This story is a part of Ask Alabama, a weekly interaction with our readers, where you ask the questions, you vote to decide which questions we answer, and then we investigate. Alan Koch asks: "Why are there no 7-Elevens in Alabama?"



7-Eleven is one of the world's largest franchise companies. It has locations all over the world, including 32 states, and in places as far away as Singapore and Australia, but not one in Alabama or much of the south at all. In fact, the closest store is in Jacksonville, Florida, nearly 500 miles away.

So why is that? Why can't us fine Alabamians get hold of those famous 7-Eleven slurpees?



Well, the first thing I have to tell you Alan is that 7-Eleven did not want to participate in helping us answer this question for you.

But that's okay, we'll work it out without them.

On Feb. 29, 1988, 473 convenience stores that bore the famous 7-Eleven name were bought by Circle K, 7-Eleven's major competitor in the U.S., according to news reports at the time. The sold stores were located in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina. Since then, only South Carolina has seen any new 7-Elevens reopen. At the time, 7-Eleven was owned by the Southland Corporation, a multibillion dollar publicly traded company based out of Dallas, Texas.



The $147 million purchase price for the 7-Eleven stores included real estate and other assets.



But still, that's nearly 30 years without a 7-Eleven. I wondered if there had been a non-compete clause inserted into the sale contract, or perhaps they just didn't think it was worth competing with Circle K, which owns about 8,000 stores globally. By Comparison, 7-Eleven has nearly 60,000 stores worldwide.

A spokesperson for Circle K said that the company has changed hands since the 1988 purchase, but said she'd be surprised if such a non-compete clause still existed after all these years. "Whatever the case, we're glad they aren't in Alabama."

Circle K is now owned by the Quebec, Canada-based Alimenttion Couch-Tard. I reached out to the company, and after expertly navigating the conversation using all five words I learned from my 9th grade French class, I ended up back on the phone with Circle K. It seems no one really recalls the deal from 1988.



But during my research I came across a book that outlines the entire history of the Southland Corporation, written by 7-Eleven's former vice-president of public relations Allen C. Liles, now 80 years old and living in Temple, Texas. Allen wrote the book in 1977, 11 years before the sale of the companies 7-Eleven stores to Circle K. "I don't recall anything about a non-compete clause being mentioned during my time at the company, but the sale did happen a little bit after I left, " said Liles, who is now an ordained nondenominational minister.



Allen added that he couldn't think of any reason why the company wouldn't reopen stores in Alabama or other parts of the South since they had been there previously. "The company started out in Texas and its first major expansion took it across to Florida, but then in the early 1990s the company was partially bought over by its Japanese affiliate Ito-Yokado," added Liles.



In 2005, the Japanese affiliate took full control. I tried to call them but it's currently 3 a.m. in Tokyo.

Aside from Liles's book, there are few other titles that might contain the answer. One such book,

by Akira Ishikawa and Tai Nejo is more of a manual of how to run a 7-Eleven that anything else. Again, I reached out to both authors curious if they might have a take on what happened to Alabama's 7-Elevens. Unfortunately, Ishikawa is now dead and I couldn't find a working contact for Nejo.

According to 7-Eleven's corporate website, you cannot currently open a franchise in Alabama. Sorry Alan, you'll have to drive to Jacksonville for that slurpee.