Circle K

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{{Infobox Company| company_name = Circle K Stores, Inc.| company_logo = | company_type = Convenience store (1951)| location = [Houston, Texas, USA| parent = [Alimentation Couche-Tard fountain drinks| revenue = $1.79 billion, [United States dollar (2004)|| homepage = www.circlek.com-->

Circle K is a trademark owned by Alimentation Couche-Tard to designate a chain of company operated and convenience stores in the United States.

Overview Some Circle K stores operate gasoline pumps selling Union 76 branded motor fuels, others sell Mobil, Marathon Oil Company or Shell Oil Company branded fuel. Until mid-2006, nearly all Circle K stores in South Texas sold Citgo branded fuel, however those stores have dropped the Circle K name and now operate as Stripes Convenience Stores and are served by Valero branded fuel. The chain operates internationally, branching into other continents such as Asia. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, the store is called OK in reference to the circle around the K. Circle K was previously in Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as the food store portions of many Shell Canada stations.

The chain is primarily located in the U.S. South, Western United States and U.S. Southwest U.S., and within the past couple of years expanded into the U.S. Midwest when the Circle K name replaced Couche-Tard brands Mac's, Bigfoot, Dairy Mart, and Handy Andy. The company recently acquired 35 Sterling Dairy locations in Northwestern Ohio and as of June 2007 is converting them to the Circle K brand. Despite not being located in the Northern Great Plains states and the U.S. Northeast (except for western Pennsylvania), Circle K is second to 7-Eleven in the U.S. by store count.

History Entrepreneur Fred Hervey purchased three Kay’s Food Stores in El Paso, Texas in 1951. Hervey renamed the stores Circle K. He grew the Circle K chain into neighboring New Mexico and Arizona, which has been the company’s home base since 1957 (Hervey would go on to serve two terms as mayor of El Paso).

According to the Circle K website, Circle K grew its retail network through a series of acquisitions conducted during the next few decades, which were incorporated into the Circle K brand. By 1975, there were 1,000 Circle K stores across the US. In 1979, Circle K entered the international market when a licensing agreement established the first Circle K stores in Japan. In 1983, the number of stores increased to 2,180 with the purchase of the 960-store UtoteM chain.

The Thirst Buster® fountain drink was introduced in 1983. It is one of Circle K's flagship products today.

Karl Eller, a prominent Phoenix, Arizona businessman, served as the company's CEO from 1983-1990. During that time, Eller built Circle K into the second largest convenience store operation and the largest publicly owned convenience store chain in the U.S. with over 4,600 stores in 32 states and an additional 1,300 or so licensed or joint venture stores in 13 foreign countries. Under Eller's leadership, the company grew from annual sales of $747 million to over $3 billion.

Fortunes declined in the late 1980s as the US economy began to slow down, and Circle K filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 1990; Eller resigned as CEO. Some underperforming locations were sold or closed. In 1993 the company was purchased by Investcorp, an international investment group, and emerged from bankruptcy.

Circle K was acquired by Tosco Corporation, an independent petroleum refiner and marketer, in 1996, but kept its headquarters in Phoenix. Tosco was purchased in 2001 by Phillips Petroleum, which in 2002 merged with Conoco to form ConocoPhillips. In 2003 Circle K was purchased by Alimentation Couche-Tard (a large conveniece store operator based in the Montreal, Quebec area) for US$804 million.

In mid-2006, Alimentation Couche-Tard entered into a franchising agreement with ConocoPhillips to brand some their company-owned stores into Circle K in the western portion of the US. ConocoPhillips remodeled the stores into the Circle K scheme but will still operate them. The stores will still have the new ConocoPhillips unified canopy design and ProClean gasolines.

Pop culture The film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure features the well known line by Keanu Reeves's character Ted "Theodore" Logan, "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

See also

List of automotive fuel brands
Circle K Sunkus

External links

Circle K company website
Large photo of a Circle K in Okayama, Japan

Circle K western club
cowboys, cowgirls, America, guns, wild west, film, tv, civil war, horses, cows

Circle K Home
Fuel and food convenience store chain. Features store locator, history, and franchise information.

Jobs
Jobs. As one of the nation’s premier operators of company-owned convenience stores, Circle K strives to be the best place to shop and work. For our customers, that means fast ...

About Circle K
History, FAQ's, and other information regarding the organization, its members for guests ... What is Circle K? Circle K is a co-educational service, leadership ...

Circle K in Action
This area allows guests to view photographs of Circle K clubs serving communities, raising funds, or performing leadership or fellowship functions and gives the guest an idea of ...

Circle K - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Circle K is a international chain of convenience stores, originally founded in 1951, in El Paso, Texas. It is currently owned and operated by Alimentation Couche-Tard.

RPI Circle K - Home
News Congratulations to the new E-board members for the next year! President: Jacque Fable Vice-President: Mengdi Lu Secretary: Dennis Rochon

YouTube - Strange things are afoot at the Circle K
Bill and Ted find out that there are strange things are afoot at the Circle K ... Choose which country's videos, channels, and activity filters (for example, "Most Viewed"), you ...

Under Construction
Camp Little Bear is a summer program hosted by UCLA Circle K. For more infomation on Camp Little Bear or Pillow Fight, click HERE.

Cal Poly Circle K Club
Welcome to the Cal Poly Circle K's homepage. Here you can learn more about our club, find out who our officers are, read about things we have done ...