Circle K - The Rise and Fall...And Rise Again

This video talks about the decline and comeback of the world's 2nd largest convenience store.

Thank you for an incredible 6 years, everyone!

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Company Declines:
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[avlisk]

As an employee of Utotum in the 1970's, I was pleased that you mentioned that company. It's where I was held up at gunpoint one night. Ah, memories!

[PrecludeLP]

Company Man once again teaches us that we need to expand slowly, and maintain control of our businesses. OR ELSE.

[guspolly]

Now a story of weird connections: In the 90s, Circle K bought a chain called Dairy Mart, which had earlier bought a Cleveland-based chain called Lawson’s, who in the 1970s licensed their name and concept to a Japanese company. Decades later, Lawson is among the largest convenience store chains in Japan, while the brand hasn’t been seen on US stores since 1985. However, to keep the trademark alive, Circle K stores in Ohio still sell one Lawson’s-branded item, a french onion chip dip.

[jvbolduc]

Company Guy, I’m a fan of you and your great videos! I’m also a guy from Québec, where Couche-Tard comes from, I read Alain Bouchard‘s biography about how he and his team created the Couche-Tard network from the 80s to today. The guy is the son of a gentleman that went through bankruptcy, and now his net worth is around USD 6.5G. They reinvented the typical “dépanneur” 😄 They became a leader first in Québec, then Canada, then elsewhere. That is a superb story in itself, which they brought to a whole new level when they bought Circle K. Couche-Tard could deserve a video of itself, believe me!

[Keruza]

I'm living in Sweden and had never heard of Circle K until they bought the Norwegian company Statoil and rebranded their gas stations with the Circle K branding. It's fun seeing the old Statoil logo with the Miles branding alongside the Circle K branding (as the image at 11:02 shows).

[bibianaguadalupeislasherre]

In Mexico, all the "Extra" convenience stores were turned into Circle K and we had Circle K stores in border cities of Baja California such as Mexicali, Tijuana and even in San Luis Río Colorado in Sonora but they change the name in late 2015 to VIP Market where they sell both Mexican and American products.

[Sonicfan]

After seeing how Circle K expanded so quickly, I really would love to see you cover the 80's LBO craze. There's an insane amount to talk about there, and given just how frequently over-leveraging comes up in a "Rise and Fall" video, I think it would be an awesome topic.

[raceris]

Personally, I've never heard of Circle K up until 2016 or so, when they appeared all of a sudden. I later found out that all the remaining Statoil petrol stations (Norwegian oil company) were rebranded as Circle K, and was even more surprised to find out that the company was American. Usually our market is avoided by American companies, so it was a great treat of sorts. I do miss seeing the iconic Statoil logo, but at the very least, the service and locations haven't changed.

[HeisenbergFam]

11:10 Circle K rebuilding itself to 3x size before the fall is lowkey a bit inspirational, you may fall, but you can come back stronger

[TuxKamen]

Growing up, my small town had two or three Circle K stores. Nowadays, two of them are different convenience stores (just independently owned) and one, after being a video store for a while, is now a Sheriff's office. One of them used to be in walking distance, so I'd walk down frequently and rent Dragon Warrior 3. I was the only person to rent that game, because mine was the only save on the cartridge and it was always where I left off last rental

[TheManny]

In advance, happy anniversary on Friday, Company

[DMacB]

I think the fact that I read Alimentation Couche-Tard in French in my head before I heard you read it made it even funnier

I say that with as much love as I can, you do great work around here!

[newyorksoda]

Being a fan of the Company Man is like being a fan of Circle K before they added the K to their name

[peteelite]

I worked at a circle k for about a year on the graveyard shift. The store manager actually took her job really seriously and made sure everyone was taking care of everything from keeping things stocked and faced but also all the cleaning you wouldn't see all that often in other gas station jobs. It was also a crazy high volume store for the area, but we always rocked it out. I don't know if that reflects the company as a whole but if she was anything to go by they absolutely deserve to be at the top.

[lITopherGIl]

Now this is the one I’ve been waiting for. Amazing content!

[markwarner]

I was waiting for Bill & Ted to show up. Was not disappointed. I have been to *that* Circle K. It's a good store, pretty comparable to any other major convenience store chain.

[abbiedoobie]

The second rise of Circle K in the 2000s honestly sounds like it could result in another all-too-similar fall with all those acquisitions.

[therebelsheep]

These videos hit the spot any time I just have no idea what I want to watch

[jackphillips]

Circle K is large presence in my local area (where 2 interstates meet). They finally upgraded their stores in the last 5 years. Much nicer, but they are not very clean and management seems lacking. This might just be a labor problem as we also have similar issues with Speedway and Pilot/Flying J (4 stores within 3 miles!). I also notice some of the Circle K stores were apparently franchised and they divested themselves of these and are now independent. Wish we had a WaWa.

[genericreference]

Was waiting right from the beginning of this video for the line from Bill and Ted. Well played!