Shalom, Slurpee: Israel gets its first 7-Eleven in convenience store chain’s planned wave

DEBORAH DANAN | JTA

Yoav Silberstein, 16, waited an hour and a half to get into 7-Eleven’s new flagship — and so far only — store in Israel. Located in the heart of Tel Aviv in Dizengoff Center, the store opening on Wednesday attracted throngs of mostly teenagers hoping to get a taste of America in the shape of a gallon-cup carbonated slushy called a Slurpee.

Silberstein was disappointed, though, to discover that the largest size on offer was a 650 ml (21 oz) cup. He has fond memories of Slurpees from visits with relatives in the United States, where the largest option is twice as big.

“I overheard people in the line calling it ‘barad,’” he said, using the Hebrew word for Israel’s version of slushies. “They have no idea about any of this.”

7-Eleven is the largest convenience store chain in the United States, with nearly 10,000 locations. But it is in some of its overseas markets where the chain really stands out — especially in Japan, where the more than 20,000 7-Elevens serve up everything from banking services to clothing essentials to high-end fresh and prepared foods. There, they can function as a person’s primary shopping destination.

With the store opening this week, Israel became the 19th country to welcome the megachain, and the first in the Middle East, after Electra Consumer Products inked a franchise deal in 2021. Thirty more stores are slated to open by the beginning of 2024; the company says several hundred will follow.

“It’s revolutionary,” Israel’s 7-Eleven CEO, Avinoam Ben-Mocha, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It’s more than a mini-market, it’s also a pizzeria, cafe and fast food restaurant all under one roof.”

The new stores will join more than 10,000 convenience stores already operating in Israel. In some big cities, including Tel Aviv, convenience stores that resemble New York’s bodegas can be found on every street corner, many of them open around the clock offering anything from cigarettes to diapers.

But the standard convenience stores known as makolets don’t serve coffee and hot food and are intended, like their American counterparts, for buying items in between larger shops at regular supermarkets. The a.m./p.m. chain of small-scale grocery stores gives off a 7-Eleven aesthetic but also does not serve fresh coffee or food. The closest things currently to a 7-Eleven in Israel are gas station stores that offer coffee and a range of sandwiches, salads and pastries, in addition to basic groceries.

At the new 7-Eleven, customers serve themselves Slurpees, Big Gulps and soft-serve ice cream (called American ice cream in Israel) as well as coffee from touchscreen machines that offer oat and soy milk alternatives at the same price. At 9 NIS ($2.60), the price is competitive locally but is still more than other 7-Elevens around the world, including the United States — reflecting Israel’s notoriously high cost of living.

In another innovation, the store’s cups have a barcode that allows customers to check themselves out. A mobile app, currently in a pilot phase, is meant to make it even easier for customers to grab and go.

Gabi Breier, one of only a few older customers at the store’s opening, hailed the self-serve, self-checkout policy.

“I’m walking around with this ice cream tub and wondering when someone is going to come and stop me and demand that I pay,” Breier said.

“It’s a new thing, this trust given to the customer. In the end, people will like it more than other places. It makes you feel like you’ve been invited.”

Asked if he thought an Israeli market might take advantage of this rare show of autonomy, Ben-Mocha was equanimous.

“Most of the kids here are getting it, but I’ve seen a few walk out of here with unpaid items and no one has stopped them,” he said. “But it’s part of the process and we’re on a learning curve too. Look, when you give the customer your trust, they will honor that.”

Israel has been an inhospitable home to some other foreign chains, notably Starbucks, which lasted less than two years before shutting its doors in 2003. Could the 7-Eleven venture be destined for the same fate?

“The problem with Starbucks was that they didn’t bother to understand the local taste profile,” Ben-Mocha said. “They just came with their own concept and tried to force it onto a market it wasn’t suited to.”

“Adapting to the local market is an inherent part of 7-Eleven’s DNA,” he said.

In Israel, that adaptation includes tweaks to the company’s signature operating hours — the “7” in the name refers to how many days per week the store is open — and to the way food is heated. The company initially said its Israeli stores would be closed on Shabbat, a requirement for food-service establishments that want to be certified as kosher. The Tel Aviv store’s fresh food is not kosher — it serves foods made with milk and with meat, heating them in the same ovens — but other branches will be, according to the company.

Out of around 2,000 products, just 80 are 7-Eleven branded products. Others reflect local tastes: Alongside 7-Eleven hot-food classics such as pizza, hot dogs and chicken nuggets, Israeli customers can also enjoy zaatar-and-spinach pastries and mini-schnitzels. In the candy aisle, American classics like Twizzlers and Mike and Ikes are juxtaposed with Israeli treats like fan favorite Krembo and Elite’s recently resurrected cow chocolate. And one striking import is that donuts will be sold year-round — a concept alien to Israelis, who typically only get to enjoy the fried dough confection when it’s sold around Hanukkah time.

It isn’t enough for everyone though.

“I hate this 7-Eleven, it’s totally fake,” said 16-year-old Moti Bar Joseph, who immigrated three years ago from the Bronx, in New York City. “It doesn’t have any of the real 7-Eleven feeling. There are no Lucky Charms, no Jolly Ranchers. It’s an Israeli bootleg version.”

Yuya Shimada, a Japanese national working in Tel Aviv, was more generous. Shimada came to the opening because he was familiar with the brand from his hometown of Nagoya. Asked if he was reminded of home, Shimada laughed. “No, not a bit. But this store is very stylish. I give it 8 out of 10.”

Asked whether his visit had been worth the wait, Silberstein, the teenager, said that it’s “always special to be first to something.”

He added, “But I stood four hours for the opening of the Lego store across the road so I’m probably not the right person to ask.” JN

Arizona Opera leads successful effort for $2 million in COVID recovery aid for performing arts

The first week of December, four of Tucson’s performing arts organizations were awarded grants between $250,000 and $750,000 by Gov. Doug Ducey for COVID relief.

The grant recipients include Arizona Opera, Arizona Theatre Company, Ballet Tucson and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

“The arts in Arizona play a vital role in the quality of life and economic health of our State,” said Gov. Doug Ducey.

Arizona Opera, which received $500,000 and performs in both Phoenix and Tucson, led the two-year effort to secure the funding from the governor’s office.

Joseph Specter, Arizona Opera’s president and general director, said he’s grateful for the relief funds for his organization and three others.

“This will fill the sails of Arizona arts’ organizations and inspire giving from individuals and institutions that helps a really wonderful sector,” he told Jewish News.

The pandemic had a devastating impact on Arizona’s arts’ sector, especially in the performing arts world. Many organizations are still recovering from the impact of forgoing in-person performances for over a year.

Specter, who is Jewish, said that Arizona Opera and other performing arts’ organizations continued “creating impactful programming” during the pandemic but it was difficult financially.

“Our budget is over $8 million a year and with the business model of opera being primarily contributions, sponsorships and grants, an infusion of support on this level makes a tremendous difference. It doesn’t address the entirety of our funding needs but it’s a substantial portion and it sends a good message that the arts are worthy of investment,” he said.

Specter considered becoming a cantor in high school, but instead he became a professional opera singer. As someone who knows what it’s like to be on the stage himself, he enjoys being an ally to the performers and understands the challenges of their work.

He views his role as advocating for singers. “This job is the joy of my life,” he said.

Arizona philanthropists see ‘fruits of labor’ on Israel trip

A group of philanthropists from Arizona and Las Vegas traveled to Israel with Jewish National Fund-USA’s Desert States VIP Mission Oct. 20-27. It was an eight-day journey filled with memorable excursions and visits to Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF) sites they are investing in.

Particularly resonant with the attendees was a visit to JNF-supported ADI NegevNahalat Eran, a rehabilitation hospital in the Negev that provides high-level medical services and care to individuals with severe cognitive and physical disabilities. While there, they sat in on a musical jam session at the rehabilitation center’s special education school.

“We were so fortunate to be able to join a music class of young children with intellectual and physical disabilities,” said Cyndi Rosenthal, a Desert States’ board member from Arizona. “I bonded with a sweet boy with nothing except touch and eye contact. I had a lump in my throat of emotion and at the same time was so full of joy.”

Other highlights included visiting the GrooveTech Center in the Eshkol region of Israel’s Gaza Envelope, a bombproof indoor playground and innovative learning center that allows children to thrive during the day and after school hours, with features like rock climbing walls, virtual reality rooms, a planetarium, science and robotics spaces, art workshops and more.

In addition, the mission featured a dedication ceremony for the Kasser Joint Institute for Global Food, Water and Energy Security, which was attended by prominent Arizona philanthropists Michael and Beth Kasser, for whom the Joint Institute is now named.

“The mission felt like going to summer camp,” said Mel Bottner, Desert States’ president and Arizonan. “New adventures, close friendships and the pride of knowing you’ve contributed to making the experience better for the next person. But it was deeper than that. We also got to see how our philanthropic investments are making a tangible difference in the lives of Israelis.”

The first weekend in November, 30 Arizonans also took part in JNF’s largestever national conference in Boston.

More than 600 high school and college students from across the country were in attendance. Additionally, JNF’s Special in Uniform band, an initiative to assist young people with cognitive disabilities to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, performed.

“If you will it, it is no dream; we are helping our family build a nation,” said Susan Farber, Scottsdale resident and JNF’s national general campaign co-chair and chair of the Central Negev Task Force.

“Seeing all the high schoolers and college students filled me with hope for our future. I was so touched by the Special in Uniform singers; they sang that we can accomplish anything and I think that was the core message of the conference,” Farber said.

Local Hadassah member chosen as Evolve Leadership Fellow

Shoshana Simones, member of Hadassah’s Valley of the Sun chapter, was selected by the national organization for its inaugural class of Evolve Leadership Fellows, a special cohort of young members from across the country who will lead the next generation at Hadassah.

Simones, a content marketing manager, is part of a family with close ties to Hadassah; it was thanks to the efforts of Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold that Simones’ husband’s paternal grandmother came to Israel (then Palestine) as a child during the Holocaust. Simones enjoys being involved in the Jewish community and feels strongly about advocating for issues important to women. For her, Hadassah is a perfect fit.

“Judaism has always been an important part of my identity and day-to-day life. From Shabbat and holidays to cooking traditional Jewish foods for my family and traveling to Israel, Judaism and Zionism are at my core,” she said.

Simones and the other fellows, who come from around the country, were officially welcomed at Hadassah’s 100th national convention, which took place in Jerusalem in November. Over the next year, they will hear from National President Rhoda Smolow, CEO Naomi Adler and other members of the organization’s leadership about how to inspire others to advance Hadassah’s mission to ensure Israel’s safety, fight antisemitism, advocate for women’s health care and support the work of the Hadassah Medical Organization, Hadassah’s medical center in Jerusalem.

“It is wonderful to see these intelligent, determined young women step up to the plate, eager to develop the skills that will enable them to lead the next generation of Hadassah members,” Smolow said.

JFCS raises over $300,000 at annual Brighter Tomorrow Luncheon Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS) raised more than $300,000 at its annual Brighter Tomorrow Luncheon. The event was held in person for the first time since the onset of the pandemic at the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Resort & Spa on Jan. 6. Funds raised at the event will be used to impact and support the lives of more than 40,000 individuals throughout Maricopa County.

The signature event, chaired by Allan and Carol Kern, featured Mi-Ai Parrish, former Arizona Republic publisher, as keynote speaker. The current professor of Media Innovation and Leadership at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University spoke about the interplay and culpability of media and messaging with antisemitism. Parrish also serves as president and CEO of Phoenix-based MAP Strategies Group.

“Because of the generosity and commitment of our donors, lives will be transformed now and into the future,” said JFCS CEO Dr. Lorrie Henderson. JN