Thompson’s father, Joe, turned a Dallas, Texas, ice company called Southland Ice into a chain of small stores by adding milk and bread to its lineup as a convenience to its customers, who often came by for ice when stores were closed.
John took that idea and ran with it, building the largest chain of convenience stores in the world: 7-Eleven, named after its original operating hours: 7:00 am to 11:00 pm. When Joe died, there were about 600 stores in the chain. Today, the chain has more than 24,400 stores in 19 countries. Thompson died at home in Dallas January 28 from a brain tumor. He was 77.