On the Run (convenience store)
Encyclopedia
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
developed by ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
, used at Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
and Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
stations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and at Esso
Esso
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
and Mobil stations internationally. Alimentation Couche-Tard
Alimentation Couche-Tard
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. or simply Couche-Tard is one of the largest company-owned convenience store operators in the world with up to 6,000 stores across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Japan, China, Indonesia and Guam....
is in the process of acquiring the On the Run franchise network in the U.S.; ExxonMobil retains its corporate-owned On the Run stores in that country, as well as full ownership of the brand in the rest of the world.
After several failed attempts to have its own convenience store chain since the 1970's, Mobil introduced the On the Run brand in 1994. The chain not only finally gave Mobil some success in the convenience store business, but the chain did so well that when the company was bought by Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil, the newly-merged oil giant chose Mobil's On the Run over Exxon's own TigerMart (which still continues to a lesser extent) for both brands to use. On the Run is available with franchises, though most of the locations are corporate-owned-and-operated.
On the Run stores are described as larger and having more products than ExxonMobil's older-model convenience stores, featuring "fresh snacks, fill-in groceries, health & beauty supplies, plus quick meal options". Most feature either Exxon's in-house Bengal Traders coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
brand or, in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, a Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons Inc. is a Canadian fast casual restaurant known for its coffee and doughnuts. It is also Canada's largest fast food service with over 3000 stores nationwide. It was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario, by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade, after an initial venture in...
kiosk or counter. In practice, newly-renovated On the Run locations in Canada are often small, former Tiger Express locations with little change other than new signage.
The name "On the Run" is used, untranslated, around the world, except in the Canadian province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, where opposition from its French-speaking population, despite government sanction, forced Exxon's local subsidiary to retain the Marché Express brand (absorbing Tigre Express).
On April 29, 2009, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-based convenience store company Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operates stores in the United States under the Circle K
Circle K
Circle K is an international chain of convenience stores, founded in 1951, in El Paso, Texas, United States. It is owned and operated by the Canadian-based Alimentation Couche-Tard.-Overview:...
name, announced it was acquiring the 450-store On the Run franchise network (the stores themselves remain with local franchisees) plus 43 ExxonMobil-owned and operated stores in the Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
area. The deal does not affect any other corporate-owned On the Run locations in the U.S. or internationally. In November 2010, many of the On the Run stores were converted to Hop In stores. Hop In is a small chain of convenience stores based in Dothan, Alabama
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the US state of Alabama, situated approximately west of the Georgia state line and north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County...
.
United Kingdom
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
stores where the site is leased to Tesco using Esso branded fuel.
Esso's convenience stores in the UK are operated by ROC UK , a subsidiary of Esso Petroleum Company Limited and ExxonMobil. ROC operates Esso's stores under the On The Run and The Snack & Shop names.