7-Eleven Buys Open Pantry,Renovations Beginning at Most BP's, But Not Bayside

Say ‘Goodbye’ to the Open Pantry and ‘Hello’ to the Big Gulp - but maybe not in Bayside.

7-Eleven Inc. is purchasing almost all of the 26 Open Pantry Food Marts in Wisconsin and Illinois, and that includes the one located in the in Bayside on the corner of Brown Deer and Port Washington Roads. However, Village Manager Andy Pederson said he's not sure if this store will stay a BP or be remodeled into a 7-Eleven.

"They said there were going to be five locations retained by Open Pantry, this is what we were told over the phone, one of them being Bayside," Pederson said. "It caught all of us off-guard because usually you don't get that far in the process and then get a call saying 'We're pulling our application.'" 

Pederson said the company completed all the preliminary work leading up to renovating the store, including turning in all paperwork and paying all application and permit fees. However, received a call early Tuesday morning from 7-Eleven and was told there would be no representative at the Plan Commission meeting that evening. Pederson said the item was then tabled.

With more than 46,000 stores around the world, mostly in Japan, 7-Eleven is by far the largest convenience store chain on the planet. However, this many be a new business venture for the franchise. There are roughly 6,800 7-Eleven stores in the United States, but none in Wisconsin, reports JS Online.

In 1996, the company opened about 15 stores in the dairy state but left just 10 years ago.

Pederson said they are awaiting a response from 7-Eleven representatives to confirm if the Bayside store will change like so many others. 

Representatives from Open Pantry and 7-Eleven were unavailable for comment.