Toshifumi Suzuki partnered with the US operator of 7-Eleven to bring the convenience store chain to Japan in 1973 and then went on to revolutionize the use of sales, customer, and inventory data to help make the stores a popular source of cheap and easy meals for locals, and a must-stop destination for tourists. Suzuki was 93 years old. [Image: A man walks out of a 7-Eleven convenience store along a street in central Tokyo. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/gettyimages-2170311659.jpg?quality=90&strip=all]