Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
10 years of brain freeze: We're No. 1 Slurpee sippers again
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DRINK it up Winnipeg. It's now 10 years of being the champion of Slurpee suckers.The city will be given the Slurpee Capital of the World crown for the 10th year in a row.
Specific numbers aren't available, but Winnipeg sold 20 per cent more Slurpees than Calgary, which finished second. Southwest Detroit placed third.
Each year, 7-Eleven awards the title to the city with the most Slurpee cups sold per store. Winnipeg has won the title since 1998, when the corporation first started handing out the award.
"Slurpees are part of life for Manitobans and Winnipeggers," 7-Eleven Canada spokeswoman Sheila Calder said. "It's a huge achievement and something that all Manitobans alike should pat themselves on the back for."
Winnipeg's official status will be revealed Friday at city hall when Mayor Sam Katz will receive an honourary Slurpee cup trophy, said Karl Copp, who oversees a number of 7-Eleven stores in the city.
Calder added that Katz will also get a commemorative plaque marking Winnipeg's reign for the past decade.
The ceremony kicks off a two-day celebration for sweet-toothed Winnipeggers to snag free Slurpee schwag.
At the Bomber game Friday night, Copp said the first 2,000 people who show up to the south end zone at Canad Inns Stadium will get a 52-ounce Milt Stegall mug. On Saturday, 7-Eleven stores across the city will be giving away 42,000 free small Slurpees.
Slurpee sales rise when temperatures soar in the summer, but they also remain steady when the mercury plummets to -40 C. Slurpees have fast become part of the culture in Winnipeg, Calder said.
"What differentiates Winnipeg is people drink Slurpees in every season. In winter, kids are having Slurpees while they're out tobogganing," she said.
Last year, Kennewick, Wash., tried to dethrone Winnipeg from its sugary claim to fame, announcing they were the true Slurpee capital.
Don Mariotto, who owns the only 7-Eleven in Kennewick and serves 40,000 people, said the title was his after an aggressive marketing blitz. However, 7-Eleven said Mariotto was measuring his victory by sales dollars, not the number of Slurpee cups sold per store.
But Mariotto's one store still sells more Slurpees per day than any other store in the world, said Margaret Chabris, a U.S. 7-Eleven spokeswoman.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 9, 2009 B3
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