Found this on CBS MarketWatch today...

Stocking up for Y2K

For some people, 7-Eleven (SVEV: news, msgs) looks especially good at about 2 o'clock in the morning, as in after "last call". But the company itself is concentrating more on midnight these days. One midnight in particular. The midnight that marks the transition between 1999 and 2000.

The Washington Post reports that, unlike many retailers, 7-Eleven is not only actively stocking up on staples in anticipation of a Y2K run, it is telling customers it will be there for the and it's bragging about the potential boom in sales it could bring. Post writer Stephanie Stoughton says company CEO James W. Keyes thinks Y2K may be the single biggest opportunity 7-Eleven has ever had.

The chain's stores are loading up on everything from batteries and bottled water to candles and canned tuna. But is that good business? Stoughton says other retailers, like Wal-Mart and Home Depot don't want customers buying things that might be returned after January 1. But 7-Eleven's not worried because few people return convenience store items. The chain is also running the risk that first quarter sales will be hurt if nothing happens and its stores are overstocked.

The fact that 7-Eleven plans to market itself as the Y2K solution with banners saying things like "Y2K Ready 4U" has some in the industry worried that the company is just fanning the flames of paranoia, but others say its bold approach means 7-Eleven has the field all to itself. By detailing its plans to be stocked with essentials, 7-Eleven hopes to draw more people into its company owned and franchised stores. The company plans to sell twice as much bottled water this December as it normally does in the current peak month, July. It also plans to have gasoline tanker trucks on standby in case a run on gas drains the fuel pumps. But it's not all preparations for paranoia. 7-Eleven also plans to stock its stores with plenty of bubbly, including its own private label of champagne. Read the full story

Jeff Clabaugh writes for CBS MarketWatch

-- Mr. Toaster (TO@S.T), August 18, 1999

Answers

Paul Milne says that anyone living within 5 miles of 7-11 is toast. Your handle is appropriate.

-- ~~~ (~~~@~~~.com), August 18, 1999.

My nearest 7-11 has been busy putting up chainlink fencing around the large parking area behind it and decorative concrete block planters in the front. It's probably just coincidence.

-- Greg Lawrence (greg@speakeasy.org), August 18, 1999.

Maybe 7-11 can get Paul Milne to go TV commercials for them!

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), August 18, 1999.

Maybe Paul Milne can get 7-11 to do tv advertisements for his website.

-- Boo Boo Stew (here@comes.trouble), August 18, 1999.

If the economy remains stable throughout December, then will the 7-11 stores make immense profits from last minute panic buying?

YES.

If the economy collapses before or after Y2K, then will the 7-11 stores be looted and cleaned out quick as a whistle?

YES.

Are the 7-11 managers so greedy and stupid that they don't see the immense losses they'll incur WTSHTF?

YES.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), August 18, 1999.

Naturally the Managers have no intention of being IN the stores that night. That's why they hire all of those minimum wage workers.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), August 18, 1999.