A.T. Williams Oil Co.
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A.T. Williams Oil Co. was a
gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...
chain based in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
. It was started by Arthur Tab Williams Jr. in 1963. In the 21st century it operated in a joint venture as WilcoHess.


History

Arthur Tab Williams Jr. worked for his father-in-law, Roby Taylor, at Taylor Oil Company for six years before starting A.T. Williams Oil in 1963 with two other employees and six full-service gas stations that he bought from Taylor Oil. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Williams added
self service Self-service is the practice of serving oneself, usually when making purchases. Aside from Automated Teller Machines, which are not limited to banks, and customer-operated supermarket check-out, labor-saving of which has been described as self- ...
, eventually switching entirely to self-service because that was 95 percent of sales.
Convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...
s were added in the 1980s, and by 1982 Williams had 67 locations.
Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
bays were first added in 1988 in
Suffolk, Virginia Suffolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and as such has no county. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,324. It is the 9th most populous city in Virginia and the largest city in Virginia by boundary land area as ...
, and in 1990 a travel plaza with facilities for
truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...
s was added at
Raphine, Virginia Raphine is an unincorporated community in Rockbridge County in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S. state of Virginia. History The name "Raphine" was chosen in honor of James Edward Allen Gibbs (1829-1902), a local farmer who patented a novel single ...
. In 1999, Williams had 130 Wilco stations in
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
,
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. The company bought eight
Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
stations in the Winston-Salem area. In 2001, a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
began between A.T. Williams and
Amerada Hess Hess Corporation (formerly Amerada Hess Corporation) is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petrol ...
, and the company was rebranded as WilcoHess. At the time, Williams had 120 gas stations and 21 travel centers, and had expanded to
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. Hess had supplied Williams for 35 years. Steve Williams would be president of WilcoHess. On October 23, 2003, WilcoHess announced it acquired 50 Servco stations in North Carolina from Service Distributing Co. Inc. of
Albemarle, North Carolina Albemarle () is a small city and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,903 in the 2010 Census. Gerald R. "Ronnie" Michael (a former police chief in the city) serves as Mayor and Albemarle has a se ...
, which was getting out of the business. WilcoHess had 155 stores and 38 restaurants and plans for a travel center in
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. In 2005, WilcoHess joint venture acquired Trade Mart and the business was renamed Trade-Wilco, with gas pumps being replaced with Hess. In 2013, though it was leaving the business, Hess bought the remaining 56 percent interest in WilcoHess LLC, which had 353 convenience stores and 37 travel plazas in
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
and
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. In September 2014, Hess, along with what had once been the WilcoHess/A.T. Williams chain, was acquired by
Speedway LLC Speedway is an American convenience store and gas station chain headquartered in Enon, Ohio, with locations primarily in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and the East Coast of the United States, East Coast regions of the United States ...
in a $2.82 billion deal. Over 1200 WilcoHess stores began converting to Speedway in October 2014. The last changes began in the
Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
on September 28, 2015. Following the takeover by Speedway, six former WilcoHess locations in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
were rebranded as Pilot locations and jointly operated between
Pilot Flying J Pilot Travel Centers LLC, doing business as Pilot Flying J, is a North American chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Pilot Corporation, the majority owner, is based. The company ...
and Speedway. On June 23, 2016, Pilot Flying J and Speedway announced a new joint venture between the two companies that would see 41 Speedway locations—all former Wilco Hess locations—and 79 Pilot Flying J locations primarily in the
Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...
form PFJ Southeast LLC. The locations wpuld be operated by Pilot Flying J and the Speedway locations will be rebranded as either Pilot or Flying J. In October 2016, founder Arthur Tab Williams Jr. died at the age 88.


See also

* ''
Lemmerman v. A.T. Williams Oil Co. ''Lemmerman v. A.T. Williams Oil Co.'', 318 N.C. 577, 350 S.E.2d 83 (1986), was a case before the Supreme Court of North Carolina, which hinged on the question of whether the plaintiff met the definition as an "employee" of the A.T. Williams Oil ...
''


References


External links

* {{Convenience stores Companies based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Convenience stores of the United States Gas stations in the United States Retail companies established in 1963 Retail companies disestablished in 2015 2013 mergers and acquisitions 1963 establishments in North Carolina 2015 disestablishments in North Carolina