SANTA CRUZ >> Two days before the 7-Eleven’s Chief Executive Officer Joe DePinto is due to show up at a store under new management, three women with cleaning rags were busy polishing the glass in the front windows.
The new owners, Sherry Dang and her husband Kirk DiCicco, are bent on a turnaround.
“It’s a very big deal for him to come out,” DiCicco said DePinto, who is coming with a group of executives from company headquarters in Dallas. “We invited him at our last convention in February.”
Dang and DiCicco, both 56, know the community.
They live in Watsonville. They own four other 7-Eleven stores, two in Watsonville, one on Portola Avenue in Santa Cruz and another in Salinas. They have 42 to 45 employees in all.
DiCicco pointed out his wife is a Vietnamese refugee who started out as a 7-Eleven clerk on the graveyard shift at the Portola Avenue location and became owner of three stores thanks to her entrepreneurial spirit.
DiCicco spent 35 years in the family rose-growing business in Sunnyvale, and retired two months ago. He became franchisee for a Salinas 7-Eleven three years ago.
He said he brought in a Watsonville flower vendor, Ameri-Cal Floral, at his stores, which proved so popular the flowers will be sold at 600 7-Eleven locations.
When the Ocean Street opportunity came up, the couple did not flinch.
“We knew it was a challenging corner,” DiCicco said, referring to complaints by neighbors about transients lingering in the store’s compact parking lot.
The couple hired 10 new employees, put new managers in charge, Lizeth Garcia and Angelica Martinez, and made improvements inside, cleaning everything and installing bright and more efficient LED lights.
Already, DiCicco said, the construction crew building the new Hyatt Place hotel down the street comes in for coffee.
One young man who came in to use the Citibank ATM noticed a change. “They card for alcohol,” he said.
DePinto, who appeared on the TV show “Undercover Boss” in 2010, was chosen “Retail Leader of the Year” in 2011 by CSP magazine after orchestrating a cultural change and financial turnaround in six years at 7-Eleven’s helm.
A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, his philosophy is “servant leadership,” where corporate supports those in the field, according to CSP magazine.
Under DePinto, 7-Eleven has grown to 55,800 locations globally and ranked 10th among top franchises for 2015 by Entrepreneur.com.
Known for convenience — DiCicco said customers are in 7-Eleven for 2 minutes 40 seconds and in line for 40 seconds — the chain has another priority, selling food to make up for declining cigarette sales.
The Ocean Street store has a refrigerated case for apples, oranges, mixed fruit, five kinds of packaged salads and packaged sandwiches, which DiCicco said are made fresh daily.
Hot food is an option, with new “chicken melt” sandwiches, as are craft beers such as Blue Moon and IPA.
DePinto’s goal is to increase sales of food to 20 percent by 2020, according to DiCicco, who reports he is nearing that target. “Our company is already above 15 percent.”
GRAND OPENING
What: Grand opening for new owners Sherry Dang and Kirk DiCicco
Where: 7-Eleven, 367 Ocean St., Santa Cruz.
When: 11 a.m. remarks by CEO Joe DePinto, officials, employees; 12:30-3 p.m. free food samples, music with a deejay, a raffle with two bikes as prizes.
Regular hours: Open 24/7.
Information: 831-426-6027.
