What was the original name of 7-Eleven stores before the 1946 rebrand?

Before the 1946 rebrand, 7-Eleven stores were called Tote'm Stores.

The business began in 1927 as the Southland Ice Company, whose Dallas ice houses also sold everyday necessities. By 1928, the retail outlets were operating under the Tote'm Stores name. The word was a play on the idea that customers “toted” their purchases away.

Some locations reinforced the theme with totem poles outside the stores. In 1946, Southland changed the name to 7-Eleven to advertise its extended opening hours: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. Those hours were unusually convenient for the period and became the brand's identity.

The original name is sometimes confused with Southland Ice Company, which was the parent business's earlier name, not the principal store branding immediately before 7-Eleven. Kwik-E-Mart, meanwhile, is a fictional convenience-store chain from The Simpsons.