"He really was out in front in our area with convenience stores," John McKinney told the newspaper. "He opened the first store in 1971 when there weren't many in Minnesota. [image-nocss] It was a time when people's cars needed less service, but they were traveling more. It was a new way to market gasoline.''
Daryl and his wife, Joyce, also became stewards of the world's only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed gas station, a landmark in Cloquet. It was built by Joyce's parents in 1958. The building remains an active gas station and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
What is now Best Oil Co. was founded in 1939 by R.W. Lindholm, McKinney's father-in-law. McKinney became a partner in the business in 1954 and took over in 1961, running it until 1999 when he sold it to his sons John, Michael and Christopher, said the report.
"He remained pretty active in the business until about 2005,'' said John McKinney, now president of the company.
Over the years, the company has grown to 250 employees in four divisionswholesale fuel delivery, the c-store chain, home heating oil delivery and automotive parts. The business had $54 million in revenue last year, said the report, citing ZoomInfo.com.
That growth includes 19 Little Stores in the chain, John McKinney added.
John McKinney said his father had keen instincts for business that served both him and the next generation well. "It was basically 'stick to basics and do it right.' It's working hard and taking care of customers and employees,'' John McKinney said. "It's good advice still today.''
Separately, Garland Warren, who thought San Marcos, Texas, needed a second c-store and grew his business into the regional Sac N Pac chain, has died at 74, reported The San Marcos Mercury.
While visiting friends here in 1965, Warren and his wife Janelle went to the town's only store at closing time, where the manager was setting a mousetrap on the counter and milk the couple bought for their babies was expired.
Moving here the next year, they opened up shop and began building a small empire that now includes a total of 45 stores, 17 of which are in San Marcos, said the report. In 1998, the chain was sold to Warren's children, Blair, Blake and Cheryl.
CSP sends condolences to their families, their friends and their colleagues.
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