 | |
 Holiday inEagle River, Wisconsin | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1928 (97 years ago) (1928) inCenturia, Wisconsin,U.S. |
| Founders | Arthur and Alfred Erickson |
| Headquarters | 6000 Clearwater Drive, Suite 300 ,Minnetonka, Minnesota United States |
Number of locations | 505 (2017)[1] |
Area served | Upper Midwest, West Coast, Alaska (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Alaska) |
Key people | Arthur Erickson, Alfred Erickson, Alain Bouchard, Brian Hannasch |
| Products |
|
| Services | |
| Revenue |  US$1 billion (FY 2017) |
Number of employees | 6,000 (2020) |
| Parent | Alimentation Couche-Tard |
| Website | www |
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Holiday Stationstores is an American chain of gasoline and convenience stores based inBloomington, Minnesota. The chain operated roughly 500 locations in 10 states, mostly in its home state ofMinnesota, as well as theNorthern Tier (includingIdaho,Michigan,Montana,North Dakota,South Dakota,Washington,Wisconsin andWyoming) andAlaska.
In 2017, Holiday Stationstores was acquired byQuebecois convenience store operatorAlimentation Couche-Tard for an undisclosed amount. In 2022, the company began to phase out Holiday in favor of its nationalCircle K brand. Holiday had ranked 133rd onForbes' list of America's largest private companies before the acquisition.[2]
In 1928, Arthur and Alfred Erickson, using borrowed money, opened a small general store inCenturia, Wisconsin. Like most small business owners, they wanted to provide "the best goods and finest possible customer service". They were soon able to open additional locations throughout bothWisconsin andMinnesota. With the additional revenue, the brothers got into the petroleum business. In 1939, under the "Holiday" name, they added fueling stations to their general stores. The stores were labeled by their family "Erickson" name, while the fueling side of their business was labeled as "Holiday". Soon, the company began to expand its operations to other states and offering a wide-variety of products.[citation needed]
In May 2013, Holiday Stationstores acquiredSuperAmerica's stores in Rochester, Minnesota.[3]
In the 1960s, Holiday Companies expanded their business operations by constructing and operating full service discount stores and supermarkets. By the 1980s, with advanced competition fromWalmart andTarget, Holiday removed general merchandise from their stores and put in full sporting and outdoor goods departments (along with the supermarket). The name of these stores would beHoliday Plus. In the early 1990s, wanting to expand their grocery offerings, Holiday Companies separated their grocery and sporting good stores into two separate brands. The sporting good stores being branded asHoliday Sports, and the supermarkets asHoliday Foods. The Holiday Plus name went away. While Holiday Plus and Holiday Foods were in operation, Holiday's convenience stores were rebranded asHoliday Express. These express stores offered their petroleum and diesel products outside, and general merchandise along with basic groceries inside.[citation needed]
In 1996, after long bankruptcy negotiations with theFederal Bankruptcy Court,Gander Mountain, a large supplier of sporting and outdoor goods, filed a joint plan of reorganization underChapter 11 Bankruptcy with Holiday Companies. Gander Mountain sold 12 of its 17 stores to Holiday and the existing Holiday Sports stores were rebranded to Gander Mountain. Soon after, Holiday Foods was sold off. After regaining financial and corporate stability, Gander Mountain went private with Holiday Companies being one of its two owners.[citation needed]
In July 2017, Holiday and its roughly 507 stores[1] were acquired byQuebec-based convenience store operatorAlimentation Couche-Tard for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition would expand the company's holdings into six new states.[4] After the acquisition, Couche-Tard would begin integrating some of Holiday's business practices and food service models into the nationalCircle K chain, including its "grab-and-go" meals, subscription programs forcar washes, and some Circle K stores experimenting with adopting Holiday's store layout.[5][6]
In 2022, Couche-Tard began to phase out the Holiday brand in favor of Circle K, with conversions beginning inSioux Falls, South Dakota, and continuing on a market-by-market basis. Other locations had already begun to stock Couche-Tardprivate label products and use Circle K employee uniforms. Couche-Tard stated that the rebranded stores would maintain existing partnerships (such as its fuel rewards program withCub) established under Holiday.[7][8]