With over 40,000 stores around the world, everyone should be familiar with the 7-eleven chain of convenience stores. Part of the fun of travelling is seeing how these mega-chains adjust their wares to suit the tastes of the local culture be it the Big Gulps in America, the various onigiri in Japan, or melt-proof ice pops of China.

Take this 7-Eleven found on the Russian controlled island of Sakhalin. The orange green and red markings are instantly recognizable despite the foreign language. So what goods are Russians running out for at 2:00 am in their pajamas?

The answer may shock you.

This 7-Eleven in Sakhalin sells shoes.

And we don’t mean it sells sneakers along with beef jerky and road maps. They only sell shoes – wall to wall shoes.

Assuming a shoe merchant had taken over this property from a 7-Eleven which begs the question: why don’t they change the sign to something with a little more sole?

If not, it still kind of makes sense when you think far too long about it like we have: a convenience store sells things everyone needs for daily life and everyone needs shoes for their daily lives. Still, there seems to be a startling lack of variety in this variety store.

We went in and asked for a size 12 but the shopkeeper yelled: “Can’t you read the sign!?”

Photo & Video: RocketNews24
*DISCLAIMER: That last line was just a joke, please consider the Sakhalin 7-11 for all your footwear needs even if you are outside of that particular range of sizes*


[ Read in Japanese ]