7-Eleven marks first year in Kingdom after decades spent learning from other Asian markets
7-Eleven marks first year in Kingdom after decades spent learning from other Asian markets
August, 2022, marks the one-year anniversary for global convenience store retailer 7-Eleven, though the company has long been established in nearby markets like Thailand, where they are essentially ubiquitous.
The company has mostly received high marks from the Cambodians it has served daily this past year, while also presenting a familiar and friendly face to foreign residents and visitors.
“Create smiles for customers, create jobs and increase incomes for the local people,” is the company's goal according to its corporate motto and mission statements.
Chairote Thiwat Mancharoen, International Managing Director of CP All Public Company Limited and the CEO of 7-Eleven Cambodia said on August 31 that 7-Eleven has been operating for one year in the Kingdom, but with just two branches so far in community neighbourhood areas.
In addition to their sale of snacks and daily convenience items, 7-Eleven is also a bakery with a daily cake shop and its mini-mart brand is also present at gas stations in seven provinces across the country in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang and Preah Sihanouk provinces.
He added that the company plans to continue to expand its branches in order to help Cambodians in various areas, and that it can be a potent force to stimulate Cambodia’s economy.
“We expand urban society, leading to economic expansion and now today people have the ability to buy more. The important thing is that most Cambodians already like Thai products, thanks to social stability and laws that support conducting business, as well as the high-quality workforce here.
“All of these are factors contributing to 7-Eleven's expansion in Cambodia. At the same time, just as we prepared to enter the market here, the trend of the Covid-19 situation had earlier begun to calm down. The recovery of tourism – a key engine of Cambodia’s economy – is also helpful to 7-Eleven's businesses,” said the CEO.
While conducting business in Cambodia, Chairote is committed to maintaining the company's three primary values that he said led to the success it has having today
7-Eleven’s corporate marketers provided The Post with pamphlets and literature that said that it was to create benefits for the nation, its people and their organizations and using these guidelines from Thailand, the company aims to grow together with the community and society and deliver quality products and services to meet the needs of everyone.
Parent corporation CP ALL claims it is committed to creating and sharing opportunities with each other and a clear policy as a distribution network for domestic products in Cambodia.
Meanwhile, the company has also hired a domestic workforce it isn’t entirely using in its stores yet in order to begin promoting the business.
Chairote also said that according to the company fully 99 per cent of the stores in Cambodia are staffed by Cambodians.
The company has also shared knowledge about modern management methods with Cambodian staff and they frequently go through Cambodia’s vendors of materials and its contractors, maintenance technicians and local transport businesses, with all of these playing a part in stimulating Cambodia’s economy.
CP ALL (Cambodia) Co Ltd is an indirect subsidiary of CP ALL Plc and was given rights to establish and operate 7-Eleven stores in Cambodia for 30 years, an exclusive use of those marks which can be renewed twice for 20 year periods each time.
The first 7-Eleven store in Cambodia opened on August 30, 2021 in Phnom Penh. The very first 7-Eleven store opened in Dallas, Texas in the US in 1927, but the business really began taking off in the 1960’s and beyond as the owners turned it into first a major US franchise – and then in the late 1970’s and throughout the 1980’s it grew into a popular global franchise as it expanded into Asia and beyond.
