7-Eleven Phnom Penh opening day jitters?

7-Eleven Phnom Penh opened officially today. By all accounts, there were jitters, a lack of stock, little innovation and even a Covid-19 scare. Not the ideal start for a South-East Asian convenience store legend.

Khmer Nights went to join the lines and see what all the fuss was about.

Lining up to enter 7-Eleven – Like McDonalds circa 1991

I was not in Moscow in 1991 when McDonalds first opened, but I have certainly read about the lines. Despite arriving at 5 pm there were lots of people waiting outside the new 7-Eleven, partly due to excitement and partly due to social distancing related to “the virus”.

To read about which countries are open to travel click here.

Regardless, I did a $7 round-trip and waited for 40 minutes to get inside. There is a myth that English people like to queue. We do not, we merely respect the rules of the game.

7-Eleven – a personal story

Anyone who has spent time in much of Asia has an affinity for 7-Eleven. Cheap booze, sandwiches and street food to match anything on an actual street. And of course stuff like shampoo and toothbrushes. Stuff you needed and stuff that was cheap.

In Hong Kong the 7-Eleven pub crawl is even a thing, which you can read about here.

On hearing of 7-Eleven Phnom Penh and indeed the thought of 7-Eleven Cambodia, I was filled with excitement. Kiwi Mart does a job, but it is no 7-11. Is 7-Eleven Phnom Penh a better option?. Early signs point to no, not at all.

Why was 7 -Eleven a letdown? We will get to that in due course.

7-Eleven Cambodia vs Kiwi Mart Cambodia?

After 40 minutes of lining up I literally ran around the first 7-Eleven in Phnom Penh like a mad man looking for something new. There really was nothing new, nor were there very many products different from Kiwi-Mart. There was Knor mashed potato, there were some potato chips and the odd drink, but overall this was just a convenience store. Not only that but an expensive one to get to and one without the 7-Eleven “magic”.

Daddy what did shops look like during Coronavirus?

Kids from the old Eastern-Bloc get to ask parents about the empty shelves of communist times. We as adults now will be asked by kids in the future about the hoarding of Rahmen and toilet paper during Covid-19.

There were far too many empty shelves in a newly opened store for my liking. OK it was opening day and a soft launch, but still not ideal.

Did 7-Eleven have great food?

• 

• 

If you’ve done the trail around Hong Kong, Thailand, or Malaysia for example you will know that 7-11 gets you great food, microwavable meals and even sandwiches. However, none of the above were at all available. Whether they exist, or they had run out is anyone’s guess.

There were “dim sum”, or dumplings like you get in the Philippines, or Thailand, but they were not exactly great. They kind of had Slurpee’s, well technically Fanta (which had ran out) and Coke, but hey you can get those at AEON.

In short there is no food of note at 7-Eleven Phnom Penh as things currently stand.

And the drinks at Cambodian 7-Eleven

• 

They kinda get a pass here, after all there is a alcohol ban, but drinks in general were Kiwi Mart prices, not cheaper as you find in Thailand or Hong Kong. I am not confident they will offer better than a 50 cent beer on Street 130.

They did though do a decent iced-coffee, if that is your thing.

7-Eleven Phnom Penh – No cards……

Sometimes one treats a credit card like it is not real money. I grabbed a bunch of stuff and decided to put it on my card. Hell in Hong Kong I pay with my Octopus Subway Card, but no, 7-Eleven does not take cards. Thankfully I had some cash on me. I’m sure this will be fixed long-term, but again this would have been very embarrassing if I had lined up for 40 minutes only to find I could not pay for my goods.

And the Covid-19 icing on the very bad cake

• 

• 

Two hours after I left there were reports of a positive case of Covid-19 at the store. Netizens were going wild. I am going wild for different reasons. With $30 spent on transport and shopping I had achieved nothing.

Meeting 7-Eleven after 2 years was like meeting an old friend, but you are no longer friends because he has simply changed.