GoMart, Inc. is a

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

chain based in

Gassaway, West Virginia Gassaway is a town in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 769 at the 2020 census. Gassaway was incorporated in 1905 and named for Henry Gassaway Davis, the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the Un ...

. The company currently operates over 100 stores in most of the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and border areas of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Most Go-Mart stations are unbranded. Go-Mart is the 53rd-largest convenience store chain in the United States.

History

1914–1970s: Precursor

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 The Little Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, 169 mi (269 km) long,Gilchrist-Stalnaker, Joy Gregoire. 2006. "Little Kanawha River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Vir ...

. By the early 1920s the Heater brothers were operating bulk plants along railroad lines, and following the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

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.

1970s: Founding

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 Convenience food (also called tertiary processed food) is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) for ease of consumption, and is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have ...

and gas store and Manager Karen Sattler named it "Go-Mart" after an employee contest. By 1977, Go-Mart had 16 stores.

1980s–present: Expansion

Originally it used

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...

branding, as Chevron did not do business in the area, although it sourced its gasoline privately. When Chevron moved into the area as a part of the collapse of

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters (oil companies), Seven Sisters oil companies. ...

(Chevron ultimately withdrew from West Virginia in 2010), it switched to unbranded products, and later converted some stations to

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

. The company now employs approximately 1,200 people and is the state's 41st largest private employer.http://www.csnews.com/csn/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003188288

References

External links

*
Go-Mart company profile at Yahoo! Biz
{{Convenience stores Braxton County, West Virginia Companies based in West Virginia Economy of the Eastern United States Convenience stores of the United States Gas stations in the United States