Noad Ejigu moved from the very warm country of Ethiopia to the very cold city of Minneapolis, when he was fourteen years old. He spent just one year there when a summer vacation to Washington DC changed his life. His family journeyed to DC for an Ethiopian soccer tournament and Naod fell in love with the vibrance and diversity of the city. He persuaded his older sister, who had just graduated from high school, to move with him to DC. Having grown up in Ethiopia in his grandparents’ home, leaving his family was an easy decision for Naod to make. His parents did decide to move to DC to stay close to their children.
Naod and his sister settled in Alexandria and Naod graduated from TC Williams High School and bought his first house when he was 18. He earned his Associates degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management at NOVA and purchased some rental properties in the area. For the next fourteen years, Naod worked in DC at various places including Ruth Chris’s Steakhouse. It was in 2016 when Naod and his wife were expecting their first child that he realized he needed more flexibility with his schedule. He was inspired to apply to own a 7-Eleven Franchise after watching Joseph DePinto, the CEO of 7-Eleven, on the Oprah Winfrey show. As a student at NOVA, he had coincidentally written a paper about 7-Eleven for a business class. A representative from 7-Eleven contacted him at 7am soon after his application was submitted to invite him to an interview. Until this time, Naod had never actually stepped foot inside a 7-Eleven.
7-Eleven had been trying unsuccessfully for a while to open in Cleveland Park and thought Naod would be the perfect candidate to own this particular franchise because he seemed like a great fit with the community. From start to finish, it took one year to open the store and finally in May 2017 they cut the ribbon and opened their doors. Just as Naod was getting to know the community, a man wearing only underwear and a cowboy hat would stop by every day, much to the amusement of all of the employees.
Naod loves Cleveland Park and spends more time here than in his real home where his four children and wife, a military nurse, live. Everyone from all walks of life come into the 7-Eleven in Cleveland Park. It is popular with tourists, construction workers, police, neighbors and drivers such as Uber and Taxi. According to Naod, the Cleveland Park 7-Eleven is the cleanest in DC with the highest quality of food, and much beloved, especially by the drivers. Except the tourists, nearly everyone else who comes to 7-Eleven is a regular and knows all of the staff by name. 7-Eleven franchises are often one of the first businesses immigrants to the United States own and Naod hopes to stay in Cleveland Park for a long time.
Naod is an amazing person. He is always smiling and willing to go an extra mile to help his customers. The store is one of the most kept up 7-11 I have ever been in. Kudos to him and his team on this recognition.
Naod is kind, hardworking, disciplined, helpful… I can go on and on about him and what a great person he is. He made the whole family proud with all of his accomplishments! We’re so proud of you Naod, and we love you!
There aren’t enough words in the dictionary to describe how amazing Noad is! The Cleveland Park 7/11 is the best kept store we’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to see what’s next in store for Naod! Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be fantastic!
Naod is an amazing person with dedication, hard work and politeness to customers as his crux. I can go on and on about him but I would need a whole other webpage for that.
Congratulations to Naod on this and for all the many yet to come
Naod’s hard work ethic shows in every aspect of his life! He still however manages to make time for not only his family but also his friends and colleagues. He is one of my favorite human beings and I’m so proud of all his accomplishments! Way to go Naod and the whole team! Can’t wait to see what God has in store for you next.
The 7 Eleven at Cleveland park is by far my favorite store to shop. It is neat and super organized but above all Naod and his staff are super friendly. Jonathan in particular is very kind, helpful, knowledgeable and provides excellent customer service. I’ve always enjoyed shopping at Naod’s Store and he deserves all the praise and recognition!!!!
Kudos to Naod and the team. From the welcome smiles to the amazing customer service. Thank you for not only making our morning coffee but also for your phenomenal customer service. We are so happy to have you in Cleveland Park!!!!
Naod is a very hard working and a visionary young man. Since childhood he always has a dream of having his own business. I’m so happy that his dream is coming true and I believe this is not his last he will grow up to the fullest of a successful life. The 7/11 at Cleveland Park is the cleanest and well-organized store I ever seen. Not only that the customer service is the best too. I’m so proud of you my lovely son. May God bless you forever.
How inspiring!!! Naod and his dedication to his team and store are clearly displayed by how well run and respected he is. Loved visiting this location which is my absolute favorite 7-Eleven yet!!! So proud of him and all he’s accomplished 🙌🏽 👏🏽 ❤️
I have always felt welcomed at Cleveland Park 7/11. From the fist minute I walked in, till today, I have been given excellent service, with a pleasant attitude. I can see Naod has put in the extra effort to make sure the store is always in the best possible condition for his customers. Naod and his team are definitely worth visiting.
Cleveland Park 7-11 is always a wonderful place to stop and grab a few things. Especially their coffee, it just seems to be the right temperature no matter what time of the day it is. I also like the fact that this store participates in DoorDash so you can actually have your items delivered to you! What amazes me is you can see naod through all types of hours of the day, even the graveyard shift. He is definitely hardworking and deserves all the success and cheers to him owning many more 7-11’s.
My favorite 7/11 at Cleveland park. As I work around the area, every time I go to Naod’s 7/11 to pick orders, Naod and his staff makes me fill welcome, they also make my job easy by making everything ready on time. The staff are easy to communicate with. Thank you for all your hard work Naod to make the 7/11 the most welcome ,clean and easy to Shope for the neberhood and the people who works around the area.
Naod is an amazing person, he treat his customers with respect, and he always try to fulfill his customers demands for that I’m so appreciative of that. One of the best and amazing things he did for his customers was starting the 24/7 delivery service, I started using his online service for convenience at first, but now I use it more often because the delivery is fast and the customer service is amazing, thank you for that Naod.
I hope you get a chance to expand your delivery service even more.
Congrats on the recognition.
Naod makes an online service available for me and many others who works from home but couldn’t go to the store in person all the time. I am a fun of 7Now delivery program which launched to give customers with cutting edge technology services. Thank you Naod for adapting the technology quickly and create convenience for all your customers including me. Please keep up with your dedication to serve your community here at Cleveland Park!
Thank God for the 7 NOW online service. I work from home while caring for my two-year-old daughter, making the online service and delivery very convenient for many families. I wish we had this system growing up. I’ve been to many 7-Eleven in my lifetime, and by far, Cleveland Park 7-Eleven is the cleanest and most well-organized.