part of CA ~2,014Cal-Neva FOACore-Mark DSDBeta · Days 30–75View & export ↗
07
Las Vegas
Impulse-heavy tourist traffic. Small enough to saturate with 1 FMM. Ideal proof-point for velocity math.
NV clusterCal-Neva FOARegional DSDWatch · Days 60–90View & export ↗
08
DC / Northern Virginia
Dense corridor, high daypart traffic. Reserve for Phase 2 unless a franchisee champion emerges earlier.
DMV clusterRegional FOA (Baltimore-area chapters)Core-Mark / regionalWatch · Days 60–90View & export ↗
A
The mechanic

One FMM, one drive-time radius

Assign a Field Marketing Manager to a single Alpha metro. Their week is 4 days on the ground opening franchisee doors, 1 day servicing and reordering. No metro gets a second FMM until the first is at 20 signed doors.
B
The door

FOA meeting → back-office visit

Sponsor or attend the local FOA monthly. Leave with 5–10 warm intros. Convert them the same week with a 6-minute back-office pitch, sell sheet, sample case, and a signed pilot agreement on the counter.
C
The bridge

DSD first. CDC / McLane / Core-Mark second.

Franchisees have open-buy discretion on 2oz shots. Ship via a regional DSD or 3PL for the first 20–50 doors while the McLane and Core-Mark authorizations close in parallel. No franchisee waits on distribution to say yes.
Not Phase 1

Markets we deliberately skip until velocity is proven.

  • ×Corporate-operated stores — planogram controlled by SEI category management. Requires velocity data first.
  • ×Speedway-converted stores — different operator model, different distribution posture.
  • ×Low-density metros — Houston, Denver, Boston, Phoenix. Real footprint but drive-time economics don't work with 1 FMM until Phase 2.
  • ×Hawaii / secondary states — logistics cost exceeds the pilot margin. Revisit post-authorization.
Section 09 · Before Kyle walks in

Six assets. Complete package.

Professionally designed, digitally printed, and organized into a complete buyer and franchisee meeting package.

01
Deck

7-slide franchisee pitch

Product · consumer · margin · placement · activation · pilot · next step. Built for a 6-minute back-office conversation.
02
Sell

One-page sell sheet

UPC · pricing · margin · case pack · shelf life · contact and ordering. Left on every counter.
03
Legal

Pilot agreement

Stores · duration · inventory protection · placement · reporting · activation. Signed same-day where possible.
04
Docs

Compliance binder

Legal opinion · insurance · COAs · manufacturing · claims substantiation · state-by-state kratom/kava status.
05
Marketing

Retail activation calendar

Sampling · influencers · events · paid media · geo-targeting per pilot cluster.
06
Data

Velocity dashboard

Units / store / week · reorders · sell-through · store compliance · lost-store reasons. Live to the whole team.
Section 10 · 90-day development plan

Secure 20–50 stores. Prove velocity. Then expand.

During this period, secure the first 20 to 50 stores, prove velocity, establish the ordering and servicing process, build franchisee advocates, and use those results to support broader regional and corporate expansion.

PHASE 01
Days 1–30

Foundation

  • Complete supplier portal + RangeMe submission
  • Join NCASEF, target 2 regional FOA sponsorships
  • Ship the 6 assets (deck, sell sheet, pilot, compliance, calendar, dashboard)
  • Confirm distribution bridge — McLane path + direct 3PL
PHASE 02
Days 31–60

First doors

  • FMM leads live in FL / CA / TX / LV
  • Sign 20 franchisee-owned pilot stores
  • Placement audit + first velocity read
  • Pre-book NACS + ECRM meeting calendar
PHASE 03
Days 61–90

Prove & scale

  • Hit 50 pilot doors, publish reorder velocity
  • Regional FOA presentations completed
  • Distributor authorization signed
  • SEI category manager deck ready with real numbers
The win condition

50 franchisee-owned 7-Elevens reordering Easy Days by day 90.

That's the story we walk into SEI corporate with — and the story that funds the regional and national rollout after it.