DALLAS – It’s hard to imagine today, but at one time, all convenience stores shut their doors overnight, CityLab.com reports. Of the nearly 153,000 convenience stores in the United States, 90% never sleep, according to NACS.

The modern convenience store can trace its roots back to the Southland Ice Company, which, in 1927, started stocking milk, eggs and bread in addition to ice at the Ice Dock run by “Uncle Johnny” Jefferson Green. That location already assisted customers 16-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. The company liked the idea so much that it extended the service to its other units to open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. In 1946, the stores became known as 7-Eleven.

Thirty-six years later, a 7-Eleven in Austin created the first 24-hour convenience store—by accident. That store couldn’t close because of so many customers who stopped by after a local football game. The success showed other locations that never closing might be a profitable business model.

The Federal Highway Act of 1956 created an interlocking system of new roads and the need for gasoline stations and convenience stores to provide round-the-clock gas and substance for drivers and their vehicles. More shift work also fueled 24-hour stores.

Nowadays, many consumers expect convenience stores and gas stations to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Read more about how convenience stores make being open all the time work for them in “24/7 Operations” from NACS Magazine.