Jan. 20, 2020

The Gas Stop Holiday fuel stations and convenience stores owned by Tom and Melissa Howes have become part of Alimentation Couche-Tard.

The Canada-based multinational company has 15,000 stores worldwide. Its stores operate under various brand names, including Couche-Tard, Circle K and On the Run. In mid-2017, it acquired Holiday Stationstores Inc., the nation’s 18th largest convenience chain with more than 500 stores.

The Howeses, who owned I-90 Fuel Services Inc. and did business as The Gas Stop, were Holiday franchisees and had been in the industry for more than 40 years.

The transaction included all 17 Gas Stop Holiday locations owned by the Howeses in South Dakota and Minnesota. Those sites will operate as corporate stores, and all employees were offered the opportunity to keep their jobs.

The move will strengthen the company’s foothold in the region, Alimentation Couche-Tard said in a statement.

“Since acquiring Holiday (Stationstores Inc.) in 2017, ACT has been very pleased with the sharing of best practices and key learnings that we continue to see as we pursue Holiday’s integration in our broader network,” it said.

The Holiday brand will continue to be used in the Sioux Falls market.

I-90 Fuel Services is a separate company from Howes Oil Co., which was founded in 1938 by Ivan Howes. His son, Mike, opened the first Gas Stop on East 26th Street in 1977.

I-90 Fuel Services grew into a separately owned business that operated all of The Gas Stop Holiday stores, owned by Mike’s son, Tom Howes.

Tom’s brother, Andy Howes, owns Howes Oil, which is a petroleum distributor that also owns the Local Zip convenience store brand, which includes 36 independently owned stores in five states.

“Howes Oil Co. isn’t going anywhere,” Andy Howes said. “In addition to growing our own business, we’ll continue delivering fuel to all the Holiday locations we’ve been hauling to since each store was built.”