Fred Chong Rutherford

Speaking / Keynotes

7-Eleven Japan

Format
keynote
Runtime range
30–45 min (45–60 with Q&A) · 10-min snap lecture available

In 1973, Ito-Yokado licensed the 7-Eleven brand from its American parent — and discovered the U.S. playbook didn’t actually work in Japan. What they built instead became one of the most consequential retail case studies of the 20th century.

Traces the exact dates and decisions behind that transformation, and closes with a twist most audiences don’t see coming about who ended up owning whom. The final beat: the difference between American short-term thinking and Japanese long-term thinking.

Part of the Japan business-history suite — pairs with Kaizen and Nintendo.

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An 1867 Brooklyn dare, a haunted corner near an old Revolutionary War fort, and a friend who never explained what he saw.

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