Terrible Herbst, or Terrible Herbst Oil Company, is an American privately held

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 are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

company based in

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The company operates

s in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

History

The company's roots go back to a single

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, gas station in 1938. The owner of Martin Oil, Edward R. Herbst, was credited with becoming "the

P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He w ...

of gasoline" by engaging in unusual marketing strategies, undercutting the competition with low prices, and pioneering the

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 ...

model. According to his son, Jerry, each time the elder Herbst would open a new gas station, competitors would bemoan the move: "Here comes that terrible Herbst", inspiring the chain's nickname. Alternatively, the name is traced to a specific incident that occurred in the late 1940s as Herbst was moving to the western United States; when applying for a business license in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

, one of the city councilmembers (who owned a competing gas station) was overheard saying "If we let that terrible Herbst in, we'll all go under!" Ed (1910–66) and his wife Lorraine (1909–73) had two children: Dolly (1932–2001), a model who married actor

Wild Bill Elliott Wild Bill Elliott (born Gordon Nance, October 16, 1904 – November 26, 1965) was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B Westerns, particularly the Red Ryder series of films. Early life Elliott was born G ...

, and Jerry (1938–2018), a businessman. The site of the Herbst family's original Las Vegas-area home is now part of the

MGM Grand Las Vegas The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The resort was developed by Kirk Kerkorian through his company, MGM Grand ...

resort property. Jerry graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1959 and returned to Las Vegas to help with the family business, rebranding it as the Terrible Herbst Oil Co. that year. Both Dolly and Jerry had executive positions in Terrible's. Jerry is credited with the design for the company's mascot, known alternatively as "Mr. Terrible" or "Bad Guy", a cowboy wearing a black hat and a

handlebar moustache A handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy and upwardly curved extremities. These moustache styles are named for their resemblance to the handlebars of a bicycle. It is also known as a spaghetti moustache, because of its ste ...

. Jerry himself was credited as being "the best bad guy of the West". The Terrible Herbst company is run by Jerry's sons, Tim, Troy, and Ed Herbst. The company's headquarters is located at 5195 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119. Its stations are typically of the Chevron brand. In 2018, the company opened Terrible's Road House in Jean, billed as the largest Chevron in the world, with 96 gas pumps, 60 restroom stalls, and a convenience store.

Affiliates

Herbst Gaming

Herbst Gaming was a slot route operator and casino company owned by Jerry Herbst's three sons. It was formed in 1987 to service slot machines in the Terrible Herbst stores. In 1997, it began opening and acquiring full-fledged

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, many of which were branded as Terrible's casinos. It operated two casinos in Pahrump before opening a third casino (on the site of the old

Continental Hotel and Casino Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

) in Las Vegas in 2000. However, a ban on smoking and weak gasoline prices hurt the company's profits. The company went into

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

in 2009, and the Herbst family gave up its ownership stake. Herbst Gaming subsequently changed its name to Affinity Gaming and dropped its use of the Terrible's name. Terrible Herbst - Neon Museum - Stierch - Dec 2019

Terrible Herbst - Neon Museum - Stierch - Dec 2019

JETT Gaming

JETT Gaming is a slot route operator and casino company formed by Jerry Herbst in 2011, after the family lost its ownership of Herbst Gaming. In 2012, JETT bought out the slot route contracts for Terrible Herbst stores from the former Herbst Gaming, and also acquired the Terrible's casino in

Searchlight, Nevada Searchlight is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, at the topographic saddle between two mountain ranges. At the 2020 census it had a population of 445. History According to U.S. S ...

. In 2015, JETT bought the

Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall Terrible's Hotel & Casino, formerly the Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall, was a casino hotel in Jean, Nevada, approximately north of the California state line, and about south of Downtown Las Vegas. It opened in 1987, and closed in 2020. I ...

Jean, Nevada Jean is a small commercial town in Clark County, Nevada, Clark County, Nevada, United States, located approximately south of the Las Vegas hotel-casino corridor along Interstate 15, and north of the Nevada-California border. There is no land z ...

from

MGM Resorts International MGM Resorts International is an American Multinational corporation, multinational hospitality, sports and entertainment company. It operates resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, Macau, Shanghai, ...

for $12 million; the property was later rebranded as Terrible's Hotel & Casino. The company also acquired a second casino in Searchlight, the Searchlight Nugget, in 2015. Terrible's Hotel & Casino in Jean announced its indefinite closure in November 2021.

Terrible Herbst Motorsports

*2004 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge * 2006 Las Vegas Terrible's Cup II Pit Crew Challenge winner * 2007 Las Vegas Terrible's Cup II Pit Crew Challenge winner

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.terribleherbst.com/
Vintage photographs of Terrible Herbst service stations, c.1940s & 1950s
Oil companies of the United States Companies based in Paradise, Nevada Privately held companies based in the Las Vegas Valley