7-Eleven is expanding its food offering, testing sales of whole roasted chicken at some downtown Chicago stores this week, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
“It’s to see if we can capitalize on home meal replacement,” Carole Davidson, senior vice president of strategic planning for the Dallas-based chain told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The whole roasted chicken, priced at $7.99, will join pasta dishes, including rigatoni with Alfredo sauce and peas and four-cheese ravioli with marinara sauce, in the stores’ refrigerated sections.
The trial follows on the heels of 7-Eleven’s recent introduction of chicken wings and pizza in hot food cases, and similar items (self-rising crust pizza, mozzarella sticks, buffalo chicken wings and cream cheese jalapenos) within its 7 Select line in the frozen-food section, as well as grilled chicken with cheese and tortellini and sun-dried tomatoes in refrigerated sections.
Stores also recently began offering packaged fresh fruits like sliced mango and watermelon, and boutique-style red velvet- and chocolate-flavored cupcakes.