 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "White Hen Pantry" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1965; 60 years ago (1965) |
| Defunct | 2013; 12 years ago (2013) |
| Fate | Acquired by 7-Eleven |
| Headquarters | Lombard, Illinois, US |
| Area served | United States |
| Products | Convenience stores |
White Hen Pantry (known as White Hen in the Midwest) was a Lombard, Illinois-based chain of approximately 261 predominantly franchisee-owned convenience stores located in and around Detroit, Boston / southern New Hampshire, southern Wisconsin, northwest Indiana and central Illinois areas of the United States. Most of the stores were open 24 hours and offered an array of standard convenience store fare such as coffees, cappuccinos, frozen and dry goods and toiletries. Many also had full delis serving boxed sandwiches and salads, name-brand meats and cheeses and fresh fruits and vegetables. White Hen's array of services included catering options and sales of external holiday gift cards. Most stores also had ATMs and sold lottery tickets; White Hen was the largest ticket vendor of the Illinois Lottery before being acquired by 7-Eleven.
Most of the White Hen Pantry locations were rebranded as 7-Eleven stores by the end of 2010.
History
2000s
In 2001 it was sold to Clark Retail Enterprises, Inc., which immediately sold all 55 White Hen Pantry stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to New England Pantry, Inc. This deal made New England Pantry a sub-franchisor of the White Hen Pantry brand, and its exclusive franchisor in the New England area.
In summer 2005, White Hen's push toward deli-fresh offerings was strong in Chicago, where it offered free samples of its private label Pantry Select chips at an August Chicago Cubs baseball game. Its new deli-fresh focus reportedly failed to meet the needs of some of the many demographics to which the store catered, hurting the quick growth for which it had originally planned.
In line with its focus on deli-fresh goods, White Hen opened what it billed as a "store of the future" in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood on April 17, 2006. In addition to offering White Hen's standard fare, this particular venue offered "an expanded line-up of natural and organic foods, fresh Pantry Select green salads . . . and a toasted-to-order Hot & Fresh sandwich program with a state-of-the-art touch screen ordering system."
2010s
The White Hen logo continued for a time to be used for some prepared foods such as sandwiches, under the "Pantry Select" brand. Deli counters and products were removed and replaced with standard 7-Eleven offerings. In October 2013, a White Hen Pantry store located in Boston, Massachusetts closed, preparing for a conversion to 7-Eleven.
References
- "White Hen Pantry Franchise". Franchise Advantage. Retrieved 2006-04-17.
- "Milestones". 7-Eleven. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- "White Hen Pantry Enters into Master Franchise Agreement". bizjournals. Retrieved 2006-04-17.
- "White Hen Pitches Deli at Cubs Game". Promo Magazine. Retrieved 2006-04-17.
- "White Hen to close and sell 15 area stores". Crain's CHICAGOBUSINESS. Retrieved 2006-04-17.
- "White Hen Expands with "Store of the Future"". Convenience Store News. Retrieved 2006-04-18.
- "White Hen Pantry Closes in Preparation for 7-Eleven Conversion on Hanover Street". NorthEndWaterfront.com. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
External links
Categories:- Lombard, Illinois
- Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois
- Defunct retail companies of the United States
- American companies established in 1965
- Retail companies established in 1965
- Retail companies disestablished in 2013
- Economy of Massachusetts
- New England
- Economy of the Northeastern United States
- Convenience stores of the United States
- 7-Eleven
- 2006 mergers and acquisitions