Quality Oil Co.

Quality Oil operates 117 sites in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee under three brands and formats. There are 35 Quality Mart stores, all with fuel featuring 93-octane ethanol-free gasoline and a traditional convenience store. Another 59 Quality Plus stations offer fuel along with drive by vending machines and drive through windows for purchases of tobacco products, snacks, and drinks. GOGAS has 23 outlets that feature large fueling facilities. A kiosk is staffed to accept fuel payments and sell tobacco products, including premium and discount brands. Company websites for each brand boast ethanol-free gasoline.

Quality Oil Co. was founded in 1929 and offers propane and heating oil delivery, commercial fueling at job sites or farms. The company also owns and operates eight hotels in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. The hotels were shuttered in early 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the company donated rooms at five properties to house medical personnel in their communities through May 31.

While oil is the company's core business, president Graham Bennett (grandson of founder Bert Bennett Sr.) says his company is looking ahead to more electric vehicles and all new Quality Oil stations are "piped" or fitted for charging stations to make the installation of those stations quick and easy if and when the time comes.

Interesting fact: The Shell fuel brand was largely unknown when the business started, and owners built eight seashell-shaped gasoline stations to attract customers. One still exists in Winston-Salem and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

For benchmarking purposes, store counts are year-end 2019.