A Boston man who was once a proud owner of a 7-Eleven convenience store has turned his back on the company and opened his own shop across the street. He’s calling it 6-Twelve.
Abu Musa said he chose the name, not because of its operating hours, but because he hates 7-Eleven.
“7-Eleven didn’t treat me as a partner anymore. They treated me as a slave,” said Musa.
In an interview with The Boston Globe, Musa said that 7-Eleven forced him to sell hot foods, like hot dogs, even though he didn’t want to.
“They’d sit there on the rollers, no one would buy them and every day I would throw out $200 to $300 worth of food that I had to pay for,” he said.
The situation was exacerbated when the regional field consultant for the company made Musa also carry pizza and chicken wings, forcing him to hire an extra employee to work the hot foods station.
“Whenever, whatever they want, they can bring in the store and we have no option, no choice but to accept it,” Musa told CBS Boston.
Musa admitted that there was a personality clash between him and the field consultant, which soured his relationship with the parent company.
In 2014, 7-Eleven revoked his franchise. This led to a legal battle which was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
The next year in September 2015, Musa decided to open his new store, 6-Twelve, across the street from his old 7-Eleven franchise which has since come under new management.
A good chunk of his old customers have remained loyal to Musa and now shop at 6-Twelve.
“When I learned the story behind it, that he got cut from the 7-Eleven roster and started his own team, I thought it was the greatest thing I’ve ever heard – a gang fight over Ho Hos and lukewarm coffee,” said Brian Donovan, a regular of Musa’s.
Musa said he has a good strategy for taking down his corporate-backed competitor across the street.
“I know the price of everything in that store, so I sell the same things cheaper,” he said. He said he’s also stocking specialty items that he knew his customers wanted, but was previously restricted from carrying due to corporate policy.
7-Eleven did not immediately respond to Global News’ request for comment.