Let me just say I had a GREAT experience at my local 7-Eleven down the street from my new house. This was my first time at this location because I just moved to the neighborhood. With it being 7/11 and Free Slurpee Day, I wanted to check it out and try out their new Cap'n Crunch Crunch Berry slurpee. Upon pulling into the parking lot when I saw a big "Happy Birthday" banner across their front window I knew I was in for a treat but I didn't expect the extent of that.
While outside, before entering the store I did see an employee dressed up in party attire. He was wearing a "Happy Birthday" headband sign and beads. I thought, 'okay we're getting into it, I like the enthusiasm. This should be interesting." & boy did it get interesting! After entering the store, the very first thing I saw (aside from the balloons outside the door), was a dessert display table with a huge sheet cake saying "Happy Birthday 7-Eleven", cookies, more balloons, and goodies. I was not expecting that! Then the store was filled with balloons in various places. It was festive to say the least.
Up next, to the slurpees! I didn't have to go far, to find them & I didn't even have to grab a cup as one of the ladies approached me with a free slurpee cup. There was already some popularity at the slurpee machine as a family with kids was all excited to choose their flavor. I'm fairly sure the popular choice was a combo of all the flavors that I believe people are calling "Unicorn swamp". I just went with the Captain Crunch Crunch Berries flavor and it did not disappoint! The best way I can describe it, is it's similar to a berry or blue raspberry flavor upon first sip then the cereal sweetness taste of the Crunch Berries taste hits you after so it's like an after taste. I'd give it an 8 and 1/2 out of 10 if I were to rank it.
Almost immediately after getting my slurpee, an employee came over to me and put beads around my neck. I was not expecting that. I should note that all the employees were dressed for the party with beads, headband birthday signs, and other festitive accessories. I felt like I was walking into a personal party from the neighborhood welcoming me as this was my first night there and first visit to this store. It was quite the welcome. Of course it wasn't for me specifically, but rather 7-Eleven's birthday. Regardless of the reason, I picked a good day to stop by!
With my slurpee in hand, I was about ready to leave and as I'm walking away, one of the ladies was like, "nah, nah, nah, not so fast, picture time!" I got roped into taking a photo with this family (so I was the odd man out just inserted into their family photo) for 7-Eleven's socials and website. HA! That took the cake. It was all in good fun though and I was happy to oblige. She even told me the picture might make the local paper! Whew...imagine, I move to the neighborhood and make the local paper...and here I thought New Hampshire was more subtle. Welcome to NH! All in all, it was quite humorous to me though.
The employees were the most enthusiastic and welcoming people I've ever seen working at a store. They were wonderful and made everyone feel special. What was great too was that it seemed like they were having a good time and enjoying their job, which in turn enhanced the environment.
I had a great experience for the 5 minutes that I was there. I'll definitely be back just based on that one experience alone. The customer service was superb and so was the slurpee! Thanks & Happy Birthday, 7-Eleven!
-Producer Lightning