Gas station brands appearing in new areas

[mbz321]

Here in PA, ConocoPhilips brands have appeared at least in Southeastern PA, but it's really confusing. Some stations have jumped between Conoco, Philips 66, and/or 76 branding all in a relatively short time frame and I can't figure out why. I've seen a Conoco convert to another 'newcomer' to the region, Sinclair, which seems to have a handful of stations.

BP's (the majority of which were former Amoco stations)are mostly gone..most have converted to a few different independent brands. I was kind of expecting to see the Amoco brand pop back up but nada except one or two in Southern NJ.

It's odd that Gulf is on the West Coast now as they seemed to be the dominant brand for 'indie' stations in my region for the longest time, but many have closed or rebranded (usually to a ConocoPhilips brand, Liberty, or no brand at all) in the last decade or so. Many Getty stations (all but defunct besides one or two rogue stations) converted to Gulf, but it seems like many did not last long afterwards.

Wawa and Sunoco are still the two dominant brands in the region.

I don't think the general public really pays too much attention to gas brands these days especially as prices continue to rise.

[storewanderer]

This is the marketing arrangement for the 76 brand to appear in these new territories:
https://www.cspdailynews.com/company-ne ... brand-deal

Motiva was the entity that previously marketed the Shell and Texaco brands in the US before Chevron took Texaco over.

Gulf is being sold again it appears, this time to the same company who owns RaceTrac.

[ClownLoach]

The 76 Station down the street from me was awful. It had a cashier booth and a locked shelf of food items. The gas pumps were old and constantly broken. It finally closed a few months ago. Then they suddenly tore it down and are building a new gas station with what appears to be a large convenience store.

I always though the 7-Eleven next to it was the convenience store, but apparently they are separately owned. How can you have a 7-Eleven behind a gas station and then build a new convenience store in front of the 7-Eleven practically blocking the 7-Eleven from being seen from the street. These two competing businesses must hate other.

I don't know if the new gas station will be 76 or something else.

Circle K has been replacing many unbranded convenience stores at gas stations in the San Francisco Bay Area in the past few years. A few years ago many Rocket convenience stores replaced the old 76 My Goods Market stores in the area.

My understanding is Rocket is the new name for My Goods Market, probably a good change as that was a clunky, pointless name. Plus for the operator if they ever needed to pull the 76 franchise they could just call themselves Rocket Fuel which would also be a good name for a gas station.

[ClownLoach]

I find 76 to be a pointless brand. Never the best price, never the best facility, there is just no point..

TopTier^TM fuel, usually at a price point lower than Shell or Chevron. At least, that's how I perceive it in Oregon. Otherwise, yes, very different c-stores and pump experiences everywhere.

Isn't Arco usually cheaper still though?

Arco used to have very consistent pricing. Now it is wildly different. Just last Sunday one Arco had regular unleaded cash price $4.95 and the store a couple miles east was $6.09. Both newer locations with AmPm attached. Pump and store maintenance is also very inconsistent.

AmPm store design might be the reason why it is being dropped or poorly maintained. Most AmPm locations were built with a checkout against the front glass so the cashier could see the aisles especially the beer cases (shrink prevention). But then they have a second employee area opposite side where they had hot foods and the soda fountains. I'm going to assume most of these operators don't want to pay for the second employee and also don't want to pay to remodel the location to bring the hot foods to the same counter as the checkout like you might see at other C-Stores. So it all just languishes. But it is clear that the Arco brand and AmPm sub-brand are not being well taken care of post BP control. BP only licenses/franchises AmPm in the Southwest now which would explain why you're seeing so many switch to Arco Food Mart so they don't have to pay extra for the brand.

And what is BP doing with AmPm? Bringing it to the East Coast.

https://www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/ ... coast.html

[Alpha8472]

The AMPM design is exactly as you described. The lone employee is stuck on one side and can't take care of the hot foods on the opposite side. That is why there are no hot foods. The store looks old and needs a remodel, but the owner must not want to spend the money.

The ARCO food marts are not open 24 hours and they all seem really limited in what they sell. AMPM sells more food and is open 24 hours. I assume an AMPM brings in more sales, but is it really worth it to pay extra for AMPM branding?

[Super S]

TopTier^TM fuel, usually at a price point lower than Shell or Chevron. At least, that's how I perceive it in Oregon. Otherwise, yes, very different c-stores and pump experiences everywhere.

Isn't Arco usually cheaper still though?

Arco used to have very consistent pricing. Now it is wildly different. Just last Sunday one Arco had regular unleaded cash price $4.95 and the store a couple miles east was $6.09. Both newer locations with AmPm attached. Pump and store maintenance is also very inconsistent.

AmPm store design might be the reason why it is being dropped or poorly maintained. Most AmPm locations were built with a checkout against the front glass so the cashier could see the aisles especially the beer cases (shrink prevention). But then they have a second employee area opposite side where they had hot foods and the soda fountains. I'm going to assume most of these operators don't want to pay for the second employee and also don't want to pay to remodel the location to bring the hot foods to the same counter as the checkout like you might see at other C-Stores. So it all just languishes. But it is clear that the Arco brand and AmPm sub-brand are not being well taken care of post BP control. BP only licenses/franchises AmPm in the Southwest now which would explain why you're seeing so many switch to Arco Food Mart so they don't have to pay extra for the brand.

And what is BP doing with AmPm? Bringing it to the East Coast.

https://www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/ ... coast.html

AMPM seems a little inconsistent. One location will be a nice, newer building, where another will look like a building that was converted from an old service station with an odd layout. Food offerings are also inconsistent, they have never really had much for breakfast, and their burgers sometimes will have normal cheese where others will use nacho cheese sauce. (I used to live near an AMPM that I stopped at somewhat regularly , but as I moved, I will confess that I have not had AMPM food in at least 10 years though) I have found though that AMPM is by far the highest priced convenience store chain and I try to avoid them these days.

[storewanderer]

And what is BP doing with AmPm? Bringing it to the East Coast.

https://www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/ ... coast.html

BP already had AM PM in various markets back east- they were in OH, IL, PA, IN, various places. BP stripped the sites of the brand and stopped supporting it.

I don't know why they are bringing it back. It didn't work then and didn't work now. AM PM is a c-store format designed for a discount gas station (Arco). BP is not a "discount gas station" - it is more along the lines of a Chevron or Shell and needs a different type of c-store format.

I think the problem with AM PM is that BP is stuck with it, so they keep trying to act like they are doing something with it. The new build stores for AM PM are really, really nice (a few have opened in NorCal), but I am not sure how long they will stay nice.

[storewanderer]

My understanding is Rocket is the new name for My Goods Market, probably a good change as that was a clunky, pointless name. Plus for the operator if they ever needed to pull the 76 franchise they could just call themselves Rocket Fuel which would also be a good name for a gas station.

My Goods was a conversion brand for Pacific Convenience and Fuels from the Circle Ks they debranded (all former corporate Conoco/Philips sites). PC&F did build some new My Goods Stores and they had a vision for the brand to be an upscale gas station of sorts with more store prepared food, custom espresso bar, etc. They de emphasized liquor and tobacco sales after leaving Circle (but hadn't remodeled/upgraded the stores) and their sales took a big ugly dive.

PC&F shed stations multiple times over the years first a block went to 7-Eleven then a smaller block went to Tower Energy in NorCal. Some locations would just close outright. PC&F did do some small acquisitions of its own buying Save Mart's fuel operations and also buying Haggen fuel operations (which never actually existed- went straight to PC&F) on divested Albertsons/Safeway Stores.

They ended up selling out to United Oil out of SoCal who had just been taken over by an investment group. United Oil has a lot of interesting "themed" stations and that is where "Rocket" was born from.

"Rocket" has upgraded some stores but others still look like debranded Circle Ks.

There is a consistency problem however. In SoCal I have always found United Oil-affiliated stations to have some of the lowest gas prices around. However these former PC&F sites tend to be some of the highest priced fuel stations around. I am not sure what is going on with that. In Colorado they are a complete joke and I have no idea how they even stay in business there- the very lucrative Denver Airport Rocket must be carrying their other stores in the market.

[Super S]

Today I saw another longtime Shell in Longview which is being switched to Marathon. Not sure what is bringing on the mass exodus from Shell in this area.

[jamcool]

And what is BP doing with AmPm? Bringing it to the East Coast.

https://www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/ ... coast.html

BP already had AM PM in various markets back east- they were in OH, IL, PA, IN, various places. BP stripped the sites of the brand and stopped supporting it.

I don't know why they are bringing it back. It didn't work then and didn't work now. AM PM is a c-store format designed for a discount gas station (Arco). BP is not a "discount gas station" - it is more along the lines of a Chevron or Shell and needs a different type of c-store format.

I think the problem with AM PM is that BP is stuck with it, so they keep trying to act like they are doing something with it. The new build stores for AM PM are really, really nice (a few have opened in NorCal), but I am not sure how long they will stay nice.

Yet BP bought Thornton’s in the Midwest and is buying Travelcenters of America (TA)-formerly Truckstops of America.