Familiar Green and White Gas Stations Rebranded
By Dan Russo
Speedway LLC Inc. is rapidly replacing Hess gas stations along the East coast, dwindling the presence of the Jersey-grown energy company in its home state.
Marathon Petroleum Corp. – the parent company of Speedway – launched the rebranding mission when it bought Hess Corporation’s 1,245 gas stations and convenience store locations for $2.82 billion in September 2014.
“It was like an overnight change,” Don Randazzo, who works for Garden State Securities, said of the former Hess and now Speedway gas station on Route 35 in Middletown. “Like one day I just woke up and it was Speedway.”
The sale concluded Hess Corporation’s plan to step away from the retail sector to focus on the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, said Chief Executive Officer John Hess in a May 2014 press release.
“I especially want to express my deepest appreciation to our employees in the retail business for their outstanding work and extraordinary dedication over the years building the Hess brand and serving our loyal customers,” Hess added.
Marathon Petroleum public relations officer Stephanie Griffith wrote in an email “almost all Hess retail operation employees (including those located in the stores, field and corporate offices) became Speedway employees.”
Hess Corporation’s switch to focus on exploration and production extends past the sale of their retail locations and hit close to home in New Jersey, where the company has its roots.
The iconic Hess office building on Route 9 in Woodbridge, New Jersey, is up for sale.
“Over the past several years, Hess Corporation has exited the businesses that were based in Woodbridge and therefore will have a reduced presence in the Township,” said Hess spokesperson Lorrie Hecker. “A marketing process is under way for the company’s properties in the area, including our office building on Route 9.”
Some customers and residents are particularly upset Hess is pulling its brand and some of its business out of the Garden State. “I definitely think some people hesitate to go there now since it’s changed their name,” Randazzo said. He also said the name change does not stop him from buying gas from the new
Speedway station.
Hess Corporation has a long history in New Jersey. In 1933 a 19-year-old Leon Hess started the business by delivering oil locally in Asbury Park, and in 1960 “the first Hess-operated gas station” opened in New Jersey, according to Hess.com.
Monmouth University even honored Leon Hess by naming its business school after him.
“Hess is a kind of an iconic New Jersey, homegrown company, and I think people may just not want to see change with something like that,” said Beth Heinsohn, senior editor at Oil Price Information Service.
The Hess family’s ties to the community and years of philanthropy left big shoes for Speedway to fill in New Jersey.
“People trust in Hess,” Randazzo said. “I don’t know if they necessarily do that as much anymore. I think it’s going to take some time.”
But Hess’s legacy has not stopped Speedway from tackling the conversion project head-on. Oil Price Information Service reported in May that Marathon Petroleum already converted nearly 400 out the 1,245 Hess gas stations to Speedway and was “well on its way toward its goal of completing 750 East Coast transitions in 2015.”
Speedway’s expansion will give more than 2,700 retail locations in 23 states in the Southeast and along the East coast, according to a Marathon.
“We’re getting a lot of good interest in customers signing up for our loyalty program, which is probably the best benchmark we have right now in terms of how we’re attracting new customers,” Speedway President Tony Kenney said in an Oil Price Information Service article.
Heinsohn said Marathon Petroleum Corp. will release its second quarter earnings and latest outlook Thursday and they’re likely to address retail operations at that time.
