Circle K
Encyclopedia
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
s, founded in 1951, in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is owned and operated by the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-based Alimentation Couche-Tard
Alimentation Couche-Tard
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. or simply Couche-Tard is one of the largest company-owned convenience store operators in the world with up to 6,000 stores across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Japan, China, Indonesia and Guam....
.
Overview
Circle K is the largest company-owned convenience store chain in the U.S, and second in overall number of U.S. stores to 7-Eleven7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
. Some Circle K stores operate gasoline pumps selling Union 76
Union 76
76 is a chain of gas stations located within the United States. The 76 brand is owned by ConocoPhillips. Union Oil Company of California, dba Unocal, the original owner and creator of the Union 76 brand merged with Chevron Corporation in 2005.In 1997, Unocal sold its western United States refining...
-branded motor fuels; others sell Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
, Marathon, ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
, Irving
Irving Oil
Irving Oil is a gasoline, oil, and natural gas producing and exporting company. It is also one of the few energy companies in Canada to publicly support the Kyoto Accord. Irving Oil operates one large oil refinery...
, BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, Sunoco
Sunoco
Sunoco Inc. is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. and Sun Oil Co. ....
or Shell
Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
-branded fuel. Until mid-2006, nearly all Circle K stores in South Texas
South Texas
South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is...
sold Citgo
Citgo
CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a United States-incorporated, Venezuela-owned refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de...
-branded fuel; however, those stores have dropped the Circle K name and now operate as Stripes Convenience Stores
Stripes Convenience Stores
Stripes Stores is a chain of over 533 convenience stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, owned by Susser Holdings Corporation. These locations are former Circle K and Town & Country Food Stores. Other convenience store brands they operate under include IceBox and Quick Stuff...
and are served by Valero-branded fuel. Circle K stores in northeast Ohio vary depending upon what stores they used to be: the majority are former Citgo/Holland Oil, whose gas is branded as Circle K; others are remnants of the Lawson's/Dairy Mart
Lawson (store)
Lawson, Inc. is a convenience store franchise chain in Japan. The store originated in the U.S. State of Ohio, but today exists as a Japanese company and is the second largest convenience store chain in the country....
chain, which sell gas from other companies.
The chain operates internationally, branching into Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and continents such as Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. In Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
the store is called OK in reference to the circle around the K. Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
used to operate under the Circle K brand but has since re-branded its stores to be called OK MART
Circle K was previously in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
as the food store portions of many Shell
Shell Canada
Shell Canada Limited is the subsidiary of Dutch-based Royal Dutch Shell and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a major part of its business, as well as the marketing of gasoline and related products through the company's...
stations. The Circle K brand re-entered the Canadian market in 2008 in connection with Couche-Tard's acquisition of Irving Oil
Irving Oil
Irving Oil is a gasoline, oil, and natural gas producing and exporting company. It is also one of the few energy companies in Canada to publicly support the Kyoto Accord. Irving Oil operates one large oil refinery...
's convenience store network, as discussed below.
The chain is primarily located in the Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, Western
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
and Southwestern
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
U.S., and within the past couple of years expanded into the Midwest when the Circle K name replaced Couche-Tard brands Mac's, Bigfoot, Dairy Mart, and Handy Andy. Most recently, the company has acquired the 90-store Spectrum chain serving Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, the CFM chain in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and 35 Sterling Dairy locations in Northwest Ohio
Northwest Ohio
Northwest or northwestern Ohio consists of multiple counties in the northwestern corner of the US state of Ohio. This area borders Lake Erie, southern Michigan, and eastern Indiana. Some areas in northwestern Ohio are also considered the Black Swamp area. The Toledo metropolitan area is also part...
.
History
Entrepreneur Fred Hervey purchased three Kay’s Food Stores in El Paso, TexasEl Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
in 1951. Hervey renamed the stores Circle K. He grew the Circle K chain into neighboring New Mexico and Arizona, which has been the company’s home base since 1957 (Hervey would go on to serve two terms as mayor of El Paso).
According to the Circle K website, Circle K grew its retail network through a series of acquisitions conducted during the next few decades, which were incorporated into the Circle K brand. By 1975, there were 1,000 Circle K stores across the US. In 1979, Circle K entered the international market when a licensing agreement established the first Circle K stores in Japan; Circle K stores in Japan are run by the Circle K Sunkus
Circle K Sunkus
' is a chain of company-operated and franchised convenience stores in Japan. The company is a division of UNY Co., Ltd., which licensed the Circle K name from Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Canadian convenience store company that owns the Circle K brand....
Corporation, which licenses the Circle K brand from Alimentation Couche-Tard. In 1983, the number of stores increased to 2,180 with the purchase of the 960-store UtoteM
UtoteM
UtoteM, also spelled U-tote-M or U Totem, was a chain of convenience stores which operated until 1984, primarily in the southwestern United States and Florida....
chain.
The Thirst Buster fountain drink was introduced in 1983. It is one of Circle K's flagship products today. Now known as "Polar Pop" in some areas, Circle K advertises that customers can buy any size for just a single price.
Karl Eller
Karl Eller
Karl Eller is an Arizona business leader and nationally recognized entrepreneur.Eller grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He played football collegiately at the University of Arizona where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity....
, a prominent Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
businessman, served as the company's CEO from 1983-1990. During that time, Eller built Circle K into the second largest convenience store operation and the largest publicly owned convenience store chain in the U.S. with 4,631 stores in 32 states and an additional 1,300 or so licensed or joint venture stores in 13 foreign countries. Under Eller's leadership, the company grew from annual sales of $747 million to over $3 billion.
Fortunes declined in the late 1980s as the US economy began to slow down, and Circle K filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
protection in May 1990; Eller resigned as CEO. Some underperforming locations were sold or closed. In 1993 the company was purchased by Investcorp
Investcorp
Investcorp is a manager of alternative investment products, serving high-net-worth private and institutional clients. Its principal client base is in the six countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council, but it also has institutional clients in North America and Europe...
, an international investment group, and emerged from bankruptcy.
Circle K was acquired by Tosco Corporation
Tosco Corporation
Tosco was an independent US based petroleum refining and marketing corporation. It was founded in 1955 in Santa Monica, California by A&P heir Huntington Hartford, and originally focused on extracting oil from oil shale and developing alternative energy sources.-Oil shale operations:In 1964...
, an independent petroleum refiner and marketer, in 1996, but kept its headquarters in Phoenix. Tosco was purchased in 2001 by Phillips Petroleum, which in 2002 merged with Conoco to form ConocoPhillips. In 2003 Circle K was purchased by Alimentation Couche-Tard
Alimentation Couche-Tard
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. or simply Couche-Tard is one of the largest company-owned convenience store operators in the world with up to 6,000 stores across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Japan, China, Indonesia and Guam....
(a large convenience store operator based in the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
area) for US$804 million.
In mid-2006, Alimentation Couche-Tard entered into a franchising agreement with ConocoPhillips to brand some of its company-owned stores as Circle K in the western portion of the US. ConocoPhillips remodeled the stores into the Circle K scheme but continued to operate them. The stores continued to have the new ConocoPhillips unified canopy design and ProClean gasolines.
Another oil company, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-based Irving Oil
Irving Oil
Irving Oil is a gasoline, oil, and natural gas producing and exporting company. It is also one of the few energy companies in Canada to publicly support the Kyoto Accord. Irving Oil operates one large oil refinery...
, leased out its convenience stores operating under the Bluecanoe and Mainway banners in the United States and Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
to Couche-Tard, which rebranded the locations to Circle K in July 2008, while still selling Irving-branded fuel. However, the Mainways in Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
did not change until summer 2010. The parties had earlier formed a similar partnership in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, with the stores there operated as Couche-Tard.
In April 2009, ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
sold 43 Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
stores to parent company Couche-Tard as part of a sale of the larger On the Run
On the Run (convenience store)
thumb|350px|An Esso-branded service station, with On the Run convenience store, in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]. This location, owned by [[Imperial Oil]], includes a [[Tim Hortons]] drive-thru and an [[Royal Bank of Canada|RBC]] bank machine....
franchise. These 43 stores are to be rebranded under the Circle K name.
Pop culture
The film Bill & Ted's Excellent AdventureBill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a 1989 American science fiction–comedy buddy film and the first film in the Bill & Ted franchise in which two metalhead slackers travel through time to assemble a menagerie of historical figures for their high school history presentation.The film was written by...
features the well known line by Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
's character Ted "Theodore" Logan, "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
In the Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
song "Cowboys" a reference is made to "Circle K killers".
The OK Go
OK Go
OK Go is a rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, USA, now residing in Los Angeles, California, USA. The band is composed of Damian Kulash , Tim Nordwind , Dan Konopka and Andy Ross , who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan...
song "No Sign of Life", from their album Oh No
Oh No
-Miscellaneous:* The band's cheaply-produced yet elaborately choreographed videos for "Here It Goes Again" and "A Million Ways" have become YouTube staples - particularly the video for the former song, featuring the band dancing on treadmills - and have done much to propel the songs, the album, and...
has a line that mentions the store: "Sarah's still down on the bench by the Circle K, crying, crying all day."
In "Isle Thing", "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
's parody of the Tone Loc
Tone Loc
Anthony Terrell Smith , better known by his stage name Tone Lōc, is an American rapper and actor.-Early life and career:...
song "Wild Thing
Wild Thing
Wild Thing or Wild Things can refer to:In entertainment:* "Wild Thing" , a 1965 song that was a hit for The Troggs* "Wild Thing" , a 1989 song by rapper Tone Lōc...
", he sings, "Met this fine young thing/at the local Circle K/She made a date for half-past eight/So I said 'What the hey?'"
American punk band Screeching Weasel
Screeching Weasel
Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1986 by Ben Weasel and John Jughead.Since their formation, Screeching Weasel have broken up and reformed numerous times with numerous line-up changes. Ben Weasel has been the only constant...
mentions Circle K in the lyrics to "Crying in my Beer".
Band Spiderbait
Spiderbait
Spiderbait are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Finley in 1989 by bass guitarist Janet English, singer-drummer Mark Maher , and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version of the 1930s Lead Belly song "Black Betty" reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart...
has a song based on Circle K
Circle K convenience stores are known fondly and colloquially by Hong Kong locals as "O.K."
Punk band Teenage Bottlerocket
Teenage Bottlerocket
Teenage Bottlerocket is a punk rock band formed in Laramie, Wyoming in 2001.The band was formed by twin brothers Ray and Brandon Carlisle, following the dissolution of their previous band, Homeless Wonders, in 2000...
references Circle K in the lyrics for the song "Skate or Die"
Numerous references to a 'Circle A' are made in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
series Runaways
Runaways (comics)
Runaways is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series features a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are part of an evil crime group called the Pride. Created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, the series debuted in April of 2003 as part of Marvel Comics'...
.
On Season 3 of True Blood
True Blood
True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
, The Vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne LeClerq (Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
) is having fun with lottery tickets, wins another hundred dollars and yells for her human Hadley to "Run down to Circle-K and get me another hundred of these."
Frosters & Polar Pops
The Polar Pop is Circle K's name for the fountain drinks it sells in some markets, and most locations offer any size for between 59 and 79 cents. Refills cost the same.Circle K is also the exclusive US home of the Froster
Froster
Froster is a brand of iced frozen carbonated beverage sold at Mac's Convenience Stores in Canada and Circle K in the United States.- Marketing :...
, which are re-branded Icee drinks.
As A Sponsor
Circle K is currently a primary sponsor of the #28 IndyCar SeriesIndyCar Series
The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...
racecar driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Ryan Hunter-Reay is a professional American race car driver best known as the only driver to have won races in each of North America's top open wheel formulas, CART the ChampCar World Series and the IndyCar Series...
of Andretti Autosport.
See also
- Brands of gasoline
- Circle K SunkusCircle K Sunkus' is a chain of company-operated and franchised convenience stores in Japan. The company is a division of UNY Co., Ltd., which licensed the Circle K name from Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Canadian convenience store company that owns the Circle K brand....
- Mac's Convenience StoresMac's Convenience StoresMac's Convenience Stores, Inc. is a chain of convenience stores in Canada. The Company is divided into three geographic business units: Eastern Canada, Central Canada and Western Canada. It has been owned and operated by Alimentation Couche-Tard since 1999....
- On the Run (convenience store)On the Run (convenience store)thumb|350px|An Esso-branded service station, with On the Run convenience store, in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]. This location, owned by [[Imperial Oil]], includes a [[Tim Hortons]] drive-thru and an [[Royal Bank of Canada|RBC]] bank machine....
External links
- Circle K company website
- http://eefoof.com/image/13311Large photo of a Circle K in Okayama, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
]