Dive Brief:
- 7-Eleven has dismissed Benjamin Lucky, its senior director of fresh food development, Lucky confirmed to C-Store Dive.
- Lucky, who joined the convenience retailer just over a year ago, said in a text message that his dismissal was part of 7-Eleven taking “a different direction” and cutting back on expenses. He was terminated shortly before Thanksgiving.
- 7-Eleven hired Lucky during the same month in which the retailer revealed its years-long investment in building food-focused c-stores to improve its foodservice reputation in North America.
Dive Insight:
When Lucky joined 7-Eleven in October 2024, he told C-Store Dive that he would have “a 10,000-foot view” of the retailer’s fresh food programs with a focus on strategic development. Two weeks after his hiring, 7-Eleven added former Albertsons exec Brandon Brown as senior vice president of fresh foods, and launched its sweeping new standard c-store concept that has since become one of the industry’s biggest storylines.
Beyond the food-focused store rollout, 7-Eleven launched several new foodservice products since hiring Lucky, including chicken fajita burritos and Slurpee-flavored Mini Melts. Just last week, 7-Eleven announced that it’s rolling out its famed Japanese-style egg sandwiches in the U.S., which Lucky said in a LinkedIn post took months to develop, refine and commercialize.
Lucky brought over two decades worth of convenience retail food experience to 7-Eleven, working as a foodservice category manager with ExxonMobil, Chevron, Kroger and Murphy USA in the 2000s and early 2010s, according to his LinkedIn bio. Between 2013 and 2019, he held food-focused directorial and managerial positions with Sprint Foods, Ampm, Maverik and Puma Energy.
In 2019, Lucky became senior category manager of foodservice and dispensed beverages for the Wills Group, which operates the Dash In convenience store chain. He held that role for four years before moving to Cal’s Convenience, where he was vice president of foodservice. He left Cal’s after nine months, following the sale of Cal’s to 7-Eleven.
Prior to 7-Eleven, Lucky was strategic director of retail and foodservice for food design agency King Retail Solutions.
A spokesperson from 7-Eleven did not respond by press time when asked to comment on Lucky’s dismissal.
