Danish Franchisee Parties, Breaks Records

Danish 7-Eleven Franchisee Baskim Emurlahi knows how to prepare for a party. When he first learned his store would be at the center of festivities for the Copenhagen 2009 worldOUTgames July 25 to Aug. 2, he began outlining a strategy to maximize sales six months before the big event.

(The Radhuspladsen Copenhagen team poses outside Store #8.)

Multiple 7-Eleven Franchisee Emurlahi oversees 7-Eleven Store #8 Radhuspladsen, or Town Square, in Copenhagen, under Licensee Reitain Servicehandel Denmark (RSH). The worldOUTgames international event, in which Emurlahi's store sponsored, is a global sports, cultural and human rights event.

Emurlahi and his store team worked together "like a military operation" to break Danish peak hour and gross profits sales records during the event. "The largest number of units sold per hour during peak times was 637," Emurlahi said.

To ensure customer service remained the focus, Emurlahi scheduled his most senior staff members to work. "I wanted to make sure aces would be in their places and customers would leave our store happy," he said. Team members were assigned specific tasks and areas of responsibility to increase sales, maintain store cleanliness and provide customer service. "Everyone rehearsed their duties multiple times to prepare for what would be a 15-22-hour work day for staff," said Andreas Gulmann, Field Consultant, Region 1.

Gulmann helped Emurlahi coordinate with the store's purchasing, operations and IT department to install two additional cash registers in the store. Vendors were contacted one month in advance to ensure additional product deliveries.

Team members rallied together in a "family-like spirit" to serve customers - entertaining crowds by tossing merchandise from the back of the store to the front register to assist customers looking for items. "This caused wild cheers and applause from spectators," said Gulmann. "It was important for us to ensure everyone had fun."

2009 worldOUTgames facts:
- Copenhagen was home to the second-ever worldOUTgames
- 5,000 participants representing 90 nations competed
- 300,000 to 500,000 tourists and residents experienced this year's games
- The first worldOUTgames were in Motreal, Canada, in 2006


7-Eleven's all over the world know how to have fun while providing awesome customer service. Wouldn't you like to be apart of that culture?
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