7-Eleven changed its name from Tote’m Stores to 7-Eleven in 1946. The new name referred to the stores’ extended operating hours, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
The business developed from icehouses operated by the Southland Ice Company in Texas. Those locations sold ice, milk, bread, and other basics, providing convenient shopping outside normal grocery-store hours. The Tote’m name was used before the company adopted the 7-Eleven identity.
Many locations later operated around the clock, making the original 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. slogan historically important rather than a description of today’s schedule. The name change helped communicate the chain’s convenience and longer opening hours.