Gas station brands appearing in new areas

[Super S]

Over the last few years, I have seen several brands popping up locally (Southwest Washington) which either faded away once before, or have never been here before. Mobil and 76 dwindled down to just a few stations, but are making a comeback. Shell seems to be having a period right now where stations are rebranding. Texaco is fading away. More recently I have noticed Marathon and Sinclair. And, just yesterday, I was in Vancouver, and discovered a former Texaco which has been rebranded to Gulf, another station I have never seen in this area.

I am curious if new brands are popping up elsewhere.

[Romr123]

It's kind of like the hotel business where there are elevendy-three different chain brands--you can have exclusivity on your brand, but it's to your supplier's interest to have more coverage than just your gas station. Presto--reach into the depths of history to bring out an old brand and the supplier now has 2x the coverage.

We're seeing this a lot in SE Michigan where Amoco stations are now being rolled out. Amoco had an excellent reputation in it's area, and BP has been pretty smart about updating it to a current contemporary standard (sic)--logo, colors, etc are subtly improved from the historical appearance, and it comes along with new pumps and re-done canopies (around us it seems Valero, Citgo and Speedway only require paint jobs to re-brand; Sunoco, Marathon and Amoco require pumps and canopy refreshing (if not full-scale replacement). Sunoco specifically seems to require new pumps to accommodate their 4 grades of gas. It seems that they're the only really active new "branders" around here (which makes sense, as the Marathon refinery is in south Detroit, the Sunoco is in Toledo and I think BP/Amoco is in Lima, OH and Whiting, IN.)

[Brian Lutz]

I don't live in the Pacific Northwest anymore, but I do know that after Marathon bought one of the refineries in Anacortes some stations (which I think had mostly been 76 before) in the area began to rebrand to Marathon. In the few years before that a handful of stations also adopted Mobil branding, but it's still not a particularly common brand in the area. I know I've seen a handful of Sinclair locations in Eastern Washington and a handful of Maveriks in the Spokane/CdA area, but never in Western Washington. A number of Shell stations have been rebranded, but it seems that 76 stations are also frequently subject to rebranding in that area. There was a thread recently about the tribal stations on the Tulalip reservation (which used to be Chevron) being debranded; in that thread it was reported that they are now being supplied by a tribal-based supplier.

I also know that the USA Gasoline brand that was being used at Walmart gas stations appears to be retired, and I have seen at least one in the Seattle metro area (Renton) that got rebranded to Speedway Express. The former USA Gasoline station at the Quil Ceda Village (Tulalip) Walmart was demolished though, and the space is an empty lot now.

[Super S]

I don't live in the Pacific Northwest anymore, but I do know that after Marathon bought one of the refineries in Anacortes some stations (which I think had mostly been 76 before) in the area began to rebrand to Marathon. In the few years before that a handful of stations also adopted Mobil branding, but it's still not a particularly common brand in the area. I know I've seen a handful of Sinclair locations in Eastern Washington and a handful of Maveriks in the Spokane/CdA area, but never in Western Washington. A number of Shell stations have been rebranded, but it seems that 76 stations are also frequently subject to rebranding in that area. There was a thread recently about the tribal stations on the Tulalip reservation (which used to be Chevron) being debranded; in that thread it was reported that they are now being supplied by a tribal-based supplier.

I also know that the USA Gasoline brand that was being used at Walmart gas stations appears to be retired, and I have seen at least one in the Seattle metro area (Renton) that got rebranded to Speedway Express. The former USA Gasoline station at the Quil Ceda Village (Tulalip) Walmart was demolished though, and the space is an empty lot now.

At least two of the Chehalis Tribe stations near exit 88, one which was Shell, and one which was Chevron, have now been branded as SInclair. I kinda wonder though if this tribal supplier is now providing fuel at the Shell-turned-Sinclair in Longview, as that station historically has been the exact price of the Chevron across the street, but now is 20 cents less. However, Wilcox & Flegel in Longview now appears to be distributing for Sinclair also. I am not sure how the distribution rules work.

It's kind of like the hotel business where there are elevendy-three different chain brands--you can have exclusivity on your brand, but it's to your supplier's interest to have more coverage than just your gas station. Presto--reach into the depths of history to bring out an old brand and the supplier now has 2x the coverage.

We're seeing this a lot in SE Michigan where Amoco stations are now being rolled out. Amoco had an excellent reputation in it's area, and BP has been pretty smart about updating it to a current contemporary standard (sic)--logo, colors, etc are subtly improved from the historical appearance, and it comes along with new pumps and re-done canopies (around us it seems Valero, Citgo and Speedway only require paint jobs to re-brand; Sunoco, Marathon and Amoco require pumps and canopy refreshing (if not full-scale replacement). Sunoco specifically seems to require new pumps to accommodate their 4 grades of gas. It seems that they're the only really active new "branders" around here (which makes sense, as the Marathon refinery is in south Detroit, the Sunoco is in Toledo and I think BP/Amoco is in Lima, OH and Whiting, IN.)

Amoco is a brand which popped up on a few stations around here then disappeared. Citgo is another that has faded away, this was most commonly seen at 7-Eleven, which now is basically their own brand. Sunoco is present but is sold at unbranded stations only as racing fuel, there are no Sunoco stations here as far as I know.

[Brian Lutz]

There are a handful of Sunoco branded stations around here, but they are fairly uncommon. I think they're more present in the Northeast and Midwestern US but seem to maintain a token presence in North Carolina due to their association with NASCAR (which is something I've noted with companies that may be prominent sponsors in NASCAR but don't typically operate in this part of the country.) There are also a handful of Amoco branded stations scattered throughout North Carolina, but BP is a much more common brand. Citgo is another fairly common one in this area, although Citgo's ties to PVDSA may be its undoing as there are plans underway that could result in the company's assets being auctioned off to pay sovereign debts owed by Venezuela. I would assume the brand could possibly be purchased by someone and would continue in some form after such a breakup, but what form that would take remains to be seen.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

It appears that after multiple trademark ownership changes the storied Gulf brand has quietly expanded into the Pacific states on top of the Exxon,Mobil,and Sinclair brands quietly expanding in NorCal.

[ClownLoach]

It appears that after multiple trademark ownership changes the storied Gulf brand has quietly expanded into the Pacific states on top of the Exxon,Mobil,and Sinclair brands quietly expanding in NorCal.

I have seen Gulf in Brea and Perris already in SoCal. Stations appear nice and clean from the exterior with good signage. Haven't been inside to see what the interior operation is like. Also seeing more Exxon branded stations that otherwise look just like Mobil. Somebody told me there is now a Marathon station in SoCal somewhere although I'm wondering if they just saw the former Arco refinery which is now branded Marathon.

The one Texaco station I knew of in Buena Park had very sharp and clean looking signage, pumps, etc. but it has been rebranded to Chevron. I think I mentioned elsewhere that even if they didn't intend to dump the Texaco name on Hawaiian Energy it appears that is their action as they're removing remaining Texaco signs from the continental US as all Hawaiian Chevrons become Texaco.

[jamcool]

Until the 80s Gulf had a major presence in California and Arizona-through acquisition of Wilshire and later Blakely of Arizona. When they rebranded those stations they used a rectangular orange and white Gulf sign instead of the orange disc- which was used on buildings and station canopies. Some of those lasted into the 80s, when Chevron bought Gulf Oil.

[rwsandiego]

Here in Phoenix the only revived brand I've seen is Sinclair. Exxon and Mobil are practically all gone, with the Mobil stations being rebranded 76 and the former 76 stations being sold to independents who have brands like "Pit Stop" and "Central Avenue Gas." I don't see many Shell stations in Central Phoenix. Most are co-branded with Circle K. Chevron and Circle K are, by far, the dominant brands here, followed by Quick Trip. There is at least one Standard-branded Chevron in Phoenix and a handful of Marathon stations.

[Alpha8472]

In the San Francisco Bay Area the most recent rebranding wave was the conversion of what seems like every single Texaco to Chevron in the last 2 months. Before that, it was Marathon suddenly appearing by taking over former independent gas stations.

A few years before that it was Speedway Express taking over former Mobil and Shell stations.

Mobil left Northern California in the 90s and the stations became BP. BP left. Mobil returned only in the past 7 years.