7-Eleven is the world’s largest operator of convenience stores. Initially, the stores were open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., hours unprecedented in their length at the time. The company began to use the 7-Eleven name in 1946. It began offering the popular Big Gulp, above, in 1980. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
The chapter in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code allows a financially troubled company to reorganize rather than liquidate.
