Since we are sometimes given to wonder if anyone actually reads this humble magazine, all jaws dropped recently when word filtered through that our last issue’s cover story was featured on TV. The May 27 edition of TV Tokyo’s lead news program, World Business Satellite, focused on the effort by Quebec’s Alimentation Couche-Tard to acquire the 7/11 konbini giant. They didn’t just quote our story on Couche-Tard and its founder Alain Bouchard, they held up the cover and the feature spread before the camera.

When someone kindly sent us these screenshots, to say we were astonished understates our reaction. We were gob-smacked. But it was surprisingly hard to get access to the actual clip or even a transcript until just before deadline.

What seems to have drawn TV Tokyo to our story is our take on Couche-Tard’s humble beginnings – something no Japanese news outlet has thought to cover. Emerging from a hard-scrabble backwoods upbringing, from a single depanneur in the Montreal suburbs Bouchard built a global business despite an almost complete lack of English ability. It’s an amazing story.

The TV Tokyo presenter paraphrased our quotes from Alain Bouchard that Couche-Tard and 7-11 share similar characteristics but that a big difference lies in relations with franchisees. He noted that it might be possible for Couche-Tard to alleviate the dissatisfaction of 7/11 franchisees.