So long, SuperAmerica: Familiar Minnesota gas station chain to be rebranded

SuperAmerica gas station
A SuperAmerica gas station and convenience store is seen at the corner of Seventh and Wall streets in downtown St. Paul. The station is located on the site of the first SuperAmerica location, founded in 1960.
Andrew Krueger | MPR News

A brand familiar to generations of Minnesotans has reached the end of the road, as Marathon Petroleum Corp. has started converting SuperAmerica stores to its Speedway brand.

The SuperAmerica chain was founded in downtown St. Paul nearly 60 years ago, with its first location opening in 1960 at Seventh and Wall streets — still the site of a SuperAmerica station. The company that owned the chain most recently, Texas-based Andeavor, was acquired by Marathon earlier this year.

Marathon CEO Gary Heminger told Fox Business in May that his company would standardize its retail outlets under the Ohio-based Marathon's Speedway banner.

"We're now going to take the Speedway platform coast-to-coast," he said. "Andeavor had many, many brands that they were using in the company-owned, company-operated system. We're going to turn those into Speedway and have one system across the U.S."

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

Now that the deal is final — it closed Oct. 1 — the transition has started. The Duluth News Tribune reported that the rebranding is underway at former SuperAmerica locations in Duluth.

There are about 170 company-owned SuperAmerica stores and 114 franchised stores, most in Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to SuperAmerica's website. They have more than 2,000 employees.

Speedway has more than 2,700 locations across 22 states, according to its website.

SuperAmerica went through several ownership changes over the past few decades — including a previous stint as part of the Marathon-Speedway corporate family from 1998 to 2010, according to a history on the SuperAmerica website.

The phase-out of the SuperAmerica name will include the end of the SA rewards program, and customers are being asked to go online to transfer to the Speedway program. Marathon is asking SuperAmerica gift card holders to call (800) 428-4016 for a refund; the cards will not be accepted at Speedway locations.

Marathon also acquired Andeavor's St. Paul Park, Minn., oil refinery as part of the deal.