Why have a 7-Eleven when you can have a 6-Twelve? Mike Mozart/CC BY 2.0

The former owner of a South Boston 7-Eleven has opened a competitor across the street from his old store. His intention is simple: to run the 7-Eleven out of business.

The owner, Abu Musa, named his new convenience store “6-Twelve,” a one-up of the 7-Eleven name, which references the chain’s original operating hours of 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Musa’s store operates from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m.

A few years after launching his 7-Eleven franchise in 2005, Musa began to run into problems. He told The Boston Globe that the company forced him to cook hot dogs and taquitos, which few people purchased, even though they were losing him money. Then a consultant for the chain pushed him to add pizza and chicken wings to the menu and to hire an extra employee to staff the hot-foods counter.

He resisted, and the tension reached its height in 2014 when 7-Eleven accused him of “shady practices.” An ensuing legal battle ended with an undisclosed settlement in October of that year.

At his new 6-Twelve store, Musa is rejecting the 7-Eleven business practices that he believes lost him money. Most notably: 6-Twelve will not serve hot food.

He is not, however, the first to open a convenience store with the 6-Twelve name. One exists in North Carolina and another in New Jersey.

Still, the nascent rivalry is making news in Boston. Channelling popular sentiment, one of Musa’s customers described his reaction to The Boston Globe: “I thought it was the greatest thing I’ve ever heard—a gang fight over Ho Hos and lukewarm coffee.”