FINDLAY, Ohio – Marathon Petroleum Corp. is rebanding the recently acquired SuperAmerica convenience-store chain to its Speedway brand, the company said. Speedway LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum, began the integration and conversion of the SuperAmerica-branded retail locations on Oct. 1.
There are 285 SuperAmerica c-stores, 170 company-owned and 115 franchised locations, mostly in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The company also owns a bakery and commissary under the SuperMom’s brand, which markets to SuperAmerica stores and third-party companies.
During the conversion process, customers will see new Speedway signage in both the interior and exterior of the stores, including ID signs and canopy and dispenser signage. Customers will also see EMV (EuroPay, Mastercard and Visa) chip reader dispenser upgrades, bringing consumers enhanced payment security features, including encrypted credit-card and debit-card technology, and enhanced safety from skimming devices.
“While the signage may be changing, customers will continue to be greeted by the same friendly, helpful store associates that they have come to know and appreciate,” the company said in its announcement.
The most significant change will be the introduction of Speedy Rewards, Speedway’s loyalty program, which provides customers with an opportunity to earn free merchandise and beverages, as well as the ability to accrue points on purchases that can be redeemed for merchandise and gift cards. Customers enrolled in SuperAmerica’s My SA Rewards will be able to transfer their existing points to a new Speedy Rewards card, the company said, but SuperAmerica gift cards will no longer be accepted as a method of payment at converted Speedway locations. The company is refunding those balances on request.
Findlay, Ohio-based Marathon Petroleum closed on the $23.3 billion acquisition of San Antonio-based Andeavor, which owns the SuperAmerica and other retail brands, in early October.
The deal geographically diversifies their combined refining portfolio. Andeavor's refineries in California, the midcontinent and the Pacific Northwest complement Marathon Petroleum’s existing Gulf Coast and Midwest refining footprint. The combined company will be the No. 1 U.S. refiner by capacity and a top-five refiner globally, with a throughput capacity of more than 3 million barrels per day across 16 refineries.
The transaction creates a nationwide marketing portfolio, combining MPC's strength east of the Mississippi with Andeavor’s strong presence in the western United States. The nationwide retail and marketing business includes about 3,900 company-owned and -operated stores and 7,800 Marathon-branded locations. Enon, Ohio-based Speedway owns and operates about 4,000 c-stores across the United States.
- Speedway is No. 3 in CSP's 2018 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by number of company-owned retail locations.
Woodbury, Minn.-based SuperAmerica was founded in 1960 in St. Paul, Minn., as an outlet for the products of the Northwestern Refining refinery. In 1970, Ashland Oil Inc. acquired 81 of the “SA” units when it purchased Northwestern Refining. In 1998, SuperAmerica merged with Emro Marketing Co., the retail marketing subsidiary of Marathon Oil, later becoming Speedway SuperAmerica LLC. Northern Tier Energy purchased the SuperAmerica brand, in 2010, merging with Western Refining in 2016. Andeavor, then called Tesoro, acquired Western Refining in 2016.
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