Mobil Returns To Northern California

Gas stations & convenience stores (AM/PM, 7-Eleven, etc.)
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Alpha8472
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Mobil Returns To Northern California

Post by Alpha8472 »

Mobil gas stations disappeared in the 90s in Northern California. Many of them were rebranded as BP. Later in the 90s I believe that due to the ExxonMobil merger. Exxon was required to sell off their gas stations in Northern California. However, apparently just a few days ago the USA Gas Station near me suddenly was transformed into a Mobil gas station. The gas prices are still very low. USA Gas was sort of a discount gas type of a station. Apparently Tesoro is running a small number of gas stations under several different brands including USA Gas, Mobil, Shell, etc.

I must admit that seeing Mobil back in Northern California is a surprise. I remember Mobil being around when I was a kid.
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Re: Mobil Returns To Northern California

Post by Super S »

I drove by the Salmon Creek Albertsons in Vancouver, WA a few days ago. The USA gas station there was also rebranded as Mobil. Like California, most of the former Mobil stations in Washington and Oregon were rebranded as BP. BP disappeared from the market about 10-15 years ago, but the stations became many different brands, some Texaco, some Shell, some Chevron, some 76, and some independent.

Mobil has popped up in a few random locations in Oregon and Washington over the last ten years or so. By random I mean a small number of stations, I know of one other in Vancouver (which I think is now Shell) and another in East Portland somewhere which I am not sure if it still exists.

Exxon (part of Exxon Mobil) on the other hand has pretty much disappeared from this area.

Mobil has never really marketed itself as a discount gas station along the lines of a brand such as Arco. Their prices were more in line with Chevron, Shell, etc. Mobil is very well known for its premium Mobil 1 brand of synthetic motor oil, as well as other lubricants.

I find this an interesting move, as Albertsons has pretty much sold off all of their stations, but will soon be back in the gas business under the Albertsons-Safeway merger.
storewanderer
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Re: Mobil Returns To Northern California

Post by storewanderer »

They rebranded the one in Auburn a few months ago (it was a Thrifty, then briefly Arco, then briefly USA, and is now Mobil).

Tesoro is controlling a lot of names in one market or another. They are in control of Arco and Shell in SoCal. In NorCal, they have USA and Mobil. They have Shell in a lot of random states and seem to have Exxon or Mobil now wherever they do not have Shell.

I think the Mobil brandings will stick this time.
Alpha8472
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Re: Mobil Returns To Northern California

Post by Alpha8472 »

Mobil has been showing new commercials on TV in recent weeks. The Mobil gas station was packed today. People seem to feel more confident about the Mobil brand than the no name USA Gas name. People in Northern California have not seen the Mobil brand in almost 20 years, and yet they feel confident about the brand.

I wanted to try the gas station, but I could not even get into the gas station. The gas station is at the edge of a residential area and it was never busy as USA Gas. They didn't remodel at all. They simply replaced the USA logo with Mobil. I did notice the Mobil Pegasus logo was added to each gas pump. It was very nicely done. This Mobil station's prices are not as cheap as Costco or Arco, but they are only about 20 cents higher.
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Re: Mobil Returns To Northern California

Post by Super S »

Alpha8472 wrote:Mobil has been showing new commercials on TV in recent weeks. The Mobil gas station was packed today. People seem to feel more confident about the Mobil brand than the no name USA Gas name. People in Northern California have not seen the Mobil brand in almost 20 years, and yet they feel confident about the brand.

I wanted to try the gas station, but I could not even get into the gas station. The gas station is at the edge of a residential area and it was never busy as USA Gas. They didn't remodel at all. They simply replaced the USA logo with Mobil. I did notice the Mobil Pegasus logo was added to each gas pump. It was very nicely done. This Mobil station's prices are not as cheap as Costco or Arco, but they are only about 20 cents higher.
It's funny you mention the brand. A few years ago I was in Wichita, Kansas, and one thing I noticed as I bought gas for my rental car was the lack of familiar brand names of gasoline. Nearly every station in the city was either a no-name gas at a convenience store, or was branded gas sold by a chain store. I think I maybe saw ONE brand name gas station during the whole week I was there. That might also explain though why gas at the time was 70 cents a gallon cheaper than in the Pacific Northwest....

However, I have had quality issues, most notably with Arco, but also with Safeway and Fred Meyer gas in my area. Never an issue with Chevron, Shell, etc. In my opinion, it's worth paying the difference so I don't have questionable fuel, especially since I discovered my new car (like many others today) has a non-serviceable fuel filter that can only be replaced with a fuel pump...
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