Celebrity Undercover Boss

Male announcer: The economy is going through tough times.

Many hard-working americans blame wealthy ceos,

Out of touch with what's going on

In their own companies.

But some bosses are willing to take extreme action

To make their businesses better.

Undercover Boss 1x03 7-Eleven Original Air Date on February 21, 2010

Each week, we follow the boss

Of a major corporation

As they go undercover into their own company.

This week, the ceo of 7-eleven.

This convenience store empire spans five continents.

They've turned the local corner market

Into a global corporate icon.

The boss will trade in his executive office

And personal putting greens

For a mop and a pot of joe.

Oh, my goodness!

Ooh, what's going on here?

You just goofed.

Announcer: He'll assume a new identity...

- Hi, I'm danny. - Hey, nice to meet you, danny.

Announcer: And pose as a new recruit.

- Man, this thing moves fast. - Yeah, you gotta keep up.

- Seems like it would be easier

If there was just a sink right here.

Pipe dreams, honey.

- Mr. Danny wasn't working very hard.

- Yep, I'm getting a little tired.

Announcer: By working on the front line, he'll find out

What's really going on inside his company.

- We have to get rid of these old doughnuts.

- Those items are supposed to be going to charities.

I don't understand it. We've got to fix that.

Announcer: He will find the good...

- I am so thankful for this country

Which allow me to survive and be happy.

Announcer: He will find the bad...

- We've got lights out in the back room in the store,

And that's a safety issue.

Announcer: And he'll discover the unsung heroes

That make his company run.

- Dolores, you're amazing.

Announcer: How will his co-workers react

When they find out he's really the boss?

My name's joe depinto,

And I'm the ceo here at 7-eleven.

- I don't know what to say. God bless him for that.

Announcer: And how will it change their lives?

- This will change the way I work every day

As ceo in our company.

Announcer: Find out next on undercover boss.

Announcer: Headquartered in dallas, texas,

7-eleven has over 36,000 stores worldwide.

Overseeing this $17 billion business

Is one man.

The baron of the big bite...

The sultan of the slurpee...

The king of convenience...

My name is joe depinto,

And I'm the president and ceo of 7-eleven.

7-eleven is a 24-hour convenience store.

It's open seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The brand 7-eleven is 82 years old.

We use a franchise model whereby we partner

With independent operators

And they distribute our products.

And we support them with our support staff

Back in dallas.

There's roughly 200,000-plus associates

That operate the 7-eleven business.

And my role is, obviously, to ensure that this business

Is moving forward and profitable.

I'm originally from chicago.

My father was a blue-collar worker.

I started my first job delivering newspapers

When I was 13 years old.

You know, I've always thought it's important to work hard,

And I basically worked my way up to the top.

My background-- I come from the military,

And was a graduate of west point.

The time that I spent in the army

Was formative for me.

The army was all about ensuring that you properly led people

That were assigned to you and that you took care of them.

That's the approach I take every day as ceo.

The people that support me are my family.

I have my wife and four boys.

Nice grab, man!

- When I first met joe, I thought he was

A smart officer in the army,

And people looked up to him.

So I knew there was great things to come,

But I never could have imagined where he is now.

Oh...

It's going in, pete.

Yeah! - Yeah!

- Here at 7-eleven, we're on a mission.

We're on a mission to make our company better.

One thing I took away from when I was in the military was

We always had our equipment working

So that we could be mission-ready.

And it's the same thing in running stores.

In particular, I want to find out

How the communication from our store support center in dallas

Is flowing down through our organization,

And ultimately, to our stores.

That's why I'm going undercover.

We're going to the executive committee meeting.

I think they're gonna be really surprised

When I tell them what I'm about to do.

I see you guys put me right at the head of the table.

Let's go ahead and get started.

I called this impromptu meeting today

To let you guys know that I'll be going undercover

Within our organization.

I'll be spending a week in our stores,

In our distribution centers, on the front lines.

- Do you think you'll learn anything

From this experience that might cause us

To take a different look at our strategy moving forward?

- you don't want to know the answer to that.

Look, I'll be focusing on spending time in the field

Where the rubber meets the road.

I'm gonna see what we're not doing well,

And that's only gonna make us better in the long run.

All right, I'm gonna be gone for a week.

Okay, honey.

- When I'm undercover, my alias is going to be danny rossi.

My cover story is that I used to be in real estate,

I'm out of work, and I'm looking for new opportunities.

I'll be telling my co-workers that a camera crew will be

Documenting my journey

As I try out entry-level jobs

At some of the biggest businesses in america.

Hi, how are you doing?

I have a reservation.

I'm looking forward to going undercover,

But I have some apprehension because I know

That I'm not gonna do great in every job that I try.

It's 5:30 a.M. I'm here in shirley, new york,

And this store is the epicenter of coffee for 7-eleven.

Coffee is a huge business to us.

We sell over a million cups a day.

Hello. Dolores? - You're danny?

- Hi, I'm danny. How are you? - How do you do?

- Is this for me? - Put these on, please.

- This store sells more than 2,500 cups of coffee a day--

More than any other in our system.

So I'm here to learn what their secret is.

Is it the location? Is it the type of coffee?

Is it our people?

I need to figure out

What makes their coffee business so great

So I can share it with our other stores.

- Okay, I have to teach you the ropes.

- I need to learn the whole program.

Let's do the easy stuff.

Good morning, vinnie.

Good morning, dolores.

- We'll take this one down, and we dump the filters.

Hi, eugene. Good morning. - Good morning, dolores.

- Here, you can dump this guy.

- Good morning. - Good morning, darling.

You know everybody here.

- Well, I've been here a long time.

- How long have you been doing this?

- 18 years. - Wow.

- Here, you can do this guy. - Okay.

Seems like it would be easier if there was just, like,

A sink right here.

Pipe dreams, honey.

A sink over here.

Already he's coming up with all these ideas.

Good morning.

- This store is unbelievably busy,

And I was a little apprehensive starting out.

But once I got together with dolores,

She made me feel a lot better.

- You can start that one. - All right.

I don't want to let her down.

It's getting busy.

He hasn't seen anything yet.

The rush hour is beginning.

Danny, you got customers behind you.

- Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry, sir.

- Danny. This one could be changed.

You gotta take the other one out first.

Hey, where you been?

- Oops. - Danny...

Okay, I need french vanilla, regular.

Where is he?

- Taking care of the coffee business at this store

Is really challenging-- the pace of it.

There's a lot of interaction with customers.

You've gotta keep the coffee right.

It's a lot of work.

Ooh, what's going on here? How did that happen?

Oh, my goodness!

Aw, for crying out loud...