Gas Stations

Kum and Go Corporate Office

Kum and Go can trace its roots back to 1959 when William Krause and Tony Gentle founded the Hamptom Oil Company. This later became the Krause Gentle Corporation and in 1963, the company introduced their first convenience stores at their gas stations.

The name Kum and Go, a play on the word “come” using the Krause and Gentle initials, was adopted in 1975 to unify all of the convenience stores under a single name. Part of the company’s franchise success was due in part to a unique marketing campaign in which they featured the Kum & Go “Gold cup”. The cup was introduced in late 2008 for the holiday season. It featured an 8oz coffee mug for $50.00 and benefitted customers by offering unlimited coffee and soda fountain refills for 2009 at any Kum & Go location.

Company headquarters moved to Des Moine, Iowa, in 1988. The company underwent tremendous expansion in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, there are 400 locations in 11 states. Convenience Store News listed Kum and Go as the 23rd largest convenience store chain in 2010.

In addition to gasoline, motor oil, and other automotive supplies, the company is known for its merchandise, which features their logo, including t-shirts, mugs, and baseball caps with built-in bottle openers.

William’s grandson’s Kyle and Tanner Krause are now in charge of the daily operations for the company. Tanner Krause stated in an interview that knowing he is responsible for the livelihood of the more than 5,000 employees of the company makes him think hard before making any major decisions.

With that in mind, Tanner expanded full-time status to more than 2,000 formerly part-time employees, making them eligible for health insurance, paid time off, and maternity leave.

Company headquarters are located at the Krause Center in Des Moine, Iowa.

Sapp Bros. Travel Centers

Brothers William, Ray, Dean, and Lee Sapp decided that they wanted to go into business for themselves. Pooling their money, the brothers first purchased a car dealership in Ashland, Nebraska, before shifting their attention to gas stations. They opened their first station in 1971.

From a single gas station, the company has grown into 17 stations and travel centers, which include cafes, in 9 states. The company is perhaps best known for its coffee pot-shaped signs and logo.

The company had annual estimated revenue of $1.5 billion in 2017. The Sapp family was known to be very generous, giving $50,000 to renovate the Oak Bowl Stadium in their hometown.

Genesis Fuel Corp. announced April 16, 2019, that they had reached a discount agreement with Sapp Bros., allowing the company to utilize the Genesis Fuel Card and allow drivers to take advantage of the Digital Diesel fixed diesel prices at Sapp Bros. locations.

The last member of the Sapp Brothers, William, passed away in April 2019. It is unknown at this time who will replace him as CEO. Headquarters for the company remain in Omaha, Nebraska.

Fastrip Corporate Office

Fastrip stores began in 1968 as a small dairy farm, which offered milk, cheese, and other items from a small roadside store in Bakersfield, California. Within a few years, the company decided to open a larger store, offering more grocery items and in 1970, the company added Jaco gas pumps. Most stations simply list their gas as “Fastrip” but it comes from the locally made gas at Jaco.

The company slowly expanded within the greater Bakersfield/Oildale/Rosedale area until they expanded north into the Fresno, Sacramento, and Chico areas of California. In the early 1990’s, the company headed south into Riverside, San Bernardino, and Coachella markets.

The company has now expanded into Arizona and has four locations in Bullhead City, Nogales, and Casa Grande, with more locations expected to open over the next few years.

Fastrip currently has 53 locations in California and Arizona. The company looks for underserved areas with more rural populations that don’t have easy access to gas stations or grocery stores. Most of these convenience stores are stocked with almost every item a regular grocery store would have, other than meats and produce. Almost all locations offer check cashing, m

Fastrip has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

A video went viral on Facebook after being posted in January of 2018, where an employee explained to a customer that they don’t allow the homeless inside their stores and call the police if they loiter outside. The employee was backed up by the corporate office at Fastrip stating that they don’t want their customers to feel unsafe or to be inconvenienced and that they were working with the Bakersfield Police towards a solution.

The company still has headquarters located in Bakersfield, California.

Murphy USA Corporate Office

Murphy USA was founded in 1996 in El Dorado, Arkansas as a spin off of Murphy Oil. The company operates a chain of gas stations, most often in close proximity to Walmart stores.

Currently, the company has 1,400 locations in 26 states. While most stations are located near Walmart stores, there are 240 stand alone gas stations which also feature convenience stores, known as Murphy Express. In 2016, the company announced that they intended to shift their focus away from Walmart and open more independent locations.

Murphy USA is listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol: MUSA. Forbes reports that the company had annual sales of $11.6 billion and is listed on the same website as #244 on their list of World’s Best Employers.

ARCO Corporate Office

ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company) can trace its roots back as far as 1866, when it was called Atlantic Petroleum Storage Company. ARCO became a part of Standard Oil for a time, then became private once again, opening its first gas station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1915.

Today, ARCO belongs to BP, one of the largest suppliers of gas and oil in the world. ARCO gas stations and their attached “AM/PM” convenience stores are found only on the West Coast of the US. ARCO gas stations are known as “no frill” service stations with no attendants. Machines accept cash or debit card payments only and those using debit cards are charged an additional .35 cent fee. Despite this, ARCO remains one of the most popular gas stations on the West Coast, most likely due to their lower price on gas overall.

The company once had headquarters located in downtown Los Angeles, but has since moved to La Palma, California. Many of the ARCO signs have also been replaced with a combination of ARCO/BP insignias, but it is unknown if all ARCO signs will eventually be replaced.