A Salt Lake City-based corporation with Wyoming roots has bought the Kum & Go brand in Wyoming and 12 other states and will rebrand many of them over the next year.
Maverik — Adventure’s First Stop President and Chief Adventure Guide Chuck Maggelet said the acquisition of the Kum & Go brand positions the company to create a best-in-class convenience store network across the Midwest and Rocky Mountain region.
Kum & Go has 14 stores in Wyoming, according to Kum & Go Director of Communications Taylor Boland, and 400 locations across the 13 states where it’s located.
Maverik already has stores in Wyoming, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Washington.
Adding the 400 Kum & Go stores will double the number of stores Maverik owns, as well as extend its reach into eight new states.
The new states include Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Arkansas Iowa, and Oklahoma.
Maverik Has Wyoming Roots
While Maverik’s headquarters today is in Utah, the company began in Afton, Wyoming, when a local 20-year-old man decided to open a business in his hometown.
Reuel Call opened his two-pump gas station in 1928 from money he’d earned renting roller skates.
The business quickly grew, and Ruell was soon supplying fuel to surrounding towns and ranches.
Today, Maverik is the largest independent fuel marketer in the Intermountain West, employing 8,000 people.
Among its signature products are BonFire food, made fresh in every Maverik store everyday, alongside coffee blends sourced from around the world.
Despite its size, it is still a family-owned, financed, and operated store.
The parent company, FJ Management Inc., is led by Call’s great niece, Crystal Maggelet.
Kum & Go Also A Historic Brand
Kum & Go stores began in Iowa in 1959, and is headquartered in Des Moines. The brand was owned by the Krause Group, and today employs more than 5,000 people.
Cowboy State Daily has asked whether those employees will all be retained as part of the transition but hadn’t received an answer by the time this story was posted.
Kyle Krause, CEO of Krause Group, called it a historic occasion.
“Together over four generations — from my grandfather Tony and my dad Bill, to me and my son Tanner — we built these businesses over 64 years through shared vision, collective entrepreneurship and teamwork,” he said.
Krause thanked Kum & Go’s associates and credited them for the company’s success.
“We’ve run the businesses and differentiated ourselves by putting people first and making days better in all that we do,” he said. “Over the last six years, Tanner’s leadership was at the core of these efforts, resulting in a tremendous impact on Kum & Go. I’m confident Kum & Go and Solar Transport are set up for future success with Maverik.”
Krause added that his son Tanner will transition out of the company that he has led for six years as President and CEO.
“As we start the next chapter at Krause Group, we will nurture our family of brands and create more opportunities cities to do good in the world,” he said.
