So I went by the Kwik E Mart Today

[suprefan]

Yes you heard right the Kwik E Mart. There is one in my little town(hooray) I drove by and the line to get in was around the store. I did take photos though, here is an article though regarding this.








http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertai...ures-headlines


Denise Riccardo was struck first by the Kwik-E-Mart sign out front and the banner beneath it: "Thank you for loitering, please come again," it read.

Things were also unusual inside the convenience store: An oversized plastic cutout of beach-ball-bellied Homer Simpson greeted shoppers. Off-color signage, including one warning over the magazine rack that read, "This is not a library!" And the shelves were laden with various strange, new products: Buzz Cola. Krusty O's cereal. Radioactive Man comic books.





Riccardo couldn't help but approach one of the cashiers.

"What happened to the 7-Eleven?" the Riverdale resident exclaimed this morning. She discovered her popular morning pit stop in Bladensburg had been transformed inside and out to resemble the convenience store from the popular animated television series, "The Simpsons." Its conversion is part of 7-Eleven's promotion of the 20th Century Fox film, "The Simpsons Movie," which is set for release in theaters on July 27.

The Bladensburg locale was one of 11 7-Eleven venues in the U.S. and one in Canada that will remain Kwik-E-Marts for the month, a testament to Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, who designed Kwik-E-Mart, after -- what else -- 7-Eleven. The Bladensburg locale was chosen because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., and because it's one of the top-grossing 7-Eleven stores among about 90 stores in the area, said Joy Pico, a local field consultant for the convenience-store chain.

The store underwent its transformation at midnight Sunday, taking a five-person crew six hours to complete. Most references to 7-Eleven have been tucked away; its forest green, orange and burnt orange colors replaced by Kwik-E-Mart's sky blue, lime and red on store walls, roofs, its cash registers and ATM machines.

A running gag in "The Simpsons" cartoon show, the fictional Kwik-E-Mart is known for unusually high prices and for its Indian-American owner, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon Jr. Most of the Kwik-E-Mart scenes revolve around the eccentric storekeeper, voiced by Hank Azaria and often a target of derision and ridicule by Homer Simpson. Prices at the 7-Eleven turned Kwik-E-Mart are more in line with convenience-store standards: a box of Krusty O's is $3.99, while Buzz Cola goes for 89 cents for a single can, $2.89 for a six pack.

"People were asking what was going on," said franchise owner Berhane Kebede of College Park about the renovation. "A few customers were worried that 7-Eleven had went away. But I told them that 7-Eleven is not going anywhere."

Even the cashiers at the Bladensburg store have abandoned their 7-Eleven uniforms for Kwik-E-Mart, while 7-Eleven officials on hand today wore uniforms with name tags you'd most likely see on the show -- like "Mae B. Smelly." Meanwhile, the popular Slurpee drink dispenser has been changed into a multi-colored Squishee machine.

"It's been the first opportunity we've had to bring Simpsons products to life," said Lisa Travieso, marketing manager of Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. "The Burbank [Calif.] stores sold out of all their Buzz and Krusty O's products on Sunday. We know that Simpson's fans are true fans.

"The target audience of the Simpson's customer and the 7-Eleven customer is perfectly aligned," said Travieso, referring to males ages 18-34. After the monthlong promotion is over, 7-Eleven will donate the signage and items to charity, she said.

Mike Kelsey of Bowie was on his way to work this morning when his wife called to say she had heard about the Kwik-E-Mart conversion on the news. She asked him to stop by and pick up something for the kids.

With that, the Bowie resident detoured from his commute to Washington and picked up three boxes of Krusty O's cereal, three Radioactive Man comic books and a six pack of Buzz Cola for his two pre-teen daughters. The pack of gum, he insisted, was for himself.

Some of the items, like Radioactive Man comics, were readily available before the promotion. Pico, the 7-Eleven consultant, said that the Krusty O's were made by Minnesota-based cereal maker Malt-O-Meal, and the Buzz Cola was made by Toronto-based soft drink maker Cott. The items, she said, are being sold at 7-Eleven stores nationwide.

Many of the people who visited the bustling store this morning appeared more concerned with paying for their morning coffee or pastries quickly enough to dash back to their cars to resume their commutes. As lines at the four cash registers wrapped halfway around the store, some customers stood staring nonplussed at the new items.

"I don't know what to make of this," said one uninterested customer who declined to give his name.

[arbouler]

ooh that's what it was.
there was one in culver city/ west la area that had a line of people too.

[leo01g]

which one? ive only seen the one on victory blvd. and the one on olive street i think.

[leo01g]

im referring to the ones in Burbank

[suprefan]

im referring to the ones in Burbank

The one on victory is one too? Shoot thats like 2 mins from me!! The one on Olive is where I went by, pics in a bit. And its only like a dozen around the entire country too.

[leo01g]

no, no, im just saying if it was any of those two.

[leo01g]

yeah the one on olive is always really busy, my dad works around there so i go there sometimes

[bballarl]

Cool idea for a promotion. Not that the movie needed it.

[suprefan]

yeah the one on olive is always really busy, my dad works around there so i go there sometimes

Only the one on Olive, thats it. There are like 5 7-11's in burbank ya know.

Edit: This is somebodys new avatar, I mean, come on...

[J~$$$]

Yes you did.












































so.....

[full on idle]

LOL

[suprefan]

[canexplain]

theres one here in denver too .. i will try and get by it and take pics ... justin, you anywhere near there .. cr****

[Mr.Nipples]

we tried going to the one in mountain view near here and it was swamped...this was half an hour ago...

[shakermaker113]

there's a list of all of them here: http://www.7-eleven.com/kem.asp

Burbank, CA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Lake Buena Vista, FL/Orlando, FL
Las Vegas, NV/Henderson, NV
Los Angeles, CA
New York City, NY
San Francisco, CA/Mountain View, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC/Bladensburg, MD

lol I like the way they try to pass off mountain view as san francisco. and by 'like' I really mean dislike.

[tessalasset]

there are only 11 in the country? and 2 of them are in los angeles? i don't get that.

but yeah, i was driving down venice today to get me some tito's tacos and i saw a huge hollywood movie-type spotlight (movie boys, what are those called?) in culver city of all places, so i knew something wasn't right. parked in the parking lot and took some quick camera phone pics before continuing on my way.

[suprefan]

I think there was some research data that determined where they chose to place kwik e marts. I guess the one in Maryland makes a ton of money and stuff for example.

[tessalasset]

two in one city tho?

[bmack86]

LA is the center of the universe, to be fair.

[suprefan]

Who knows, I was shocked Burbank was picked of all places cause its 5 mins from me. They had to have some weird reasoning for this. But then again 3 in California is too many though in the end.

[jackstraw94086]

fucking pussies wimped out on including Duff Beer.

[Beef Jerky]

Goddamn..looks packed. I'm gonna stop by the one in Burbank later.

[suprefan]

I was thirsty

[Beef Jerky]

I'm down for squishees

[psychic friend]

they should have made kwik E Mart bags. party foul on the 7/11 bag.

[luckyface]

they should have made kwik E Mart bags. party foul on the 7/11 bag.

No shit. Talk about half-assing it.

[thinnerair]

i am disappointed that they didnt make Duff Beer.
The only one in New York is right outside of Times Square.
Great.

[bug on your lip]

hahahaha

ok, last 1 Nando...

[mozabilly54]

Anyone know how long they will be Kwik-E-Marts?

[TomAz]

Anyone know how long they will be Kwik-E-Marts?

The Bladensburg locale was one of 11 7-Eleven venues in the U.S. and one in Canada that will remain Kwik-E-Marts for the month

...