Circle K is the convenience-store chain founded in El Paso, Texas, in 1951.
Entrepreneur Fred Hervey purchased three Kay’s Food Stores in El Paso in 1951 and renamed them Circle K Food Stores, Inc. The name was not inherited from a national chain; it was Hervey’s new identity for the stores he had acquired. He then expanded into neighboring New Mexico and Arizona, making the Southwest the company’s early stronghold.
Circle K grew rapidly through acquisitions and franchising. By 1975, it had reached 1,000 stores in the United States, and in 1979 the brand first entered foreign markets through a licensing agreement in Japan. The company later experienced financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990.
Circle K is now owned by the Canadian convenience-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard, which acquired it in 2003. The chain is sometimes confused with 7-Eleven because both operate large convenience-store networks, but they have different origins: 7-Eleven began in Texas, while Circle K began with Hervey’s El Paso stores.