Paying a Fattening Visit to the Not-So Kwik-E-Mart

It was Sunday morning, and I'd promised my 11-year-old son and his friend who'd slept over that I would take them to a place normally only available in their cartoon fantasies: the Kwik-E-Mart convenience store run by a Hindu gentleman named Apu on "The Simpsons" and a food emporium where a fellow named Homer J. Simpson is prone to purchase every fattening product in sight. That's not to mention the penchant of Bart and best pal Milhouse to gulp Squishies -- occasionally the all-syrup variety, at great risk to their health and well-being.

Anyway, you may have heard that 20th Century Fox has a deal with Southland Corporation to convert a dozen 7-Eleven stores to Kwik-E-Marts to promote "The Simpsons Movie" in advance of its July 27 release. One of those happens to be 10 minutes from where I live, in Burbank. And so on Sunday we hopped in the car and scooted over, only to find a line snaking around the block to get in. Yes, I, an entertainment journalist of purportedly sound mind and body, waited in line for nearly a half-hour to enter a glorified 7-Eleven. Really. And I can't even say that the Woo-Hoo Blue Vanilla Squishie that I purchased in the commemorative cup was all that worth it.

However, the store was outfitted in imaginative style, selling Squishies and pink sprinkled doughnuts a la Homer and featuring life-size cutouts of the various characters (including the elderly Jasper turning blue while locked inside the ice chest).

There was also a lot of great original cartoonist artwork decorating the walls.

And dang if the guy behind the counter didn't look a little bit like Apu.

But my favorite thing in the store had to be this cartoon wall -- particularly the one in the middle where Mr. Burns is saying, "Look at them...They'll buy anything they see in a cartoon." So true.

Comments

[Jason]

It sounds like the one in Dallas was a little less crowded then the other locations across the country. The store was packed, but I got through the line buying some buzz cola and Krusty O's in about five minutes. It would have been a different story if I wanted to buy a squishee. The line wrapped around the inside walls twice.

[Nic]

I don't see how you were there Sunday morning. Word wasn't out yet about which stores were being converted. And there wasn't even a line Sunday afternoon, even with its Squishee-requiring heat. Those drawings weren't there, either. And Ralph wasn't yet in position inside the store; he was slurping on his popsicle in the window. Hmm. Instead of boring you with my "Simpsons"-fan-like attention to minutiae, I probably should've just pretended you got your days mixed up. Still, it's cool that you went!

[Jess]

Too funny - I drove straight on past that same line, but we got lucky - it was just my husband and me, our son wasn't in the car. Otherwise we probably would've been stuck in the same line!

I love this promotion - totally unexpected, I hadn't heard a thing about it (although my husband had), and did a double-take... it actually took a couple of seconds to figure out what was wrong with the scene! :)