Southland Forming history

With roots dating back to 1900, Southland Holdings and its subsidiaries, together, make one of the largest construction companies in North America, with experience throughout the world.

In 1927 Green approached Joe C. “Jodie” Thompson, one of five founding directors of the Dallas Southland Ice Company, with a new idea.

The Depression plunged Southland into bankruptcy in 1931.

Despite the financial confusion, profits from the Tote’m Stores continued to climb, and with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, ice and beer sales surged.

By 1939 Southland operated 60 Tote’m Stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, triple the number operating when the company had been founded 12 years earlier.

Southland bought Texas Public Utilities, owners of 20 ice plants, in 1947.

In 1948 Jodie Thompson’s oldest son, John P. Thompson, was named to the board of directors.

Founded in 1949, Southland is an MEP building systems expert offering full lifecycle solutions, from design through building maintenance.

To grow the business, Southland Heating begins to advertise on TV. By the end of 1950, sales quadruple to more than $60,000 a month and employment opportunities grow.

An official opening of the new-look track, now titled Kew Park Cycling Bowl, was held on March 9th 1954 with guest appearances by New Zealand Olympic Games representative Colin Dickinson and North Island Champion cyclist, Gordon Sharrock from Wanganui.

In 1956, Kew Bowl as it had become known, was resurfaced in concrete and was regarded as possibly the fastest track in the Southern Hemisphere.

In the mid 1960's, the Southland Centre purchased a five acre block of land in McQuarrie Street from local dairy farmer Mr Dickson.

Incorporated in 1961, Southland moved quickly to national prominence.

The new "Centre" was instantly recognised when local cyclist Tony Ineson won the 100 mile National road title in Wellington in September 1963.

1964 saw Southland host the first New Zealand Track Championship at Kew Bowl with local Southland riders featuring prominently on the presentation dais.

By 1965, Southland had climbed to 49th in Fortune’s top 50 merchandising firms.

In 1968, Southland performs our first design-build project for a mall, foreshadowing the many design-build engagements to come.

By December of 1969 the number of 7-Eleven stores had exploded to 3,537.

Southland reached $1 billion in sales by 1971, and became a member of the New York Stock Exchange the following year.

In 1974 the five thousandth 7-Eleven store opened in Dallas at the site of John Jefferson Green’s original ice dock.

By late 1978, 188 7-Eleven stores were open for business in Japan.

Profits in 1985 exceeded the previous year’s loss by $20 million, but nevertheless, Southland cut Citgo’s petroleum production in half, expecting Citgo’s Lake Charles, Louisiana refinery to be unprofitable.

The buyout, which involved the formation of a temporary holding company called JT Acquisitions, was completed on July 6, 1987.

By the end of 1988 Southland had completed a series of divestitures in order to streamline operations.

In October of 1990, Southland filed a bankruptcy plan of reorganization after securing preliminary approval from its bondholders.

The new merchandising process, that deletes slow-moving items and introduces new products, had been refined and introduced to 7-Eleven stores across the country by the end of 1992.

Ted Lynch, Southland's first intern in 1996, becomes CEO.

With the addition of American Bridge in 2020, Southland Holdings continues as a family-owned organization with experience in 60 countries, with approximate annual revenues of $1.5B and $8.4B under contract.