Petroleum Wholesale

These offerings are branded with major oil companies like Chevron, Texaco, Shell, ConocoPhillips and Gulf, with food franchises such as Subway and Steak ‘n Shake and with national specialty retailers such as Carquest, True Value Hardware and Ace Hardware. 

“Back in the downturn of the economy, we just sat down and thought about some of the concepts that fared better in the recession,” Cook says. “We found that hardware and auto parts fare very well in a recession. So, we wanted to develop other concepts to go along with that. We wanted to expand the concepts that we could present.”

Petroleum Wholesale’s first Main Street Market is located on Interstate 20, halfway between Midland and Odessa, Texas. It boasts 40,000 square feet of retail amenities, a 20,000-square-foot truck repair facility and 175-space RV park. The facility contains a discount grocery store, Steak ‘n Shake, Subway, a full-service convenience store, Carquest auto/truck parts store and Ace Hardware. All are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

Many of its travel center locations, including the Midland/Odessa complex, have a fenced pet area for dogs to stretch their legs during long car rides.

Cook believes the Main Street Market complex will be very successful since the former facility was still profitable despite its advanced age and clear need for a redesign. 

Ever-Expanding

Petroleum Wholesale has 20 properties slated for development with the Main Street Market concept within the next few years, along with two new locations scheduled to open by the end of 2015. 

The company is also hard at work expanding its fast-food retail network. It now owns the Steak ‘n Shake development rights to the entire state of Utah and for the Houston metropolitan area. Petroleum Wholesale opened its first Steak ’n Shake outlet in Salt Lake City in July 2015 and plans to open three more locations this year.

One of the reasons Petroleum Wholesale has been so successful is that it takes pride in the design of every location it opens. “We think we will have some of the nicest retail units in the industry,” Cook says. “With the combination of merchandising, layout, graphics inside and overall design, the outward appearance brings customers in.”