History and Origins of the Company

• Speedway is the second-largest company-owned and operated convenience store chain in the United States and a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum.
• In 1997, Ashland's SuperAmerica and Marathon's Speedway convenience store chains were merged to form Speedway SuperAmerica LLC.
• In 2005, "Marathon purchased Ashland's share of Marathon Ashland Petroleum, to create Marathon Petroleum Company LLC, retaining the SuperAmerica and Rich brands that were originally owned by Ashland."
• Locations outside "the Upper Midwest were converted to "Speedway" and the "SuperAmerica" brand was restricted to the Upper Midwest market. Marathon sold SuperAmerica to Northern Tier Energy, in February 2011."
• The company was known as Speedway SuperAmerica in 2011 before the name was changed to Speedway LLC. Even before the name change, the company had already consolidated all stores into one brand of Speedway and had unified and remodeled all stores to conform with the rest.

How the Company Grew

• Speedway Gas grew to what it is now by expanding into new markets in the Midwest through a mixture of organic growth and acquisitions.
• For example, in 2012, Speedway acquired 100 new stores from GasAmerica, 87 of these being convenience stores located in Indiana and Ohio, 10 stores located in southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky from Road Ranger LLC. This was in exchange for cash and a truck stop location in the Chicago metro area.
• Speedway had already acquired 23 convenience stores in Illinois and Indiana in 2011.
• Recently, in 2018, the company purchased 78 convenience-store locations owned by Petr-All Petroleum Corp. in Syracuse, N.Y. The brands are operated under the Express Mart brand.
• With the retirement of Gary Heminger, chairman, and chief executive of Marathon Petroleum Corp. approaching, the company recently announced that Speedway will soon become a separate, publicly-traded company.

Countries/States/Cities and Number of Locations

• The company operates around 3,900 gasoline-convenience stores in 36 states in the U.S.
• Ohio with around 490 stores is Speedway's largest market. The company operates around 300 stores each in Michigan, Indiana, and North Carolina. It also operates around 250 stores each in New York and Florida.
• Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania are other top markets where the company operates over 100 stores.

Headquarters

• The headquarters for the company are in Enon, Ohio.

No. of Employees/Names of C-Suite Members

• The company has 18,257 employees.
•  Timothy T. Griffith was appointed as president of Speedway and began his role on 1 July 2019, after the retirement of former president Anthony Kenney who had been president since August 2005.

Product/Service Offering

• Speedway Gas offers filling stations, other gasoline stations, convenience stores, and chain convenience stores.
• Product offerings include gasoline and tobacco products, Speedway's two highest-selling commodities. The company also offers food service cafes that sell food and drinks.

Current Agency of Record

•  Young & Laramore are the agency of record for Speedway Gas.

Annual Revenue/Other financial Details

• According to the Biz Journal, Speedway has a revenue of $19 billion.
•  NAICS Association states that the company recorded a sales volume of $3.29 Billion in 2018.
• According to Oil and Gas 360, Speedway has grown nearly four times over the past eight years from approximately $400 million of annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to about $1.5 billion.
•  Crunchbase states that the company's total funding amount is $4.5 million.

Corporate News

• Most recently in October of 2019, local TX outlet the Houston Chronicle reported Marathon Petroleum's announcement that it would divest approximately 4,000 Speedway gas stations, with the plan for these separate assets to become a publicly traded company.

• Earlier this summer, in July of 2019, local KY broadcaster WDRB highlighted Marathon Petroleum's $22.5 million settlement of a twelve-year-old lawsuit with the state of Kentucky, which alleged that Speedway gas stations illegally raised prices following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
• The month prior, in June of 2019, local CO outlet The Durango Herald also reported Speedway Gas' expansion into Southwest Colorado through the takeover of a number of former Conoco and Shell gas stations.
• Meanwhile, in April of 2019, local NJ radio broadcaster New Jersey 101.5 highlighted a ruling by the NJ court system that barred Speedway Gas from selling its gasoline below cost.
• The month prior, in March of 2019, local OH outlet The Blade covered Marathon Petroleum's $500 million acquisition, remodel and expansion plan across the US.
• Finally, at the beginning of the year, in January of 2019, convenience store trade Convenience Store News reported the expansion of Apple Pay payment options at select Speedway convenience stores.

Community News

• In community news, local NY broadcaster CNY Central reported in September of 2019 that a man from Syracuse, NY was killed in an explosion at a Speedway gas station.
• That same month, in September of 2019, local NY broadcaster News 12 Long Island also covered a diesel fuel mix-up at a Holbrook gas station that impacted numerous unknowing drivers.

Other Viral Stories

• Meanwhile, a wide variety of trade and local news publications, including local MI outlet Click on Detroit, reported that a lottery ticket purchased from a Speedway gas station won a $1 million prize in September of 2019.
• Additionally, numerous media sources, including local GA outlet the Atlanta Journal Constitution, covered the video of an April of 2019 fight over a hot dog at a Speedway gas station.

Personal Information

• Anthony Kenney graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Miami University in the 1976.
• He completed the Executive Program at the University of Michigan School of Business in the year 2000.

• Kenney and his wife named Jean are parents of two sons, Raymond and John.

• Anthony Kenney likes to work for underprivileged children and is member of Dayton Hospital Children’s Foundation Board which is working towards improving the health status of all children through service, education, research, and advocacy.
• His other interests lie in industry activities like exploration and production, accounting, etc.

• Kenney serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
• He is also the chairman of the Dayton Children’s Hospital Foundation board which works towards improving the health status of all children.

• Kenny has a LinkedIn account which can be accessed here.

Professional Information

• Anthony Kenney worked as an audit supervisor in the Auditing Division for Marathon Oil Company from 1987 till 1990.

• From 1990 to 1995 he worked at the Emro Marketing Company in Springfield, Ohio and served as the commercial manager, controller, and treasurer.
• Anthony Kenney served as VP Finance & ITS at Speedway Superamerica LLC from 1998 to 2000.
• He was the VP Business Development at Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC form 2001 to 2005.
• He served as VP Business Development at Marathon Petroleum Company LLC from 2005 to 2010.
• Anthony Kenney served President at Speedway Superamerica LLC from 2005 to 2011.
• He served as the President at Speedway LLC from 2005 to 2019.

• Anthony Kenney retired after 43 years of service with Speedway in June 2019.
• He became the executive vice president, where he supported the Speedway transition and other strategic projects until his retirement.

• Anthony Kenney is a board member at Ohio Chamber of Commerce. (Ref: Source 2)

• He is also a member on the Board of Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce and Association for Convenience & Petroleum Retailing.

• One recent article about Kenney is "Speedway Names New President as Tony Kenney Announces Retirement."
• Another article about him is "Speedway CEO Says More Growth Expected"

SUNOCO

• The company's website can be accessed here.

• Sunoco is a known convenience store and gas station chain in Dallas, Texas, United States. Like Speedway Gas, Sunoco operates in numerous locations in the United States with 5,000 gas stations in more than 30 states.
• Sunoco, like Speedway Gas, offers its customers credit cards, rewards, discounts, and more.
• Sunoco also provides mobile app services such as payments and reward information. Speedway Gas has also launched its mobile apps services such as price details, payments, and access Speedway rewards.
• Some products offered are collectibles, apparel, and decorations of both Speedway and Sunoco.

• Sunoco offers quality fuels. The company focuses on fuel grades such as Regular (87 octanes), Plus (89 octanes), Premium (91 octanes), or Ultra 93 grade of fuel.
• The company offers its customers quality experience with Sunoco Rewards Credit Card and Commercial Cards. In this way, customers can take advantage of great deals and discounts.
• Sunoco also offers easy access to payments, gasoline station maps, grocery rewards, and rollback rewards.

SHELL

• The company's website can be accessed here.

• "Shell is one of the most popular gasoline stations and convenience stores." There are 14,000 Shell gasoline stations in the United States with over 20 million customers.
• Like Speedway, Shell has a mobile app for its customers as well. It enables customers to access Shell's products and services, payments, and discounts, among others.
• Shell offers its customers the Fuel Reward Program. "This program allows the customer to avail of free loyalty programs and grocery rewards, just like the reward program of Speedway."

• Aside from valuing customer experience, Shell provides convenience to its customers through its mobile app. This allows customers to save time and hassle when it comes to payments.
• Shell's Fuel Save program lets customers save up to 30 cents per gallon of gasoline.
• The company gives customer grocery expenses to turn into savings. Several grocery stores in the United States offers rewards that can be redeemed at Shell gasoline stations. This gives customers great deals and discounts.

COUCHE-TARD

• The company's website can be accessed here.

• Couche-Tard is a convenient store and fuel station with 7,700 stores in the United States. The Couche-Tard operates under the brands Corner Store, Circle K, and Holiday, which makes this chain a popular competitor of Speedway Gas.
• It competes in "15 United States units such as West Coast, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Texas, Heartland, Gulf Coast, Florida, South Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Coastal Carolinas, Great Lakes, and Northern Tier."
• Couche-Tard offers a variety of promos for its customers, such as rewards, cards, deals, groceries, and fuel save like Speedway Gas.

• The company offers convenient stores and gasoline stations, as well as coffee, snacks, beverages, grocery products, beer and wine, and lottery tickets.

• The company operates under three brands such as Corner Store, Circle K, and Holiday which makes it more susceptible to customer brand awareness.

• Couche-Tard gives its customers the ease of access to payments through its mobile application, such as Foodora and Couche Tard.

MURPHY USA

• The company's website can be accessed here.

• Murphy USA is also a national gas station and convenience store chain.
• Speedway Gas and Murphy USA both offer rewards, discounts, and cards for their customers. Both "offer a mobile app for easy payment, map, product, and gear access."
• Murphy USA operates 1,400 retail stations in 26 states under Murphy USA and Murphy Express brands.
• Both Speedway Gas and Murphy USA are active in social media sites capturing the online market.

• They offer customers easy access to payments, savings, and TxtPay with their mobile app.
• Murphy USA offers a variety of discounts and rewards for customers like "Go-to Savings", "Walmart Gas Discounts", and the newly launched "Murphy Drive Rewards App". This allows customers to maintain their loyalty and patronage to Murphy USA.
• Cards are also offered to customers for instant savings of 3¢ per gallon, which can be linked to customer's debit and checking accounts without any financial checks. Murphy USA offers Gas Discount Cards, Murphy USA Platinum Edition Visa, Fleet Cards, and Fuel & Gift Cards.

EXXONMOBIL

• The company's website can be accessed here.

• ExxonMobil also operates in the United States. "The company is a gasoline station and convenience store chain with 11,000 store locations in operation."
• Both Speedway Gas and ExxonMobil are multinational oil and gas corporations in the United States market.
• Speedway Gas and ExxonMobil offer loyalty programs and provide mobile app for easy access to payments and their products.

• The company offers mobile app payment for ease and security of paying without having a card in contact with card readers or terminals.
• "ExxonMobil is the first gasoline station and convenience store chain that introduced this payment system and complied with EMV regulations."
• ExxonMobil allows customers to have the ability to redeem and earn reward points through fuel, car wash, and convenience store purchases.

CUMBERLAND FARMS

• The company's website can be accessed here.

• Like Speedway Gas, Cumberland Farms is a convenience store and gasoline station chain based in New York City with 600 stores in 8 states.
• Cumberland Farms offers discounts on coffee subscriptions, as well as mobile payment access and fuel save programs like Speedway Gas.
• The company also offers gift cards, like digital gift cards for foods, drinks, gas, and other products.
• Both Cumberland Farms and Speedway Gas compete in the United States national and regional markets.

• The main priority of Cumberland Farms is to deliver the most convenient customer experience by maintaining a friendly and clean work environment.
• One of the company's value proposition is to provide clean stores, smart selection of basic necessities, tasty foods and beverages, and friendly service to customers.
• Another value proposition is to provide rewards, gifts, and discounts for customers to keep them coming back to Cumberland Farms.

QUIKTRIP

• The company's website can be accessed here.

• According to Nick Lacaillade, the VP of Retail and Corporate Development for Certified Oil, Quiktrip, like Speedway Gas, has undergone some remodeling and services that were added to its offerings, making this chain of a convenience store and gasoline station grow to 75 stores.
• Quiktrip and Speedway Gas are both active in social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram making their market scope expand.
• The company offers credit cards for their customers. This enables them to save up to 100 gallons of gasoline.
• Quiktrip also provides a mobile app to access updated fuel prices, coupons and special offers, store location, and menus.
• The company has grown to over 800 store locations in 11 states.

• One value proposition is to provide a diverse lineup of products and services that customers need, which will make every purchase faster, convenient, and deliver a great user experience.
• Another proposition is to serve customers with quality products. The company believes that "the goal of being the best is always moving, and we are moving with it.".
• Quiktrip is believed to be created to provide opportunities to people and customer service, as well as through deals and discounts.

Speedway Gas

Competitive Advantage

•  Prices: one of Speedway's missions is to enable the customer make the most of every dollar he spends. For that reason, they offer very affordable prices and below the market price, which is an advantage that the company has over the competition. This strategy attracts customers of all social classes, resulting in the rapid growth of customers.
•  Rewards Program: It is the way how Speedway says thank you to its loyal customers. To join the program all the customer has to do is to stop by one of the Speedway stores and register as a member. After that, every time the person makes a purchase, he will receive points that he can redeem for gift cards, merchandise, and many more.
•  Mobile App: Nowadays most companies are migrating and changing the old format/platforms/services in which they offered their products to fulfill clients' expectations. Speedway has its mobile app available to both Apple and Android users. Besides, as a way to encourage customers to download it, they offer 500 bonus points when a client makes his first purchase through the app. Some of the app benefits are the ease in which customers can find stores near them, QR scan for gift cards, and personalized stats.
•  Cards: Speedway offers a very varied range of cards for clients, including prepaid, reloadable, and credit cards. Some of them allow customers to use them in stores that accept Visa and Mastercard. Apart from that, every time the client makes a purchase with the card, he gains points for using the card, and for loyalty, that is to say, the person gains 2x more points than those who do not have it. Speedy Rewards Mastercard, Speedway FleetCard, Speedway Pay Card, and Prepaid Reloadable Debit Card are the cards offered by the company.
•  Social Media Presence: Despite being a gas station chain, Speedway is a company with a strong social media presence. In fact, the company has more than 1 million followers on Facebook. They like to post memes, quotes, and funny pictures, as well as information about the company to keep their followers engaged.
•  Charity: The company likes to make its customers' life better making a positive impact on everyone's life. They have been helping children and families in need for more than 20 years. Currently, they work along with the Children Miracle Network and United Way.

Strengths

•  Customer Convenience: Speedway receives 2 million customers every day, and they say is because at Speedway, customers are always first. When they create products for clients they check if this will be convenient to customers or if it would add value to their lives. This is one of the reasons Speedway is very successful, and that is one of its biggest strengths.
• Nation's Second Largest Company Owned and Operated Convenience Store Chain: Without a doubt, having that position makes Speedway reach more customers. The company has been operating for more than 15 years and that, together with the position it has, generates trust in customers.
•  Reputation: Speedway is identified as a company that works as transparently as possible, which is governed by North American laws to provide excellent service. The company also claims that all its operations go hand in hand with ethics. Besides, customers have made sure to spread the word regarding how good the company is.
•  Outstanding Service: Speedway has a customer focus. For that reason, they make sure to provide customers with several ways to express themselves. As an example, they have a customer service team, in which people can leave feedback to the company. Another one is the way employees treat customers to make them feel at home.

Weaknesses

•  Employees Opinions: For a company, one of the most important thing apart from making customers feel good is to make employees feel their best, because they are, for 8 or more hours every day, helping the company to function. In fact, the more satisfied the employee is with his work, the more likely he is to do stellar work. Unfortunately, Speedway's reputation at Glassdoor, a place where employees leave anonymous reviews of the companies they work for, have a total score of 2.7 stars, which leaves much to be desired. Most of the comments allege that the company does not give breaks to employees, and that they receive a bad pay. This fact indisputably affects the reputation of the company, however, they could improve by listening to workers and then take actions that benefit them.
•  Store Disorganization: A report made by Mystery Shopping says that in Speedway stores, there is so much disorganization, especially when it comes to the distribution of prices. Besides, they also said that the bathrooms in the stores could be better and less dirty.

Publicly Available Revenue

• Speedway has an annual revenue of $19 billion.

Geographical Presence

• The company has its headquarter in Ohio, and it is present in 36 states, which are: "Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming".

Sunoco

Competitive Advantage

•  Official Fuel: For more than 50 years, Sunoco has been the official fuel of NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, and Grassroots. This fact is something that not many companies can compete with, especially when Sunoco uses the same fuel for both professional clients and day-to-day customers. Many customers express joy and confidence when using the fuel of professional drivers.
•  Environmental Company: Sunoco not only seeks to satisfy and fill the lives of its customers with joy, but in the process, it is responsible for taking care of the environment as well. Sunoco is considered an environmental company, which is great especially now that people are demanding sustainability.
•  Quality Fuels: Sunoco team believes that what is in the tank of a car matters a lot. The company provides top-tier fuels that adjust to everyone's needs. On their website, they have a full-page explaining to people the different fuels they offer.
•  Rewards: The rewards offered by Sunoco every time someone makes a purchase are quite functional, because people can redeem their points for groceries, an excellent alternative to save a few cents. Of course, if the person wishes to redeem his points for other products like Sunoco's merchandise, it is possible too. This category also includes the two cards offered by Sunoco (Consumer Credit Card and Commercial Credit Card), because every time they are used, they earn points (they are only valid for expenses in the company).
•  Sunoco App: It was launched in 2018 with the purpose of facilitating customers' transactions. On the app, customers are able to find stores near them, collect points, grocery rewards, and exclusive offers.

Strengths

•  Giving Back: Children's Miracle Network Hospital, NorthTexas Food Bank, and the American Red Cross are the organizations Sunoco gives to. They have raised more than $10 million for them, and the way they have been helping the American Red Cross for 50 years is providing the fuel.
•  Safe Environment for Everyone: For the company, employees are its most valuable asset. Because of that, Sunoco works tirelessly to provide its workers and customers the safest possible environment. All the techniques performed by the workers are 100% safe and do not include risks. Through this effort, the company achieves peaceful coexistence among all and manages to keep the company in a good place.
•  Reputation: Sunoco has been operating since 1886, this represents an advantage for them because of everything they have learned and experienced. In addition, Sunoco expanded internationally in 1950 with the purpose of producing fuel in other countries and at the same time, assessing market differences. All that knowledge makes people trust the company.

Weaknesses

•  Website: A company's website must be designed with the user in mind. If a website is not user-friendly, or it is a bit complicated to manage, the potential customer loses interest and goes to another page to buy. For example, the Speedway website is very functional, and quite user-friendly. One of the most notable weaknesses of the Sunoco website is that formatting makes reading a bit difficult. As a result, the website receives 80,000 monthly visitors and Speedway has more than 1 million.
•  Social Media: The presence of Sunoco in social networks is quite low. They only have two accounts, one from Facebook where they have 300,000 followers, and another from Instagram which only has 2,000 followers. Sunoco is missing the opportunity to attract new customers online. One of the possible ways in which it can improve is by conducting dynamics or training and thus attracting customers.

Publicly Available Revenue

• Sunoco has an annual revenue of $12.3 billion.

Geographical Presence

• Sunoco has more than 5,000 gas station locations in more than 30 states of the US. The following are some of them: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada, Louisiana, Atkins, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Oahu, the Big Island of Hawaii, Maui and Kauai.

Shell

Competitive Advantage

• As a key leader in the oil and gas markets, Shells has a robust portfolio that covers all areas of the sector. This includes the upstream and downstream, as well as the gasoline, sectors.

• Sustainability serves as the company’s main focal point and as a driver to maintain a position of leadership in natural gas, oil, and “low carbon energy”.

• Shell offers its services and products to both consumers and businesses, and also offers rewards as a way of building customer relationships.

• Consumers are offered loyalty cards, freebies, and credit-card, as well as value-added services, at Shell gas stations.

Strengths

•  Shell's transition from selling shells and trading rice, followed by its move into the oil and gas industry, and transitions from kerosene to oil to natural gas and, finally, petrochemicals, shows the company’s exceptional ability to change and adapt without compromising its strength and position.

• Shell has a reputation for building strong relationships with consumers and businesses alike by offering loyalty programs, credit cards, and other various rewards and opportunities to save on the products and services they offer.

Weaknesses

•  Sustainability serves as the company’s main focal point and has led to the company investing in technology solutions aimed at improving sustainability for the future. Shell has made substantial investments in technology solutions for the sustainability of the future. These investments have had a noticeable impact on the company’s revenue.

• Numerous accusations and incidents of oil spillage have given the company a somewhat negative reputation and image. Shell has a reputation for waging "price wars" with its competitors and has been charged with “discriminatory pricing by customers”, further damaging the company's reputation.

Revenue

• Shell generated $388.4 billion in revenue during 2018.

Geographical Presence

• Shell headquarters are located in the Netherlands, and Shell Centre, its registered office, is located in London.

• Operations owned by Shell span in more than 60 countries within the Pacific, Middle East, African, European, Asian, and American regions.

• The company has set over 770 supply points and 100 distribution terminals in more than 20 countries.

• Shell operates approximately 44,000 service stations globally and provides Shell V Power fuel to over 60 countries.

Couche-Tard

Competitive Advantage

• Couche-Tard operates “On the Run” stores that offer both food and non-food products; products that more traditional convenience stores rarely offer.

• In 2018, Couche-Tard took action to implement a global intranet platform, Inner Circle, that allowed the company to “power its ability to be super-local and super-global”, giving Couche-Tard a competitive advantage.

• Couche-Tard also focuses on building long-term relationships with customers by making constant improvements to ensure top-quality customer service.

• By focusing on building lasting customer relationships, the company ensures top-quality customer service. Couche-Tard boasts on having an employee base that “reflects the communities” in which it is located. This helps the company to understand and better serve a diverse customer base.

Strengths

• Recognized as being “one of the largest company-owned convenience store operators”, Couche-Tard is a well-recognized brand that benefits from maintaining a positive brand image and a solid reputation.

• The numerous acquisitions Couche-Tard takes part in has allowed it to expand globally, giving it a strong global presence.

Weaknesses

• The channels used by Couche-Tard exclude the “online e-commerce channel“ therefore, limiting the availability of products and services offered by the company.

• In addition to Couche-Tard not operating on e-commerce channels, the company also remains absent from “emerging potential countries” such as Russia and India, and it has not taken advantage of the benefits of growth through acquisitions and alliances that the emerging economies in Asia and Africa offer.

Revenue

• Couche-Tard generated approximately $51.39 billion in revenue during the fiscal year of 2018.

Geographical Presence

• Couche-Tard is headquartered in Laval, Canada.
• As of 2019, there are more than 9,900 convenience stores owned by Couche-Tard in North America. Collectively, these stores have over 105,000 employees.

• Globally, more than 16,000 stores are owned and operated by Couche-Tard and its brands.

• Europe recognizes the company as the leader in “convenience store and road transportation fuel retailer”.

#1. Murphy USA

Competitive Advantage:

•  Murphy USA’s competitive advantage is illustrated in its category-management excellence. The company achieves high-volume and low-cost operations at its kiosks, which are strategically positioned in the marketplace and offer competitive pricing and speedy service.
• The stores/kiosks are usually located in close proximity to Walmart stores.

Strengths:

• Murphy USA has a strong distribution network that can reach a high majority of its potential market.

• The company has built a highly skilled workforce through successful training and learning programs.

• Murphy's has a successful track record of developing new products and built expertise in entering new markets and making a success of them.

• The company has built a culture among distributors and dealers where the dealers not only promote the company’s products but also invests in training the sales team to explain to customers how to extract the maximum benefits out of the products.

Weaknesses:

• Murphy USA has more dependence on established retail stores than other competitor establishments.

• The company has weak financial planning; the current asset ratio and liquid asset ratios suggest that the company can use the cash more efficiently than what it is doing at present.
• The company is weak at product demand forecasting leading to a higher rate of missed opportunities compared to its competitors.

Revenue:

• The annual revenue of Murphy USA in the year 2018 was $14.36 billion.

Geographical Presence:

• The company is located in 1,472 locations in 26 states including Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Texas, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin among others.

#2. ExxonMobil

Competitive Advantage:

• ExxonMobil possesses a sustainable competitive advantage over competitors through its focus on technology, integration, functional excellence, and people.
• The company leverages digitalization and high-performance computing for research operations.
• It is also building a long-term global strategy by finding new global profit centers and building around its most profitable assets.

Strengths:

• The company invested in building a strong brand portfolio which is extremely useful if the organization wants to expand into new product categories.
• ExxonMobil has strong financial resources and an integrated business model.
• The company has a strong dealer community as it has built a culture among distributors and dealers where the dealers not only promote the company’s products but also invest in training the sales team to explain to the customer how to extract the maximum benefits out of the products.

• It has strong free cash flows that provide resources when the company wants to expand into new projects.
• ExxonMobil also has a strong base as a reliable supplier of raw materials which enables them to overcome any supply chain bottlenecks.

Weaknesses:

• ExxonMobil has weak corporate governance.
• The company needs to make more investment in new technologies; its investment in research and development is below the other fastest-growing players in the industry.

• The company is weak at integrating firms with different work cultures.

Revenue:

• The revenue of ExxonMobil for the year 2018 was $290.21 billion.

Geographical Presence:

• ExxonMobil is located in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
• North America — USA, Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean-Guatemala.
• South America — Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Guyana.
• Europe — Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, UK, and Russia, among others.
• Asia-Pacific — Australia, India, Hong Kong, Japan, and Malaysia, among others.

Cumberland Farms

Competitive Advantage

• To date, Cumberland has opened over 24 next-generation stores that the company claims are fast, friendly, and simple. The company seeks out new ways to be innovative, compared to competitors that have outdated stores.
• The company also differentiates itself by offering great value through its coffee subscription program called Cup-Scription. In this program, customers pay $25 per month and receive two cups of coffee, hot tea, and hot chocolate daily.

Strengths

• One strength for Cumberland Farms is that it offers a better merchandise mix in its prepared and fresh foods section which has posted a strong performance and increased customer loyalty.
• The second strength for the company is its "low reliance on volatile fuel prices as a percentage of total revenue and gross profit." The final strength is that the company has been in existence since 1962 and leverages the experience it has gained to succeed in its mission.

Weaknesses

• Cumberland Farms is limited by its small scale operations in terms of earnings and number of stores "relative to industry peers and its geographic concentration."
• The company's credit profile is also inhibited "by the possibility of increased leverage should the company make a debt-financed acquisition or pay a sizable dividend."

Revenue

• The company had a total revenue of $6 billion in 2017.  

Locations

• Cumberland Farms has 567 locations in eight states in the United States. The company has 70 stores in Connecticut, 51 in Florida, 208 in Massachusetts, 43 in Maine, 48 in New Hampshire, 84 in New York, 47 in Rhode Island, and 19 stores in Vermont.
• The stores are located in numerous cities such as Portland, Boston, and New York, among others.

Quicktrip

Competitive Advantage

• Quicktrip's stores can be found in key high-volume locations making it a dominant convenience and gasoline retailer in each market.
• The company differentiates itself by selling made fresh to order food and premium specialty drinks.

Strengths

• The company's strengths include having a strong brand awareness and equity - it is one of the most recognized brands in the market it operates in. This has helped the company attract new customers.
• Quicktrip keeps a close and strong relationship with its suppliers and supply chain, thus helping the company to promptly provide superior quality products and services. This has led to the company gaining loyal customers and more market share.
• The company receives high margins, as it offers products and services at a premium price, compared to its competitors. This has provided resources to reduce any pressure from competitors. These resources are invested in the research and development of new offerings.

Weaknesses

• According to MBA Pro, one of Quicktrip's weaknesses is that even though it has patented its offerings, these offerings can easily be copied by competitors, especially startups, without breaking patent laws. If this happens, competitors can attract current Quicktrip customers thereby reducing its market share.
• Also, some customers are not satisfied with their purchase and post-purchase experience,
• Although the company has integrated technology in its backend processes, it is yet to fully harness the power of technology in its front end processes.

Revenue

• In 2018, Quicktrip had a revenue of about $10.2 billion.

Locations

• Quicktrip has over 800 stores in eleven states in the United States. The stores are located in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas.
• The cities the company's stores are located are in are Phoenix, Tucson, Atlanta, Wichita, Kansas City, St. Louis, Omaha, Charlotte, Tulsa, Greenville / Spartanburg, Dallas, and San Antonio, among others.