# Mini-mart, 7-11, Convenience Store, Gas Station what do you call those places you buy bread & milk? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648 "2012-01-06T18:43:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/81 "2012-01-08T06:20:31Z")
Tejano Mart. Yes–that’s the actual name of the store. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/82 "2012-01-08T13:04:49Z")
Where I’m from we called it the ‘corner shop’ as they were often on the corners of buildings, but now I call it ‘the shop’ and assume those who need to know exactly which shop either will make an educated guess or ask. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/83 "2012-01-08T15:24:48Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Where I come from, they were all veepees. Guesses? Very Pricey? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/84 "2012-01-08T16:39:23Z")
Where I grew up, 7-11s were as ubiquitous as Dunkin Donuts are here in New England. As such I carried on saying “7-11” for a while when I moved here, but given I only know where 3 7-11s are now, I eventually stopped. Now I say “CVS”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/85 "2012-01-08T17:54:07Z")
Circle K. That’s the actual name. Ubiquitous in Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/86 "2012-01-08T18:32:41Z")
“Bodega”? In Toronto? I thought that was more of a New York term; I’ve never heard anyone use it here. We always call them “convenience stores”. In previous years, when they were more dairy-oriented, we called them “milk stores”. Many of the older chains’ names and logos reflected that: Mac’s Milk, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/87 "2012-01-08T19:08:15Z")
We had “Herbie’s.” The original Herbie had sold the place three or four owners back, but it was still called Herbie’s. Then they closed and 7-11 moved in, so now it’s 7-11. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/88 "2012-01-08T19:23:06Z")
Corner store or bodega. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/89 "2012-01-08T19:35:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It is amazing how many people use the actual store name. Circle K, Exxon, Shell or whatever is closest to your house. I don’t find it amazing. But then, I tend to use the store’s name. There are exceptions. The ‘corner store’ is Bay Center Market. I call it ‘the market’. This is confusing to the SO because the supermarket is called The Market. So I sometimes call it the corner market. The nearest gas station had been Toad’s since I moved here. In the last year or so, after it was sold, its name changed to three letters. I call it ‘the former Toad’s’. In general though, I call AM/PM ‘AM/PM’, 7-11 ‘7-11’, and so on. As a class, I call them ‘convenience stores’. But I don’t say ‘I’m going to the convenience store.’ I say ‘I’m going to 7-11’ or whatever. Note: Bay Center Market is just a little too large for me to think of it as a ‘convenience store’, and offers a little too much (like videos, fishing licenses, and a mail drop box) for me to think of it as a ‘grocery store’. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/90 "2012-01-08T21:14:30Z")
I used to call them “Stop-N-Rob”, a pun on the now-defunct chain “Stop-N-Go”. Now I call them “[Kwik-E-Mart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwik-E-Mart)”. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/91 "2012-01-08T21:28:35Z")
Milk bar, except when I lived opposite one and we’d just say we were going over to the shop. It did expand beyond being what I’d call a milk bar when they added petrol browsers and extended until they were the size of a small supermarket. Incidentally, it was (and still is) known to everyone in town as the Wog shop. Judge away. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/92 "2012-01-08T22:02:01Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Yup, in Michigan they are Party Stores, and (at least around here) always sell beer, wine, and liquor as well as bread & milk & chips & candy. > > Unless they also sell gas, in which case they are gas stations, and typically only sell beer & wine, no liquor. > > I had no clue that “party store” wasn’t a general term until I moved away from Michigan, and whenever I said I was heading to the party store, they expected me to come back with balloons and decorations, not a six-pack and a loaf of bread. Huh, I never would’ve equated party stores with convenience stores. Not saying you’re wrong, just I’ve always had them separate in my mind. One you go to for slurpees and the other you go to for pizza slices. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/93 "2012-01-08T22:12:56Z")
Corner shop. We have seven within a three minute walk (well, there are more in the other direction, but I don’t really use them), so they all have nicknames too - Nice Shop, New Nice Shop, ShopThatSells Everything, OrganicShop (they happen to have a lot of organic goods), Turkish Shop, School Shop. All small independent general stories with very minor differences in what they sell. There’s a supermarket, too, and a fruit shop, plus all the other shops more than 3 minutes’ walk away - I have no idea how our area apparently supports so many shops. Today someone wanted something specific and asked me what the name was of the shop I suggested to them. They have [names\*? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/94 "2012-01-08T22:19:44Z")
I don’t go into those little stores, but hubby does. We call them little stores. ---
**Author:** ![LegsAkimbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@LegsAkimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegsAkimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/95 "2012-01-08T22:51:37Z")
Jiffy Pig. (Generic for all the convenience stores.) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/96 "2012-01-09T00:17:57Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](#): > > I just call it White Hen Pantry. You know, despite the fact that it’s no longer White Hen Pantry, and hasn’t been for yours… Same here. I used to have a White Hen right on my block. They all got taken over by 7-Eleven years ago, but I still usually call it the White Hen out of habit. When I lived in Madison, they had “Open Pantry” stores, which of course everyone called “Open Panties.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648/97 "2012-01-09T00:26:00Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > When I lived in Madison, they had “Open Pantry” stores, which of course everyone called “Open Panties.” I would speculate that there were more than a few jokes quoting [this world-famous line](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxpyZtzvTJ0) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-mart-7-11-convenience-store-gas-station-what-do-you-call-those-places-you-buy-bread-milk/608648.md?page=4)