7-Eleven
Original Headquarters: Dallas, Texas
Purchased By: Seven & i Holdings
Country: Japan
Every great firm began with a single person and a dream. 7-Eleven was no different. In 1927, Jefferson Green was simply an everyday person working for Southland Ice when he began to expand his menu, offering clients eggs, bread, and milk. This business strategy was successful, especially after he changed the name to 7-Eleven after the store’s opening hours. As the decades passed, 7-Eleven became a household name in America, with more locations than Jefferson Green could have imagined. However, it did not escape the 1987 financial meltdown untouched. Ito-Yokado, a Japanese corporation, bought it. It is now part of its parent firm, Seven & i Holdings.
7 Eleven
Sunglass Hut
Original Headquarters: Miami, Florida
Purchased By: Luxottica Group
Country: Italy
Sunglass Hut is the one-stop store for all your eyewear needs. The company has storefronts in India, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and other countries, offering both clear and tinted spectacles. Of course, it started in Miami, Florida, as the invention of optometrist Sanford Ziff. Sunglass Hut was sold five years after opening its 100th store, in 1986. It is now owned by the Luxottica Group, who paid a whopping $653 million for it in 2001. At the time, there were more than 1,300 stores. Nearly 2,000 now exist worldwide, with 81 in the United States.
Sunglass Hut
