It's 7-Eleven® Day and You Know What That Means ... PARTY AT THE SLURPEE® MACHINE!

Retailer Toasts 85 Years of Convenience with Free Slurpee Drinks; Big Summer Sweepstakes Offers Free Stuff All Summer

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Jul 02, 2012, 09:00 ET

DALLAS, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Summer and 7-Eleven® stores' frozen Slurpee® drinks is as all-American as, well, baseball and hot dogs ... the Fourth of July and cookouts ... amusement parks and big box-office movies. And free Slurpee drinks? That's a tradition that Americans have come to love as well.

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Once again, 7-Eleven is celebrating its birthday on 7-Eleven Day, Wednesday, July 11, participating stores in the U.S. and Canada will give away free 7.11-ounce Slurpee drinks between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., local time.

"7-Eleven Day, or free Slurpee Day, gets bigger and more popular every year," said Joe DePinto, 7-Eleven president and CEO. "This year we expect to give away 7 million Slurpee drinks, more than ever before, beating last year's offer by 2 million. On July 11th, we at 7-Eleven will recognize our 85th year as the retail leader of convenience, and it will mark the 45th birthday of our iconic drink - the Slurpee. But the day is also when we do something special to thank customers for their support and welcome new guests."

For 7-Eleven fans who want to show their true Slurpee colors and celebrate in style, the company has created diminutive, downloadable birthday attire – tiny bowties, hair bows and two sizes of party hats ... tiny and tinier. The petite party-wear can be found at http://www.7-eleven.com or www.slurpee.com/Rewards.

7-Eleven Slurpee partner, Six Flags, will also join in the fun by offering a special admission price of $7.11 to guests after 7:11 p.m. on 7-Eleven Day when they present a receipt from a 7-Eleven purchase dated 7/11/12. Guests will also receive a VIP wristband at this time to attend the "Exclusive 7-Eleven Coasters After Dark" event that evening. Additional information is available at www.Slurpee.com and www.sixflags.com. In addition, Cinemark will give away 7.11-ounce Slurpee drinks at its participating theaters in Dallas, Houston, Salt Lake City and Portland from 7 to 11 p.m. this day.

"This is a tasty way to get Slurpee lovers to sample our refreshing summer flavors, especially our new sugar-free Slurpee Lite™," said Laura Gordon, 7-Eleven vice president of brand innovation. "And, we plan to keep the fun rolling on all summer long. For example, during July, we offer the new flavors of Fanta Sugar-Free Strawberry Banana and a delicious Fanta Lemon Creme along with our regular Slurpee flavors."

7-Eleven's Big Summer Sweeps campaign is another reason customers will want to stop by their local 7-Eleven store. During the summer months, peel-play-and-win game pieces can be redeemed for prizes ranging from a free bag of 7-Select™ chips to a motorcycle. The summer-long, storewide, peel-and-win contest will award more than $2 million prizes with 50 million game pieces to win free in-store products; Six Flags®, movie and sporting events tickets; touchscreen computer tablets and GPS devices, party charcoal grills, 24-can coolers, free movie rental codes and gift certificates.

Grand prizes include a motorbike, a trip to the football championship in New Orleans and a Coca-Cola VIP race weekend.

Big Summer Sweeps game pieces can be found on medium Slurpee and Super Big Gulp® cups as well as Big Bite® and fresh sandwich packaging. Each peel-off entry offers a chance to win an instant in-store prize and has a game code that can be entered online to instantly win one of thousands of other prizes. Each code is automatically entered into the sweepstakes for one of the three grand prizes (motorcycle, football trip, racing package). More prize information is available at http://www.7-eleven.com/BigSummer.

7-Eleven has celebrated its birthday on July 11 for decades, but it wasn't until its 75th birthday in 2002 that its stores began hosting coast-to-coast birthday parties with free Slurpee drinks for its customers.

"We kicked off the summer with SlurpFREE Day and the new Slurpee Lite right before Memorial Day, we continue the party on 7-Eleven Day, and the Big Summer Sweeps keeps the fun going all summer long," Gordon said.

July 11 marks the day that the world's No. 1 convenience retailer celebrates its many milestones. 7-Eleven, the world's first convenience store, began its run in the summer of 1927 when a Southland Ice Company employee started selling bread, milk and eggs on an ice dock in a Dallas suburb. Since that inauspicious start, "convenience" has become big business. The small ice company has grown into a major international retailing chain with 9,300 7-Eleven stores in North America and more than 46,800 stores worldwide.

About 7-Eleven, Inc.

7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience retailing industry. Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses approximately 9,300 7-Eleven® stores in North America. Globally, there are more than 46,800 7-Eleven stores in 16 countries. During 2011, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales close to $76.6 billion. 7-Eleven has been honored by a number of companies and organizations recently. Accolades include: #2 on Forbes magazine's 2011 list of Top Franchises for the Money; #3 spot on Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500 list for 2012, #3 in Forbes magazine's Top 20 Franchises to Start, and #2 in Franchise Times Top 200 Franchise Companies. Hispanic Magazine named 7-Eleven among its Hispanic Corporate Top 100 Companies that provide the most opportunities to Hispanics. 7-Eleven received the 2010 Retailer of the Year honor from PL Buyer because of the company's private-label brand initiative. 7-Eleven is franchising its stores in the U.S. and expanding through organic growth, acquisitions and its Business Conversion Program. Find out more online at www.7-Eleven.com.

SOURCE 7-Eleven, Inc.