Go-Mart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Go-Mart is a convenience store chain based out of Gassaway, West Virginia. The company currently operates 100 stores in the states of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. Go-Mart uses Shell gasoline.
Go-Mart's main rivals include Speedway SuperAmerica, Sheetz, Exxon, Chevron, BP, Citgo, and 7-Eleven.
[edit] History
Go-Mart traces its history to 1914 when brothers Fred, Charles and Rod Heater, operating as the Heater Oil Co., began selling axle grease, kerosene and other petroleum products to farms and businesses in central West Virginia, using flat-bottomed boats on the Little Kanawha River.
By the early 1920s the Heater brothers were operating bulk plants along railroad lines, and following the Great Depression and the death of Charles Heater, Fred Heater decided to centralize the business in Gassaway, where it is headquartered today. In the early 1960s, Fred Heater's health was failing and he sold the business to his sons, John, William and James.
When self-service gasoline pumps were legalized in West Virginia in 1970, the Heaters built the state's first self-service gas station, in Shinnston, and called it "Go-Tron." Six months later they rebuilt their Gassaway store into their first convenience food and gas store and Manager Karen Sattler named it "Go-Mart,"
By 1977, Go-Mart had 16 stores. The company now employes approximately 1,200 people and is the state's 41st largest private employer.[1]
