Pretty spooky. (Photo: Daniel Maurer)
It happened on Halloween: 7-Eleven opened at the corner of Avenue A and East 11th Street, to the, em, horror of many an East Villager. Or at least, to the horror of the folks who’ve been protesting the store’s construction site every Sunday: No 7-Eleven is calling for a 9 p.m. boycott rally tonight.
That was news to the clerks who were milling about the near-empty store with a security guard when we stepped in just minutes ago. A lifetime Lower East Sider named Veronica, who declined to give her last name, said she knew the store was an object of contention but was happy to be behind the counter. “I’ve been trying to look for work for a while,” said the 18-year-old. “This is my first job.”
“We had a couple of people come by today and say they were really happy,” she added. And then another clerk told some trick-or-treaters they were out of candy.
Whelp, enjoy that warm welcome while it lasts, Veronica of the LES, because No 7-Eleven is planning to “WELCOME TEXAS TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD NEW YORK STYLE!”