Speedway started in 1952 as Speedway 79, the name of a fuel chain based in Michigan. Unlike other fuel station chains at the time, Speedway 79 did not have a service station to perform vehicle maintenance, but rather vending machines that focused on cigarette and soft drink sales, giving their locations the nickname "Smokes and Cokes". The "79" denoted the octane rating of Speedway's gasoline. In 1959, Marathon Oil, then known as the Ohio Oil Company, purchased the chain and in 1962 converted its outlets to the Marathon brand.[8]
As self-service fuel became legalized in many states, in 1976 Marathon decided to use "Speedway" (without the "79", as 87 octane had become the standard at this point) at higher-volume self-service stations with convenience stores. Some of the first were converted from Oshkosh, Wisconsin–based Consolidated Stores, which at the time had locations in Wisconsin and Michigan. These stores were converted to the Speedway name throughout the 1970s and 1980s after Marathon acquired Consolidated.[9] The concept turned out to be one of the few bright spots for Marathon during this time due to the 1970s energy crisis, and the company quickly expanded this concept across Marathon's main territories across the Midwest and Southeastern United States. Part of this expansion was through the acquisition of various other smaller regional fuel station chains, including GasAmerica, Starvin' Marvin, Gastown, Wake Up, Bonded, United, Cheker, Port, Ecol, and Value. These stations were converted to the Speedway branding. Stations acquired in the Cheker deal included former Enco stations that Cheker acquired after they were sold off by Exxon in 1977.[10] Legally, Marathon's convenience store business was known as Emro Marketing Company during this period,[11] getting its name from placing an "E" in front of Marathon Oil's ticker symbol, MRO. Speedway adopted its current logo, known as the "Moving S", in 1982.
In 1997, Marathon and Ashland Petroleum formed Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC (MAP), a joint venture which combined the companies' refining, marketing, and transportation businesses, with Marathon owning 62% of the operations while Ashland owned 38%. In the process, Ashland's SuperAmerica and Marathon's Speedway convenience store chains were merged to form Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of MAP. At this time, Marathon acquired the rights to the Solo, Save Mart, Save More, and Rich brands from Ashland, along with others. Many of these brands would be converted to the Speedway brand over time. When the merger was completed in 1998, the Speedway and SuperAmerica brands began to market together. Marathon Ashland also purchased Total Petroleum of Alma, Michigan, in 1999.[12] The stations, which had been previously owned by Diamond Shamrock, were mostly in the state of Michigan. Most former Total locations were then rebranded to Marathon, Speedway, or Rich.[13] Speedway acquired the 50-unit Welsh Mart chain of Michigan and Indiana in 2001.[14] This was followed in 2002 by the acquisition of 30 stores from Grand Rapids, Michigan–based Crystal Flash.[15]
In 2003, Marathon sold off Speedway's Southeastern stores to Sunoco, who promptly converted them to the A-Plus brand while selling Sunoco fuel,[16] while Speedway's stores in Western Pennsylvania were sold off to independent owners and converted to standard Marathon stations, withdrawing the Speedway brand from Pennsylvania and south of West Virginia and Kentucky for a decade.
Speedway became one of the first convenience store chains in the industry to launch a loyalty program when it launched Speedy Rewards in 2004. The program was launched almost by accident: Marathon had launched a similar program for its traditional Marathon-branded fuel stations but found inconsistent use among its franchise owners and felt that the program might work better with Speedway, since all of its locations were owned and operated directly by Marathon. The program has since been ranked by multiple independent publications as being the best loyalty program on the market.[17]
In 2005, Marathon purchased Ashland's share of Marathon Ashland Petroleum, which became Marathon Petroleum Company LLC, retaining the SuperAmerica and Rich brands that were originally owned by Ashland. At this time the locations outside the Upper Midwest were converted to "Speedway" and the "SuperAmerica" brand was restricted to the Upper Midwest market. Marathon sold SuperAmerica to Northern Tier Energy, a newly formed company backed by the private equity firms ACON Investments and TPG Capital, in February 2011. It is based in Woodbury, Minnesota. Speedway and SuperAmerica became unrelated chains until seven years later, when Marathon bought Andeavor, who owns SuperAmerica's parent company Western Refining. Following the separation of Marathon's upstream and downstream operations in 2011, Speedway remained a part of Marathon's downstream operations.
In 2001, Speedway's truck stop chain was merged into the Pilot Travel Centers brand after Marathon and Pilot Corporation entered into a partnership to form Pilot Travel Centers. Pilot has since bought out Marathon's interest in Pilot Travel Centers, now Pilot Flying J. Following its merger with Hess Corporation's retail chain in 2014, six WilcoHess locations in Virginia were rebranded as Pilot locations and jointly operated between Pilot Flying J and Speedway.[18] On June 23, 2016, Pilot Flying J and Speedway announced a new joint venture between the two companies that will see 41 Speedway locations (all former Wilco Hess locations) and 79 Pilot Flying J locations primarily in the Southeastern United States form PFJ Southeast LLC. The locations will be operated by Pilot Flying J and the Speedway locations will be rebranded as either Pilot or Flying J[19]
As of December 9, 2014, 12% of Speedway stores carry E85ethanol.[20] Speedway currently has 326 stores with E85 available, and one store which carries CNG. Almost all of its stores in Greater Pittsburgh as well as its stores in the state of Tennessee offer E85, greatly expanding the availability of the fuel in these respective markets.
Expansion since 2012
Map of states containing at least one Speedway fuel station as of December 2019; red indicates Speedway's core Midwestern states prior to its 2012 expansion, green indicates former Hess stations, orange indicates both former Hess stations and states where Speedway was already expanding into organically prior to the Hess purchase, and blue from the former Andeavor properties, including the SuperAmerica chain that Speedway owned and operated from 1997 to 2011.Map of Speedway locations as of August 2020 (the date of the announced purchase by 7-ELEVEn)
2012–14 expansion
On February 13, 2012, it was announced that a deal had been reached with Indiana and Ohio convenience store chain GasAmerica to acquire all 88 of its locations.[21] Speedway also acquired all trademarks, trade dress and intellectual property from GasAmerica[22] and included several parcels of undeveloped real estate for future development. The transaction was finalized on May 29, 2012, for an unspecified price.[23]
On June 5, 2012, it was reported that Speedway LLC signed a deal with the convenience store chain Road Ranger. The deal gave Speedway nine Road Ranger stores in Kentucky, and one in Ohio, in exchange for cash and a truck stop in the Chicago metropolitan area.[24]Rockford, Illinois–based Road Ranger operates approximately 80 truck stop and fuel convenience store locations in seven Midwestern states. Like Speedway before it, Road Ranger has a partnership with Pilot Flying J.
In May 2014, Speedway announced they would purchase Hess Corporation's retail business for $2.6 billion. Hess has 1,342 locations along the Eastern United States.[25] Some Hess stations in the Northeastern United States originated as Merit Oil stations until Hess bought the company in 2000.
Post Hess Expansion
On April 30, 2018, Marathon agreed to buy Andeavor, an independent refinery and oil company based in the Western United States, for $23 billion. On October 1, 2018, the merger was completed. The merger brought all SuperAmerica locations once again under the ownership of Speedway, but instead of retaining the SuperAmerica brand, it was phased out in favor of the Speedway moniker.[26][27] The merger also brought the Speedway brand to California, Utah and the American Southwest for the first time, becoming a coast-to-coast chain.
On April 16, 2018, it was announced that all 78 Express Mart locations were being re-branded as Speedway locations, which follows Marathon's acquisition of Express Mart, a chain based in Syracuse, New York, that co-branded with competitors such as Sunoco and Mobil.[28] Speedway and MPC closed on the acquisition of Express Mart in November 2018, after being required by the FTC to divest of five stores.[29] In 2019, they purchased 33 NOCO Express locations in Western New York.[30] On October 31, Marathon Petroleum has announced the plans of spinning off Speedway into an independent company.[31]
On June 6, 2020, Dunkin' announced plans to close all Dunkin' Express locations at Speedway locations (which Speedway acquired as part of the acquisition of Hess retail business in 2014), by the end of the year.[35]
In 2023, Speedway began gaining national attention when multiple locations that struggle with crime and loitering began playing loud opera music on a 24/7 loop to help deter loitering. The music has received mixed responses and in some cases negative responses from residents and other businesses in the area.[36][37]
Other brands
A Rich location on West Fair Avenue in Lancaster, Ohio, in 2022
While Speedway had consolidated most of its other brands into the Speedway banner by the late 1990s, Speedway continued to operate other brands following major acquisitions aside from SuperAmerica, primarily for lower-volume locations that remained corporate-owned.
The most notable of these brands was Rich. Rich Oil was a discount brand offered by Ashland and initially was retained following their acquisition of SuperAmerica strictly to keep the trademark valid. Following the creation of Marathon Ashland Petroleum, Rich was selected for lower-volume stores that basically fit the profile of the original concept of Speedway 79. These stores typically only sell tobacco, snacks, and drinks inside and do not participate in the Speedy Rewards program. Rich, however, does take Speedway gift cards.
Following Marathon Petroleum's acquisition of Andeavor, company-owned stations in California that otherwise would have met the criteria to be branded as Rich were instead branded as Speedway Express. The decision to create the Speedway Express brand instead of using Rich was due to Speedway in general being new to the California market and helping to establish the Speedway banner there. Unlike Rich, Speedway Express accepts the Speedy Rewards card.
Separation from Marathon Petroleum and sale to Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd.
A Speedway fuel pump with a 7-Eleven pump topper in Columbus, Ohio, in November 2021
In late 2018, Marathon announced their intentions to spin-off Speedway into an independent company by the end of 2020.[38][31]
In February 2020, it was reported that Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd., the parent company of convenience store chain 7-Eleven, planned to buy Speedway for $22 billion.[39] However, due to investor concerns that the offer was too high, as well as the potential impact the COVID-19 pandemic would have on the economy, the company abandoned the idea the following month.[40]
Despite initially abandoning the acquisition, on August 2, 2020, Marathon announced that Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. would be acquiring Speedway for $21 billion.[4][5][6][7] The deal closed on May 14, 2021, despite protests from the Federal Trade Commission.[1][41]
On June 25, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission, Marathon, and 7-Eleven agreed on the divestitures of 291 Speedway and two 7-Eleven stores to three companies: Anabi Oil (doing business as Rebel Convenience Stores), CrossAmerica Partners, and Jacksons Food Stores. As part of the agreement, Marathon and 7-Eleven must seek FTC approval to reacquire the stores for five years after the sale. Most of the stores being sold off are in California, Florida, and New York.[42][43]
7-Eleven has not disclosed publicly the future of the Speedway chain, but it is expected that the two chains' respective loyalty programs (7 Rewards and Speedy Rewards) will be merged. 7-Eleven slowly started rebranding many Speedway products in November 2021, starting with Speedway's Club Chill & Speedy Freeze drinks being rebranded under the Big Gulp and Slurpee names respectively, while Speedway's store brand products such as Speedy Choice snacks and Enon Springs bottled water started being replaced by 7-Eleven's own 7 Select in December 2021. Many fans of Speedy Freeze complained on social media about the drink being replaced by Slurpee-branded products, though other frozen drink fans have said the two drinks are identical.[44] 7-Eleven also removed Speedway from Pilot Flying J's One9 fueling network for truck drivers in favor of their own 7 Fleet fueling network.
In March 2022, Speedway began replacing its roller grill items such as Tornados and egg rolls with 7-Eleven's proprietary Big Bite products such as large hot dogs, cheeseburger links, and taquitos. Throughout 2022, Speedway locations that had Speedway's own Speedy Café quick service restaurant concept had their café's gradually replaced by 7-Eleven's own concepts, either Raise the Roost Chicken & Biscuits or Laredo Taco Company, the latter of which was acquired when 7-Eleven purchased Stripes Convenience Stores.[45]
As part of the deal, Marathon agreed to supply the Speedway locations with fuel for 15 years. If 7-Eleven decides to convert the Speedway brand name over to 7-Eleven, it is not known if the locations would sell 7-Eleven branded fuel or sell Marathon or ARCO-branded fuel. Prior to the deal, Marathon had an existing partnership with 7-Eleven, mostly in Appalachia.[44]
In a departure from its Marathon days, in March 2023 7-Eleven announced plans to install its 7 Charge electric vehiclecharging stations across all of its banners including Speedway. The charging stations support CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, as well as Tesla vehicles with an adapter.[46]
Public relations
A corporate partner of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals since 1991, Speedway has raised more than $100 million over the past 26 years for the charity through a variety of fundraising activities. Speedway LLC raised $10.3 million for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals in 2017.[47] The partnership between Speedway and Children's Miracle Network Hospitals was strong enough by the time of the 7-Eleven deal that 7-Eleven itself became a partner with Children's Miracle Network Hospitals in 2022.[48]
Speedway was ranked the 4th worst company to work for in the United States in 2018, with work-life balance and senior management as major detractors to the work environment.[49] These issues are highlighted in the memoir, Corporate Lunacy; Behind the Scenes of America's Worst Gas Station (written by Rob Clooney).[50]
Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999.
7-Eleven, Inc. is a convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas and owned by Japanese company Seven & I Holdings through Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. After Ito-Yokado, a Japanese supermarket chain and the parent company of Seven-Eleven Japan, acquired a 70% stake in the company in 1991, the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan in November, 2005.
Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Dating back to 1886, the company has transitioned from a vertically integrated energy company to a distributor of fuels. It was previously engaged in oil, natural gas exploration and production, refining, chemical manufacturing, and retail fuel sales, but divested these businesses. Sunoco is the largest independent distributor of fuels in the United States.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., or simply Couche-Tard, is a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores. The company has 14,302 stores across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Japan, China, and Indonesia. The company operates its corporate stores mainly under the Couche-Tard, Circle K, and On the Run brands but also under the affiliated brands Mac's Convenience Stores, go!, 7-jours, Dairy/Daisy Mart, Becker's and Winks.
Circle K Stores, Inc. is a chain of convenience stores that is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and owned by Alimentation Couche-Tard, Inc., based in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990 and went through several owners, before being acquired by Alimentation Couche-Tard in 2003. As of February 2020, Circle K has 9,799 stores in North America, 2,697 stores in Europe, and an additional 2,380 stores operating under franchise agreements worldwide.
SuperAmerica was a chain of gasoline stations and convenience stores in the Upper Midwest, based in Woodbury, Minnesota. It was owned by Marathon Petroleum. The first convenience store opened in the 1960s. SuperAmerica had 278 stores with 271 in Minnesota, 11 in Wisconsin and 2 in South Dakota.
Marathon Petroleum Corporation is an American petroleum refining, marketing, and transportation company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil until a corporate spin-off in 2011.
ampm is a convenience store chain with branches located in several U.S. states, including Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and in several countries such as Costa Rica and Brazil. The brand pulled out of the Eastern United States in 2012, but returned a decade later.
Sheetz, Inc. is an American chain of convenience stores and coffee shops owned by the Sheetz family. The stores sell custom food, beverages and convenience store items, with all locations having offered 24/7 service since the 1980s. Nearly all of them sell gasoline; a few locations are full-scale truck stops, including showers and a laundromat. Sheetz's headquarters is in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with their corporate offices located there as well, with over 700 stores located in Central and Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and North Carolina, with plans to expand into Michigan.
Hess Corporation is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petroleum in 1968. Leon Hess served as CEO from the early 1960s through 1995, after which his son John B Hess succeeded him as chairman and CEO. The company has agreed to be acquired by rival oil company Chevron.
RaceTrac Inc. is an American corporation that operates a chain of gasoline service stations across the Southern United States. In 2023, Forbes ranked RaceTrac Inc. as the 18th largest private company in the United States and ranked 22 with an annual revenue of $19.72 billion.
Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (株式会社セブン&アイ・ホールディングス) is a Japanese diversified retail holdings headquartered in Nibanchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. On September 1, 2005, it was established as a result of the integration of three companies: Ito-Yokado, Seven-Eleven Japan, and Denny's Japan. The purpose of this establishment was to create a holding company that would own these three companies. The background behind this decision was that the parent company, Ito-Yokado, was facing deteriorating performance, while its subsidiary, Seven-Eleven Japan, was experiencing growth in both sales and profits and was performing well.
APlus is an American convenience store chain owned and operated by Energy Transfer Partners, with some stores currently owned by Seven & I Holdings (7-Eleven). APlus is also the convenience store chain used by Sunoco.
Pilot Travel Centers LLC, doing business as Pilot Flying J, is a North American chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The company is owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
On the Run is a flagship convenience store brand developed by ExxonMobil, used at Exxon and Mobil stations in the United States and at Esso and Mobil stations internationally. Alimentation Couche-Tard acquired the On the Run trademark and franchise network in the U.S. in 2009, and Parkland Fuel did the same in Canada in 2016; ExxonMobil retains full ownership of the brand in the rest of the world.
GetGo, also known as GetGo Cafe & Market, is a convenience store chain owned and operated by Giant Eagle. Both are based in suburban Pittsburgh. The chain operates locations in Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
U Save Automatic is an American oil company which operates in the United States. It was founded as Skypower Gasoline by Peter Moller and his sons Poul, Finn and John and changed the name to USA Gasoline in 1968. USA Gasoline operated in 10 states, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. It became a subsidiary of Tesoro Corporation in 2007, later renamed Andeavor in 2017, which was, in turn, acquired by Marathon Petroleum in 2018.
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