Josh Petty Experience Design is a series from CRTKL exploring how we translate brands into physical and digital experiences and environments.
When you think of convenience stores, you may think of grab & go coffee, travel-sized Advil and slowly rolling hot dogs — you don’t think of localized art installations, Instagrammable moments and local culture on full display. Well, think again.
We have been working with the store innovation team at 7-Eleven to help elevate both their brand and their customers’ experience. Our team has prioritized environmental graphics for each new flagship location that consults and resonates with the community.
For the Sylvan Avenue location in Dallas, TX, we designed the Heritage Wall to celebrate the history of the original site just down the street in the Oak Cliff neighborhood. The colorful Born in Texas wall mural by Dallas-based artist Lesli Marshall demonstrates local pride while making for a great photo-op.
In the Deep Ellum location in Dallas, our team designed a feature sculptural element of giant Slurpee straws to symbolize musical sound waves.
In the Greenwich Village location in New York City, you will see a neon Statue of Liberty holding a Slurpee on the back wall—along with the tri-stripe of the brand nodding to the tickers from the New York stock exchange nearby.
We even tapped into 7-Eleven’s ancestry to name some of the various upscale unexpected additions in the c-store revolution. In 1927, 7-Eleven went by Southland Ice Company before re-branding to Totem and eventually the iconic 7-Eleven. Today, there’s beer on tap in the “Tote’m” area for filling up growlers to-go or enjoying a cold one on-site. At the Southland Coffee café, you’ll find a variety of coffee and espresso drinks in addition to cold brew, tea and kombucha on tap.
When you prioritize community and create unique, localized environmental graphic elements in the stores, the local patrons are proud and excited to show off all the cool things happening at their neighborhood 7-Eleven. That’s not something you hear every day.