7-Eleven Launches Women's Franchise Giveaway

IRVING, Texas — 7-Eleven Inc. is kicking off a franchise giveaway contest targeted exclusively to women entrepreneurs in an effort to increase its number of female franchisees.

Currently, less than one-third of franchised businesses in the United States are owned by women, the company stated.

The winner will be awarded a 7-Eleven fee-free franchise, a value of up to $190,000. Additionally, 7-Eleven will make a donation to the winning woman's charity of choice that aligns with its Project A-Game program, which offers grants that help provide youth a foundation for success by funding programs focused on education, fitness, safety and hunger relief.

Similar to 7-Eleven's Operation: Take Command franchise giveaway for U.S. military veterans, this multi-phase competition includes meeting company franchising qualifications, preliminary interviews, video contest and a one-on-one interview with 7-Eleven senior leadership for the top finalists.

"Some of our most successful franchisees across the country are women," said Larry Hughes, 7-Eleven vice president of franchise systems. "7-Eleven serves a diverse customer base, and the number of women shopping our stores continues to grow. More and more are choosing to become independent business owners, and 7-Eleven offers a proven system and one of the best entrepreneurial opportunities around."

The top 25 candidates will be invited to submit a video on why they deserve a 7-Eleven franchise after meeting qualifications, submitting an essay, and speaking with 7-Eleven franchise sales representatives. Up to seven contestants will be selected from this pool for the semifinal competition, in which the public will vote for their favorite videos on the 7-Eleven Facebook page. Three finalists will be interviewed by 7-Eleven's franchise department management and narrowed to one winner.

The winner will be able to choose any of the 7-Eleven convenience stores available in the continental U.S. at the end of the contest.

Interested women can enter online at WomensFranchiseGiveaway.com now through 11:59 p.m. CST on April 7. The winner will be announced in July 2017.

To qualify, an entrant must be age 21 or older, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, have excellent credit and at least three years of leadership, retail or restaurant experience. Contestants will go through the same qualification process as all 7-Eleven franchise applicants, including credit evaluation, a leadership test, business plan development, budget, and store location preferences.

This year marks 7-Eleven's 53rd year of franchising.

Irving-based 7-Eleven Inc. operates, franchises and licenses more than 10,700 7-Eleven stores in North America.