Way before 7-Eleven thought of selling Japanese food, there was Famima!! in LA

Southern Californians are on the lookout for sando egg sandwiches and chicken teriyaki rice balls at their local 7-Elevens after news that America's biggest convenience store chain is expanding their menu to include Japanese food items to boost sales.

The news was first reported in June by the Wall Street Journal — and boy, did it whet people's appetite, because anyone who's been to a 7-Eleven in Asia knows they are everything to write home about, from the abundance of local snacks on deck to the convenience of being able to pay your electric bills there.

"The U.S. invented the convenience store industry, but in Asia, they've polished the concept of convenience to a level that I think is unheard of around the world," said Jeff Lenard, spokesperson for the National Association of Convenience Stores.

A 7-Eleven in Tokyo, Japan.

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Courtesy Shota Kawano

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Courtesy Shota Kawano

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Now, paying your electric bill is nowhere on the horizon for stateside 7-Elevens. But according to the company, customers would soon be able to pair their Big Gulp with miso ramen, sweet chili crisp wings, or other ready-to-go Japanese fare.

But wait, we've been here before

It's exciting stuff, and for some of us Angelenos — a vision we have seen before.

Come with me on a detour back to the mid-2000s, where an upmarket Japanese chain of mini-mart named Famima!! tried — but failed — to crack Los Angeles.

"Famima!! was one of the early entrants into the concept of melding U.S. products with an Asian flair," said Lenard; those items for sale included onigiri and fresh steamed buns. "More than half of their items had an Asian flair, and then they also had U.S. favorites. You'd see Doritos, see some other things there."

A Famima!! display from the mid-2000s.

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Courtesy National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS)

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Courtesy National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS)

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The rise of Famima!!

The name is short for FamilyMart, a popular chain of convenience stores in Japan. It opened the first U.S. Famima!! in 2005 in West Hollywood — and went on an expansion tear with Greater L.A. as its launch pad. The goal was to eventually open some 200 stores in America.

That never happened, but the brand was becoming so ubiquitous so quickly that even Jonathan Gold paid it a visit, likening the store in a review to "an expanded version of a luxury hotel minibar, right down to the gourmet popcorn, the pricey bars of organic chocolate and the excellent Internet access."

At its height, Famima!! grew to some 20 stores, including in Long Beach and Orange County. Eight of them were in Downtown Los Angeles alone, including at Union Station.

Famima!! in Los Angeles

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Sean Yoda Rouse

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LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

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"The intent was taking what worked in Asia, where you come in, you grab a couple things, and having that as a meal," said Lenard. "And I think that's where Famima was really looking — where might something that one person would call a snack, somebody else would call a meal."

Lenard remembered visiting one of the Downtown shops on a work trip. "It felt like something from a different continent, but it didn't feel like it was foreign," he said.

The demise

Even as the chain expanded its reach, underperforming stores were being closed down. In 2015, Famima!! announced a sudden exit from the U.S. market, shuttering all of its remaining locations across L.A.

"Sometimes there's good ideas that are ahead of their time, and sometimes there's a good idea that is ready because the pump has been primed," said Lenard.

A decade ago, he added, there wasn't TikTok, and smartphone usage wasn't as prevalent. In addition, Asian culture, though part of the fabric of L.A. life, wasn't nearly as mainstreamed as it is now.

A 7-Eleven in Taichung, Taiwan selling steamed sweet potatoes.

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Courtesy Josie Huang

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A 7-Eleven in Guangzhou, China selling meatballs and other street food.

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Courtesy Jia Tan

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Here we go again

But today, "embracing Asian food in stores makes an awful lot of sense," he said. Just this week, K-pop artists took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard 200 chart for the first time in history.

"Bringing new flavors, new concepts to the U.S. and extending it beyond a niche market is much more likely now because of all the things that have changed over how people think about food, how people think about entertainment, and how people consume social media and regular media," he said.

A 7-Eleven in Tokyo, Japan.

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CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

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AFP

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So it's not surprising that 7-Eleven would give the idea another kind of test spin. The timing, in fact, feels almost cosmic.

This year, Lenard noted, marks the 50th anniversary of the first-ever 7-Eleven to open in Japan.

"I don't think anybody could have possibly imagined that taking a U.S. concept and bringing it to Asia would eventually lead not only to it taking root there, but [it] coming back to the U.S.," he said. "It's really been a remarkable journey."