Alpha (convenience store)

Alpha Stores, Inc. was a retail chain of convenience stores and gas stations based in Bloomberg. The company was founded in 1931 by Harrison Rolton. The company expanded worldwide in 1983. With the first location outside the United States was in Japan, they began spreading out in all of Asia, and in 1986, they opened in Europe. The company was closed in July 2001.

History
The company started out as a grocery store in downtown Bloomberg named 'H.R. Grocery Store', the store became popular and later outright opened a second one just two months later. But during the Great Depression, the second store ending up closing, and later Rolton shut down his business. In 1932, he developed another one but was being a convenience store, he didn't want to use his name, so he went with the name 'Alpha', which was borrowed from the belt manufacturer, Alpha Belt Company. He opened a new store in Bloomberg, where he opened the new store nearby an Esso gas station. Two years later, the Alpha Belt Company sued Rolton for using their name for his gas station, he said that he couldn't find another name. A year later, Alpha Belt Company went bankrupt and Rolton didn't worry about the copyright issues. In 1983, They opened a new store outside the United States but in Japan, FamilyMart did a partnership with the company for an opening of 20 new stores. New stores began opening around Japan, and by the end of 1985, the company had 145 stores. In 1986, the company opened in Europe, starting in the UK. They opened 10 stores during the period. They later opened in France, later Italy and more. In the 90s, Alpha began losing money and sales were dropping, during that time, they still did partnerships.

In 1997, Rolton passed away at the age from 96 years old, the reason he died was because of cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1995. In 1998, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Later, the company was bought out by 7-Eleven, though many stores still operated, some were closed.

Closure
In 1999, the locations in Europe were announced to close by the end of September. Greece's own was new as it opened in the country in 1997. By September 1999, all European locations were closed. In 2000, Asia's locations closed as well, with Japan closing first. In 2001, Alpha announced they would file for Chapter 7 and would close its remaining locations, all assets were sold off to 7-Eleven and by July 2001, Alpha closed all of its locations, that brought an end to the chain.

Slogans

 * “It's super, it's Alpha!”
 * “Trusted by all .” (circa 1990s)
 * それは家族のためのものだよ、アルファ！(Japanese slogan)
 * Alpha est là pour tout ce que vous voulez. (French slogan)
 * Alpha per te, Alpha per tutti. (Italian slogan)