This Nation Has the Cutest 7-11 within the World

I used to be strolling in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District with my dad and mom a few years in the past after we all began squealing—the part of the lined sidewalk we had been passing by had immersed us in a Peanuts wonderland. Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Sally, Linus, Schroeder, Franklin, and Lucy had been lined up alongside the wall whereas a large Snoopy skateboarded above. Certain, cutesy shops are frequent in Taiwan, however this wasn’t a memorabilia store—it was a 7-11, or as locals seek advice from it, merely “Seven.”

All throughout Taiwan, sure 7-11 shops have taken on themed personas, as You Journey Singapore shared in a social media publish. In Taipei, you may discover there are outlets decked out in Mickey Mouse, Sanrio and Whats up Kitty, Summiko Gurashi, Maserti, and even Lay’s Potato Chips themes.

And we’re not simply speaking about wallpaper. These shops go all in, with outsized Snoopy and Kanahei Small Animals characters sitting in seats alongside clients, a show case made within the form of a Lays van, and to-go cups themed round favourite characters. There’s loads of merch on the market, too. In brief, it’s like a mini theme park which doubles as a 7-11.

On prime of that, comfort shops in Taiwan are nothing like their counterparts within the U.S. Comfort shops like 7-11 (in addition to related outlets like FamilyMart, Hello-Life, and OK Mart), aren’t simply plentiful in Taiwan, they’re an vital a part of every day life. Have to pay your parking ticket? Purchase a live performance or prepare ticket? Ship a package deal between cities? I’ve completed all of this stuff, in addition to pop in for a morning ginger shot or a late-night soft-service ice cream at a 7-11.

Plus, you possibly can all the time rely on the 7-11 having a clear restroom and a quiet place to relaxation. It actually is a comfort retailer.

Throughout my two months in Taiwan in 2023, it wasn’t uncommon for me to pop right into a comfort retailer three to 5 instances a day. The costs are low, the standard is excessive, and the whole lot is about ease. Plus, there’s nothing to complain about with regards to customer support—staffers go above and past. After I purchased too many souvenirs in my grandmother’s hometown of Beigang and needed to ship some again to Taipei, they helped me with packaging and taping—and the field received to the capital earlier than I did. After I purchased a ticket to see one in all my favourite Irish boy bands Westlife play on the Taipei Music Middle, I couldn’t determine the way to get my tickets on the automated machine, and so they walked me by it. When my dad and I had been craving smooth serve after midnight, however the machine was off, the 7-11 worker made positive we received our candy deal with.

Since these shops are so built-in into every day Taiwanese tradition, it’s no marvel that the island nation began including a dose of whimsical enjoyable to sure places. Although the lovable collaborations reportedly originated in Taiwan—and there’s little question that the island has probably the most themed shops—now the pattern is spreading across the globe with a boat-shaped 7-11 in Pattaya, Thailand, and a bigger-is-better one in Texas.

However being from a household of Snoopy followers (who’ve nerded out on the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Snoopy Residence Ice in Santa Rosa, California) the Snoopy 7-11 has a particular place in my household’s coronary heart, because it mixed two of our obsessions: comfort and enjoyable.