Minit Mart

Fred’s Minit Mart LLC
Minit Mart Foods Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Retail (Convenience stores)
Founded	1967
Founder	Ralph and Fred Higgins
Headquarters	Lexington, Kentucky (origin) Bowling Green, Kentucky (cnrrent headquarters) , United States
Number of locations	34 (as of 2005)
Key people	Fred Higgins CEO
Products	Godfather’s Pizza O’Deli’s sub shops
Services	Fuel Fast food Convenience store
Revenue	Unknown
Number of employees	Unknown
Website	Minit Mart homepage

Fred’s Minit Mart LLC, otherwise known as Minit Mart Foods Inc. is a chain of convenience stores operating in south central and western Kentucky and northern middle Tennessee. Its corporate offices are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the chain consists of 34 locations scattered around the region.

History

In 1967, Fred Higgins, and his father, Ralph, founded a convenience store, known by the name of Minit Mart. By the time Fred graduated from the law school at the University of Kentucky in the spring of 1969, he expanded the operation to a chain of six locations in the metro Lexington area. {{cite web

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Fred Higgins served in the U.S. Army in the time between 1969 and 1972. When he returned in 1972, Minit Mart Foods became incorporated with 16 locations. After that time, Fred began acquiring single convenience stores and select sites on which to build new locations across Kentucky.

During the 1970s, Minit Mart became one of the first convenience store chains to add gas pumps to their locations. an innovation that has changed the way Americans buy gasoline for their transportation vehicles. Marathon brand gasoline has been part of Minit Mart’s offered services since then. Minit Mart has been at the forefront of adding delis and game machines during the same decade. Minit Mart started offering videotaped movie rentals when the VHS format gained popularity in the very late 1970s and early 1980s after it beat out the Betamax videocasette format. DVD movie rentals began to be utilized by Minit Mart around the dawn of the then-new millenium around the year 2000.

Ralph Higgins, the co-founder, played an active role in the management of Minit Mart Foods Inc until his 1987 death.

Minit Mart began to expand in Tennessee in 1988 after acquiring 19 Bread Box convenience stores. After that point, Minit Mart comprised of 87 stores in Kentucky and Tennessee. Many locations included Godfather’s Pizza, O’Deli’s, Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream, and Taco Bell Express, thereby grossing $250 million each year, and employing exactly 1,200 people.

In 1998, Fred lost his 25-year-long-time wife to a battle of cancer she was fighting since the diagnosis in 1978. After the loss of his wife, he and the management team thought that it was time that the convenience store chain is in for a change. In 2001, Minit Mart Foods leased its operations to Clark Retail, retaining ownership of the assets. In addition to Clark’s original 600 stores, that company also acquired several other chains in the Midwestern United States, mainly in Indiana and Illinois, growing to approximately 1,200 stores. Competition, however, was intense during that time, and Clark eventually ended up in bankruptcy. After filing for bankruptcy, Clark returned 37 stores to Minit Mart Foods Inc.

Fred’s Minit Mart LLC had taken over the operation in August 2003. A management team was formed, and 34 locations remained in operation.

Current slate and recent history

In the present day, Minit Mart operates 34 locations. Most of them are in Kentucky, but there are two locations operating in Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee, one in the Cookeville, Tennessee area, and one more somewhere in northwest Tennessee. All locations are combinations of convenience and grocery shopping, and for many years, feature Marathon Gasoline. ^[2] Godfather’s Pizza and O’Deli’s sub shops continued to be offered in most locations. ^[3] In addition to those two, most Minit Mart locations also offer World Blends fresh coffee (formerly CuppaJoe), and Minit Mix.

In 2008, Minit Mart introduced Minit Mix, a fountain drink that allows customers to create a soft drink mixed with certain flavors, including vanilla, cherry, and several others. It’s a similar service to Coca-Cola’s Freestyle machines that were introduced in certain fast food chains several years later. ^{[4] [5]}

Beginning in 2012, all Minit Mart locations added ATM kiosks without service charges.

During the early 2010s, Minit Mart renovated their location in Glasgow.

Also in the early 2010s, a new building was built to house the Minit Mart location in Brownsville just a couple hundred feet from the original location. The old building was destroyed a few weeks after the completion and official opening of the new present building due to old age. The destruction of the old building made way for a larger parking lot, a few more entrances, and more fuel pumps.

Competition in the region

Minit Mart’s main competitors include Jr. Food Stores and Crossroads IGA locations. Both of those chains are owned by Houchens Industries, which also owns their flagship supermarket chain, Houchens Markets, and several IGA Foodliner stores in south central Kentucky. Minit Mart’s other competitors include several locally-owned convenience stores around southern Kentucky, some of which offer pizza and/or fried chicken, as well as some Speedway locations. Phillips 66-branded stores under the name “Traveler’s Food Plaza” in areas around Glasgow, Edmonton, and Tompkinsville, Kentucky also competed with Minit Mart for quite some time. Gas stations offering rival branded gasoline also often competed with Minit Mart for consumer allegiances.

Key Dates

• 1967: Fred and Ralph Higgins, a father-and-son duo founded a convenience store in Lexington, Kentucky under the name of “Minit Mart”.
• 1969: Minit Mart expands to six locations around the Lexington area.
• 1970s: Minit Mart began offering Marathon gasoline.
• Late 1970s: Delis and game machines were added.
• Sometime between 1978 and 1983: Videotape rentals were first offered.
• Mid 1980s?: Godfather’s Pizza became part of Minit Mart’s offered services.
• 1988: Minit Mart expands to Tennessee after acquiring Bread Box stores in certain parts of that state.
• 1999-2000: DVD rentals were offered in tandem with VHS movie rentals.
• 2001: Clark Retail leased Minit Mart’s operations.
• Unknown date: Minit Mart launches their website.
• 2003: Clark Retail went bankrupt, and 37 Minit Mart stores were returned to Fred’s Minit Mart LLC.
• 2008: Minit Mart introduces Minit Mix.

Other Facts

In some cases of many Minit Mart locations around Bowling Green and several locations in towns that surround that city, most notably in the Edmonson County seat, Brownsville, its busiest hours are mainly during or just before the afternoon rush hours, especially after school is dismissed. Many students, teachers, and the students’ parents usually keep Minit Mart in business. This is due to those particular locations having very close proximity to local high schools in those specified hours. That locations also competes with the nearby Dairy Queen in terms of fast food service.

Community Support

In 2014, Minit Mart raised almost $43,000 USD from employees and their customers to the MDA, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, during their annual shamrock fundraising campaign they conduct each year. Paper shamrocks were handed to all employees and customers that give a donation, and write their name on them, and display them on the window of the stores. This takes place around St. Patrick's Day, and this fundraiser helps MDA assist people with the disease. ^[6]

See Also

• Godfather’s Pizza

References

External Links

• Minit Mart’s Official Website
• Godfather’s Pizza
• Minit Mart on Social Media
• Promotions and Coupons
• http://www.minitmart.com/locations/minit-mart-locations/ Minit Mart Locations list]