k international . circle k stores inc. take it easy type wholly owned subsidiary industry retail convenience stores founded el paso texas 1951 founder fred hervey headquarters tempe arizona u.s. number of locations 10 000 area served united states canada guam norway from 2016 1 sweden japan china hong kong macau vietnam indonesia philippines denmark malaysia united arab emirates costa rica honduras mexico and lithuania parent alimentation couche tard website www.circlek.com usa canada 2 new circle k station in colorado springs . circle k kawada shop higashi osaka japan circle k in hong kong 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 . it is the owner of the mexican stores tiendas extra created by modelo group . contents 1 overview 2 history 3 frosters and polar pops 4 sponsorship 5 see also 6 references 7 external links overview edit since the 1980s circle k has been the largest company owned convenience store chain i.e. of non franchised stores in the u.s. 3 4 it was second in overall number of u.s. stores to 7 eleven . 3 however by 1989 it faced strong competition from convenience stores owned by oil companies and circle k declared bankruptcy in 1990 . 3 by july 2010 circle k had dropped to fourth rank in number of stores 3 455 then behind bp 4 730 stores and shell 4 630 convenience stores . 4 some circle k stores operate gasoline pumps selling union 76 branded motor fuels ; others sell mobil marathon phillips 66 irving bp sunoco or shell branded fuel . until mid 2006 nearly all circle k stores in south texas sold citgo branded fuel ; however those stores have dropped the circle k name and now operate as stripes convenience stores and are served by valero branded fuel . circle k stores in northeast ohio vary depending upon what stores they used to be the majority are former citgo holland oil 5 whose gas is branded as circle k ; others are remnants of the lawson s dairy mart chain which sell gas from other companies most of them served marathon gasoline . some locations especially older outlets in the company s core markets of the american southwest do not sell gasoline . the chain operates internationally including mexico and asia . in hong kong the store is called ok in reference to the circle around the k. circle k hong kong was founded in 1985 by li & fung retailing later fung retailing as licensee of the name and is now part of convenience retail asia limited . 6 circle k currently has 349 locations throughout hong kong . circle k used to operate in the united kingdom canada australia and new zealand acting as the food store portions of many shell stations . the circle k brand re entered the canadian market in 2008 in connection with couche tard s acquisition of irving oil s convenience store network . the chain is primarily located in the southern western southwestern and midwestern united states . in 2006 the company acquired the 90 store spectrum chain serving georgia and alabama 7 the cfm chain in missouri 35 sterling dairy locations in northwest ohio and 26 stores under various brands from chico enterprises of morgantown west virginia . 8 this came after the 2005 rebranding of the various couche tard stores mac s bigfoot dairy mart and handy andy under the more nationally known circle k brand . circle k started to appear on long island in new york in 2013 with a store in long beach . history edit entrepreneur fred hervey purchased three kay s food stores in el paso texas in 1951 . hervey renamed the stores as circle k food stores inc. rather than kay . he grew the circle k chain into neighboring new mexico and arizona which has been the company s home base since 1957 hervey would go on to serve two terms as mayor of el paso . according to the circle k website circle k grew its retail network through a series of acquisitions conducted during the next few decades which were incorporated into the circle k brand . by 1975 there were 1 000 circle k stores across the us . in 1979 circle k entered the international market when a licensing agreement established the first circle k stores in japan ; circle k stores in japan are run by the circle k sunkus corporation which licenses the circle k brand from alimentation couche tard . in 1983 the number of stores increased to 2 180 with the purchase of the 960 store utotem chain . the thirst buster fountain drink was introduced in 1983 . it is one of circle k s flagship products today . now known as polar pop in many areas circle k advertises that customers can buy any size for just a single price . the polar pop brand is also used at couche tard branded stores . karl eller a prominent phoenix businessman served as the company s ceo from 1983 to 1990 . during that time eller built circle k into the second largest convenience store operation and the largest publicly owned convenience store chain in the u.s. with 4 631 stores in 32 states and an additional 1 300 or so licensed or joint venture stores in 13 foreign countries . under eller s leadership the company grew from annual sales of 747 million to over 3 billion . in 1988 the company sent a letter to its over 8 000 employees announcing that it will cut off the medical coverage of those who become sick or injured as a result of aids alcohol drug abuse or self inflicted wounds . the company stated that there are certain lifestyle decisions that we are just not going to assure the results of . 9 fortunes declined in the late 1980s as the us economy began to slow down and circle k filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in may 1990 ; eller resigned as ceo . some underperforming locations were sold or closed . in 1993 the company was purchased by investcorp an international investment group and emerged from bankruptcy . in 1996 circle k was acquired by tosco corporation an independent petroleum refiner and marketer but kept its headquarters in phoenix . tosco was purchased in 2001 by phillips petroleum which in 2002 merged with conoco to form conocophillips . in 2003 circle k was purchased by alimentation couche tard a large convenience store operator based in the montreal area for us 804 million . in 2005 taiwan s ok convenience store chain terminated its franchise agreement with circle k. 10 in mid 2006 alimentation couche tard entered into a franchising agreement with conocophillips to brand some of its company owned stores as circle k in the western portion of the us . conocophillips remodeled the stores into the circle k scheme but continued to operate them . the stores continued to have the new conocophillips unified canopy design and proclean gasolines . these stores were spun off as phillips 66 in may 2012 . another oil company canada based irving oil leased out its convenience stores operating under the bluecanoe and mainway banners in the united states and atlantic canada to couche tard which rebranded the locations to circle k in july 2008 while still selling irving branded fuel . however the mainways in newfoundland and labrador did not change until summer 2010 . the parties had earlier formed a similar partnership in quebec with the stores there operated as couche tard . in april 2009 exxonmobil sold 43 phoenix arizona stores to parent company couche tard as part of a sale of the larger on the run franchise . these 43 stores were to be rebranded under the circle k name . 11 in july 2010 circle k had dropped down to fourth rank in number of stores 3 455 behind 7 eleven 6 523 stores bp 4 730 stores and shell 4 630 convenience stores in 2010 . 4 on february 10 2014 modelo group sold the tiendas extra brand of stores to the mexican franchise of circle k circulo k. on december 18 2014 couche tard announced its acquisition of the pantry for 860 million all cash tender . the acquisition is expected to close in march 2015 . following the closing all stores that were owned and operated by the pantry many of them under the kangaroo express name are expected to be rebranded under the circle k banner . 12 on august 12 2015 circle k opened its first five convenience stores in costa rica central america after having bought and rebranded the local convenience store chain delimart . citation needed on september 23 2015 alimentation couche tard unveiled a refreshed brand identity for circle k and announced that the statoil scandinavia and central and eastern europe and mac s canada brands will be converted to the circle k brand by the end of 2017 . 13 14 frosters and polar pops edit fountain drinks at circle k are sold in polar pop cups and most locations offer any size for under one dollar plus tax . refills cost the same . circle k is also the exclusive us home of the froster a brand of slush drink . sponsorship edit circle k was a part time primary sponsor of the 28 indycar series racecar driven by ryan hunter reay of andretti autosport between 2011 and 2013 . in 2014 it switched to kvsh racing driver s bastien bourdais . due to its sizable presence in greater cleveland from the former lawson dairy mart stores circle k sponsors the cleveland indians strikeout sign in center field at progressive field in cleveland where the k logo represents the k used for strikeouts in traditional baseball scorekeeping and is replicated with each strikeout . the same sponsorship is in place with the arizona diamondbacks at chase field ; if the diamondbacks strike out ten batters or more that game s attendees receive a voucher for a free cup of polar pop while indians fans receive the same voucher after select home games . see also edit circle k sunkus list of automotive fuel brands references edit bensin statoil d pes om til circle k in norwegian . e24 . 22 september 2015 . retrieved 22 november 2015 . accueil d panneurs couche tard . couche tard.com . retrieved 2012 02 29 . a b c financial accounting w. steve albrecht earl k. stice james d. stice 2007 723 pages p. 217 webpage bgoogle q62 . a b c top 100 convenience stores don longo cbs news 26 july 2010 webpage c53 . holland oil sold to canadian company . wkyc.com . 25 august 2006 . retrieved 2012 02 29 . about circle k . convenience retail asia . retrieved october 4 2015 . couche tard acquires spectrum stores a 90 store chain in the southeast region u.s. . pr newswire . april 11 2006 . circle k acquires 26 stores in three states business focus convenience store news . csnews.com . retrieved 2012 02 29 . noble kenneth b. august 6 1988 . company halting health plan on some life style illnesses . the new york times . amy chang chien hsueh ; josephine hsu 2010 06 30 . taiwan convenience stores 2010 pdf . usda foreign agricultural service global agricultural information network . retrieved 2014 05 17 . couche tard acquires exxonmobil franchised on the run stores . convenience store news . archived from the original on 30 april 2009 . cary s the pantry stores sells for 861m to circle k parent . bizjournals.com . december 18 2014 . retrieved 18 december 2014 . mac s stores to be renamed circle k says owner