AUSTIN, Minn. -- The familiar red-and-white Conoco and Phillips 66 signs will disappear from Austin, Minn., and the entire state this summer, reported The Post-Bulletin.
ConocoPhillips confirmed that it is pulling out of the state, ss reported in CSP Daily News in early February. The Major Oilcompanysent letters to all its stations recently telling them that fuel service will end August 3, said the report.
As a continuation of ConocoPhillips portfolio rationalization strategies and to support strengthening the United [image-nocss] States marketing, ConocoPhillips is transitioning out of branded gasoline and branded diesel in Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina and certain portions of Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, Arizona and Nevada, Conoco spokesperson Phil Blackburn told the newspaper.
Two stations in Austin sell the Conoco brand. The Windmill Travel center in nearby Dexter sells Phillips 66 fuel, according to the report.
When the brands vanish from Minnesota, the stations will need to find new suppliers. It's upsetting, owner Tom Severson, who has seven stations in the region, told the paper. I grew up with Conoco, grew up washing windshields. I've been around it all my life. I love the smell of gasoline. His family's connection goes back to 1939.
Severson already has a plan in place to deal with it, he told the Post-Bulletin. When Conoco became less interested in small stations like the one he owns in Harmony, he created his own brand of fuel, called Mileage. Taking down the Conoco sign and putting up the Mileage one was tough, but we've adjusted to it, Severson said.
Now he provides Mileage fuel to three other stations that he doesn't own, the report said. After Conoco is gone, all of his stations will sell Mileage. We can provide our own quality, he said. And no matter what the brand is, I have the most exceptional people working for me.
In Rochester, Virgil's Auto Clinic and Towing plans to go it on its own, Bruce Nelson, one of the owners, told the paper. The station has sold many brands since it opened in 1952. So many, in fact, that Nelson and his brothers have trouble remembering them allCities Service, Texaco Gulf, ICO and CITGO have all been sold there. Conoco has been the brand for the last 10 years, said the report.
After August 3, Virgil's will become independent, at least at first. That means it will sell fuel without a brand. Nelson said they plan to try that approach. If it doesn't work, then they might look for another brand, the report said.
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