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Bringing personalized service to the largest convenience store chain in the world.

7-Eleven is by far the largest convenience-store chain, but if you think you know everything about them, think again. Cuhaci Peterson’s Beyond Convenience team has had the privilege of assisting the Texas-based company on a number of interesting projects that may surprise you; for example, have you ever seen a 7-Eleven with a chandelier? We have! Over the years we have worked with a variety of developers and 7-Eleven 3rd party representatives to add or remodel more than 100 locations to their ever-expanding footprint. Unlike many of our other national rollout clients, 7-Eleven does not operate with a pure prototype which makes each location an individual project.

When we originally engaged in this work this was not evident, but we quickly realized that to be successful we were going to have to structure our team and process to accommodate the variation. This meant placing some very seasoned staff on the point of the program to make sure that each site, regardless of various existing and site conditions, incorporated the non-negotiable components of design. This process commonly led to creative opportunities and a chance for our team to flex their design and problem-solving muscles.

Project Key Facts
Expertise

Convenience

Client

7-Eleven, Inc.

Leadership

Nathan Griffis

Wade Arnold

“From a single tenant development to a large Publix anchored shopping center, Cuhaci Peterson has been a tremendous asset to our company. Their intimate knowledge of the tenant’s program to their expertise with the local municipalities has helped in our ability to successfully execute our development plans.”

Nathan J. Landers, Principal, Blackfin Partners

The Challenge

Originally built in 1958, the old First Federal Savings and Loans Bank building located along 301 Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, Florida, has long been a familiar sight to residents driving down the busy thoroughfare. Its location, just before the bridge to well-heeled Palm Beach, made it both a landmark and an attractive piece of real-estate. Over the years the 10,000 square-foot building with its distinctive rotunda has been home to a bank, a charter school, and even an antique car collection. Sadly though, due to its size being either too big or too small for most tenants, the historic building laid vacant and was falling into a state of disrepair. 7-Eleven had been eyeing the property for a while when it reached out to Cuhaci Peterson to help salvage this historic gem, and transform it into a beautiful new store.

The building had interesting Mid-Century Modern architectural features, some that the city and its historic preservation society wanted to keep, and others that had to go in order to bring the building up to code. Given the age of the structure, our team was met with countless opportunities to solve problems with strategic and creative solutions.

The Solution

Our Beyond Convenience team jumped into action, leading production architecture efforts, MEP as well as providing permitting services. In the eighties, a two-story addition was made to the original structure that was cumbersome and no longer needed, so the decision was made to remove it to make space for the fuel canopy. According to Project Architect, Wade Arnold, “If you could salvage one part of the building and make it look nice, you could bring it back to what it once was and put a new flair on it.” The demolition, however, revealed several problems with the existing structure. As a result, during construction our team had to redesign the elevations per the structural openings that were already there and then go back to the city to resubmit them to permitting and preservation.

This is not your typical program work, not by a long shot. Our team had to grapple with things you might not regularly consider like making something new look old and having to deal with the local historical building society. In the end, the large rotunda was transformed into a seating area complete with the original chandelier and historic black and white photos dotting the walls. Also, some decorative gates that the city wanted to keep were relocated and used as a one-of-a-kind screen wall.

Outside, on the exterior walls, the existing glass which had clear anodized frames and a diamond plate feature, was carried through in the renovation and wrapped around the side of the building to give it a more cohesive look. In addition, triangular-shaped columns, like the ones originally used in the demolished addition, were incorporated into the fuel-canopy design to match the style of the main building.

Other Multiformat Solutions

Another interesting 7-Eleven project our team had the privilege to work on was our first 2.0 Prototype in Kissimmee, Florida. The contemporized store, which was specifically designed to appeal to the tastes of a younger generation, has a sleek modern look that will make you do a doubletake and ask yourself, is this really a convenience store? Blurring the line between convenience and quick-service restaurants, 7-Eleven’s 2.0 stores feature fresh-prepared foods and amenities such as cigar humidors and wine caves.

Our team made multiple site visits to the Kissimmee location to follow the construction progress and allow some of our younger team members to get some dirt on their boots and better understand how the drawings they do in the office translate into real world applications in the field. Yet another example of how Team CP partners with its clients to transform ideas into value.

The Relationship

All of our projects have one common element, the 7-Eleven brand. The protection of that brand meant that there was a specific process of engagement with the 7-Eleven team. However, most every element beyond that, including the dozens of client relationships, were very different from site to site. We have been fortunate over the years to do multiple projects with many of those clients due to personalized service provided.

From historic gems to state-of-the-art facilities that defy expectations, the thing that our Beyond Convenience team is most proud of building is relationships with fantastic client-partners like 7-Eleven. Over the years Cuhaci Peterson has worked on 100+ projects with them and look forward to many more in the future. After all, who knows what the next chapter will have in store?

7-Eleven
7-Eleven

Project Highlights

Remove an existing structure

01

Remove existing past addition over parking in its entirety

02

Remove existing mezzanine in its entirety

03

Remove existing plumbing and electrical equipment from basement

04

Remove interior finishes and partitions

05

Remove all mechanical equipment and ductwork in its entirety

06

Patch repair existing portion of the structure to remain

07

Extend the existing parapet on the westside of the building

08

Provide new fenestration of the westside of the building

09

Provide new mechanical, electrical and plumbing for the new c-store

10

New partition walls, floors and finishes throughout

11

New exterior paint

12

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