Toshifumi Suzuki, the Japanese behind the 'conbini' empire, has died. He was 93. - BNN Bloomberg

TOKYO — Toshifumi Suzuki, the Japanese businessman credited with creating the 7-Eleven convenience-chain global retail empire, has died. He was 93. Suzuki, an honorary adviser at Seven & i Holdings, died on May 18 of heart failure at his Tokyo home, the company said Monday. Suzuki founded the Japanese unit that operates the seemingly ubiquitous 7-Eleven “conbini” outlets, where busy people can hop in and grab sandwiches, rice balls, drinks, chips and other meals on-the-run, use ATMs, pay utility bills and copy documents. The 7-Eleven stores, now numbering more than 80,000 worldwide, are the bi…