Circle K is an international department store chain, founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas, United States. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990 and went through several owners; now owned and operated by Canada-based Alimentation Couche-Tard. It is present in most of the 50 US states, all Canadian provinces, and a number of European countries (Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, and Sweden). In Asia and Latin America, this brand is used by franchisees.
Video Circle K
Overview
Since the 1980s, Circle K has become the largest privately owned department store chain (ie, non-franchised stores) in the US. This is the second in the total number of US outlets to 7-Eleven. However, in 1989, he faced strong competition from stores owned by oil companies, and Circle K declared bankruptcy in 1990. In July 2010, Circle K had dropped to fourth in stores (3,455), then behind BP (4,730 stores). ) and Shell (4,630 department stores).
Some Circle K stores operate gas stations selling Union Union motor fuel; others sell BP, Irving, Marathon, Mobil, Phillips 66, Shell, or Sunoco brand fuel. Until mid-2006, almost all Circle K stores in South Texas sell Citgo brand fuel; However, the stores have removed the name Circle K, now operating as Stripes Kritical Store, and served by Valero branded fuel. Circle K stores in northeastern Ohio vary depending on what store they use: the majority are former Citgo/Holland Oil, whose gas is branded as Circle K; the other is the rest of the Lawson/Dairy Mart chain, which sells gas from other companies (most of them serve Marathon Gasoline). Some locations, especially older outlets in Southwest America's corporate core market, do not sell gasoline.
The chain operates in the United States, Canada and Europe (Nordic, Baltic and Ireland) and through franchises in Mexico (It partners with the Mexican stores "Tiendas Extra" made by Modelo Group) and Asia. In Hong Kong this store is called OK which refers to the circle around K. Circle K Hong Kong was founded in 1985 by Li & amp; Fung Retailing (later Fung Retailing) as a license holder on behalf of and now a part of Convenience Retail Asia Limited. Circle K currently has 349 locations throughout Hong Kong.
Circle K entered the Taiwan market in 1988 as a joint venture between Circle K Stores Inc. and Feng Chin Enterprises (zh) . Taiwanese shops have been renamed to OK Mart since 2005, and there are 920 OK Mart stores in Taiwan in September 2017.
Circle K is used to operate in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, acting as part of the food shop of many Shell stations. The K Circle brand re-entered the Canadian market in 2008, in connection with Couche-Tard's acquisition of Irving Oil's convenience store chain.
The Circle K brand is also licensed in Japan by UNY Co. Ltd., under the name Circle K Sunkus, from 2001 to 2016, when all Circle K Sunkus stores were renamed FamilyMart after the incorporation of UNY Co. Ltd. with FamilyMart Co.
The chain is mainly located in the South, West (mainly Southwest), and the Central West of the United States. In 2006, the company acquired the 90-store Spectrum chain serving Georgia and Alabama, the CFM chain in Missouri, 35 Sterling Dairy locations in Northwest Ohio, and 26 stores under various brands from Chico Enterprises of Morgantown, West Virginia. This occurred after the 2005 rebranding of various Couche-Tard stores (Mac, Bigfoot, Dairy Mart, and Handy Andy) under the more nationally known Circle K brand.
Circle K starts appearing on Long Island in New York in 2013 with stores in Long Beach.
In Europe, Circle K is present in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland and Ireland. All operations will be renamed Circle K by the end of 2018.
Maps Circle K
History
Businessman Fred Harvey bought three Kay Food Shops in El Paso, Texas, in 1951. Harvey renamed the store as "Circle K Food Stores, Inc." than "Kay". He developed the Circle K chain to neighboring New Mexico and Arizona, which has been the company's base since 1957 (Harvey will continue to serve two terms as mayor of El Paso).
According to the Circle K site, Circle K developed its retail network through a series of acquisitions made over the next few decades, incorporated into the Circle K brand. In 1975, there were 1,000 Circle K stores across the US. In 1979, Circle K entered the international market when the license agreement established the first Circle K store in Japan; The Circle K store in Japan is run by Circle K Sunkus Corporation, licensing the Circle K brand of Alimentation Couche-Tard. In 1983, the number of stores increased to 2,180 with the purchase of the UtoteM 960 chain-store.
The Thirst Buster fountain drink was introduced in 1983. It is one of the leading Circle K products today. Now known as "Polar Pop" in many areas, Circle K advertises that customers can buy any size for just one price. The Polar Pop brand is also used in the Couche-Tard branded stores.
Karl Eller, a prominent Phoenix businessman, served as CEO of the company from 1983 to 1990. During that time, Eller built Circle K into the second largest store operation and the largest department store chain in the US with 4,631 stores in 32 states. and 1,300 or more licensed or joint stores in 13 foreign countries. Under Eller's leadership, the company grew from $ 747 million in annual sales to over $ 3 billion.
In 1988, the company sent a letter to more than 8,000 employees announcing that they would terminate medical coverage of those who became ill or injured by AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse or self-inflicted injuries. The company states that "There are certain lifestyle decisions that we will not guarantee results."
Defeat declined in the late 1980s as the US economy began to slow, and Circle K filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 1990; Eller resigned as CEO. Some poorly performing locations are sold or closed. In 1993 the company was bought by Investcorp, an international investment group, and emerged from bankruptcy.
In 1996, Circle K was acquired by Tosco Corporation, an oil refiner and an independent marketer, but remained headquartered 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 (Montreal-based large shop operator) for $ 804 million with San Antonio based on Mariposa Energy being a financial supporter, along with its owner Sullivan Family.
In 2005, the Convenient Stores Taiwan chain stopped a franchise agreement with Circle K.
In mid-2006, Alimentation Couche-Tard entered into a franchise agreement with ConocoPhillips to brand some of its company's stores as Circle K, in the western part of the US. ConocoPhillips overhauls stores into the Circle K scheme but continues to operate it. The stores continue to have a new ConocoPhillips canopy design and ProClean gasoline. These stores are screened as Phillips 66 in May 2012.
Another Canadian-based oil company, Irving Oil, rents its store operating under the banner of Bluecanoe and Mainway in the United States and Atlantic Canada to Couche-Tard, renamed Circle K in July 2008, while still selling Irving- branded fuels. However, Mainways in Newfoundland and Labrador did not change until the summer of 2010. The parties had previously established a similar partnership in Quebec, with shops there operating as Couche-Tard.
In April 2009, ExxonMobil sold 43 Phoenix, Arizona stores to its parent company Couche-Tard as part of a larger On the Run franchise sale. 43 This store will be branded under the name Circle K.
In July 2010, Circle K has fallen to fourth in stores (3,455), behind 7-Eleven (6,523 stores), BP (4,730 stores) and Shell (4,630 stores) in 2010.
On 10 February 2014 Modelo Group Sell Tiendas Extra brand from shop to Mexican Circle K franchise, Circulo K.
On December 18, 2014, Couche-Tard announced the acquisition of The Pantry for an all-cash $ 860 million tender. The acquisition closes in March 2015. After closing, all shops owned and operated by The Pantry, many of them under the name "Kangaroo Express", are expected to switch brands under the banner of Circle K.
On August 12, 2015 Circle K opened the first five stores in Costa Rica, Central America after buying and recruiting Delimart's local chain store.
On September 23, 2015, Alimentation Couche-Tard introduced an updated brand identity for Circle K, and announced that Statoil (North, Central and Eastern Europe) and Mac (Canada) brands will be converted to the Circle K brand by the end of 2017.
Since 2016, Circle K has been in the process of raising its own gas stations with new pumps manufactured by Gilbarco Veeder-Root with color screen, EMV, and contactless capabilities, even though EMV 2017 has not been activated.
On August 22, 2016, Alimentation Couche-Tard, the parent company of Circle K, signed a merger agreement with CST Brands, which operates more than 1,000 Corner Store locations, in all cash transactions valued at $ 4.4 billion, including assumed net debt. The transaction is officially closed on June 28, 2017. The stores under the Corner Store brand will be changed and renovated to the Circle K brand. As of June 2018, the conversion from the Corner Store brand store to the Circle K brand has begun in San Antonio, TX is where the Circle K Headquarters are located.
In April 2018, the Circle K brand replaced Topaz, which operates over 420 locations across the island of Ireland; this includes service stations with shops (known as ReStore) and a number of toll road services. Topaz Energy was acquired by Alimentation Couche-Tard in early 2016.
Frosters and Polar Pops
Drink fountains at Circle K are sold in Polar Pop cups (formerly called Thirst Busters), available in styrofoam or plastic. Most locations offer any size under a dollar, plus taxes. The refill cost is about $ 0.11USD less than a new cup.
Circle K is also the exclusive US home of Froster, a brand of liquor.
Sponsors
Circle K is the premier part-time sponsor of # 28 IndyCar Series racing cars driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay from Andretti Autosport between 2011 and 2013. In 2014 switches to KVSH Racing driver SÃÆ' Â © bastien Bourdais.
In 2017, Circle K went from IndyCar to NASCAR in sponsoring Matt Kenseth and Joe Gibbs Racing for six races with full livery.
Also in 2017, Circle K became the official sponsor of United Football League football shirt, North Carolina FC and signed a two-year sponsorship deal with Lithuanian Basketball League.
Due to his considerable presence in Greater Cleveland from former Lawson/Dairy Mart outlets, Circle K sponsored a Cleveland Indian warning sign in the center field at Progressive Field in Cleveland, where the "K" logo represents "K" used for strikeouts in the tradition of baseball scoring and replicated with each Scratch. The same sponsors exist in Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field; if the Diamondbacks attack ten or more dough, the competitor will receive a voucher for a free cup of Polar Pop, while Indian fans receive the same voucher after choosing a home-based game.
In May 2017, Cirkle K Power Cube sponsored was introduced to online game Ingress .
See also
- Circle K Sunkus
- List of automotive fuel brands
- List of stores
References
External links
- Official website US and Canadian sites
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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