NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Clark Brands has announced the re-opening of the Mentor Convenience Store in Mentor, Minn. A little more than a year after a June 17, 2010, tornado destroyed the store, the rural Minnesota gas station has re-opened.
The Mentor C-Store, a local fixture off of U.S. Highway 2, is once again serving customers from Erskine, Dugdale, Crookston and Fertile, Minn. The former Cenex station is now a Clark-branded location and is now housed in a facility that is totally rebuilt offering both fuel and c-store items.
The team at Clark welcomed the new owners [image-nocss] of the Mentor C-Store to the Clark family and extended its support of this branded customer.
"I am thrilled to see this location re-open," said Karl Goodhouse, president and CEO of Clark Brands. "We look forward to working with Amy and Chris Motteberg, the station's new owners, to showcase the resilience of the independent fuel operator. While we are deeply saddened by the loss of one of 'our own,' we applaud the efforts of the Michaels family to rebuild."
The fuel station and retail store were totally destroyed by a powerful tornado resulting in the tragic loss of owner Wes Michaels, 58. Michaels died while protecting his daughter Heidi Michaels from falling debris. Wes is survived by his wife, Kathy and daughters Amy, Kari and Heidi and four grandchildren.
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In honor of his heroism, Clark will donate $500 to the Wesley Michaels Scholarship fund at Fertile-Beltrami High School. Todd Johnson of Johnson Oil, a local Clark marketer and fuel supplier to the Mentor C-Store, will present the check to the Michaels family.
Naperville, Ill.-based Clark Brands owns the Clark family of brands. The company licenses the Clark gasoline brand and the Four Corners Coffee brand to independent petroleum marketers and retailers. Clark also processes credit card and payments transactions for independent fuel stations in 28 states and the District of Columbia.
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