CASPER, Wyo. – The first Maverik rebranded from a Kum & Go facility was revealed this week on a store located in Draper, Utah.
According to the industry publication NACS, the store is the start of a rebranding effort that will phase out the venerable Kum & Go brand in favor of the Maverik brand.
Starting this month, all Kum & Go stores will start the conversion into Maverik stores in Utah, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming, according to a statement from Maverik CEO Chuck Maggelet sent to Oil City News last September. The rebranding is taking place in states where the Maverik brand has been well established, and will affect somewhere between 120 and 140 stores.
The disclosure arrived months after it was announced last spring that Maverik’s parent company, FJ Management, would be buying the stores from the Krause Group. Maverik also acquired Solar Transport from the Krause Group. Solar Transport is described as a tank truck carrier and logistic provider. The company co-owned the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain before eventually selling the remainder of its share to Berkshire Hathaway last year.
The acquisition gives the company a footprint of more than 800 stores across 20 states, with some 14,000 employees.
The announcement was met with mixed responses on Maverik’s X (formally Twitter) post on Wednesday.
“Looks better,” said one post, and “Epic rebrand,” said another. Others were less complimentary. “This makes me so unbelievably sad. Why are you taking away one of my favorite staples of Colorado,” said one. “You had your own thing going and we liked it, this is pointless and boring,” was another response.
Kum & Go’s first store opened in 1959 in Hampton, Iowa, according to its website, and is the brand is now based in Des Moines, Iowa. Maverik said it is finalizing office space for a “Base Camp Des Moines,” mirroring its corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City.
According to its website, Maverik’s roots can be traced back to Wyoming native Reuel Call, who opened up his first two-pump gas station in Afton in 1928.
This story has been updated to clarify FJ Management’s previous co-ownership of Pilot Flying J.
