More from the 10th Anniversary issue of "STANDARD CHEVRON"
"Let us turn back the pages of history to the year 1930...
Standard Stations, Inc. is yet to appear on the scene, though its formation is underway. Standard Oil Company of California has been successfully operating service stations since 1907 when they built, in the city of Seattle, what is generally recognized as the first service station in America. Since that time the Parent Company erected an ever- increasing number of stations to market Red Crown Gasoline, Zeroline Motor Oil and other petroleum products in five western states. In December, 1928, the Parent Company leased out the Company-Operated stations, in the majority of cases to employees, and subsequently, during 1929, the following marketing companies were formed to operate 684 of these stations located in Washington, Oregon, and California, the nucleus of Standard Stations, Inc.:
1. San Francisco Gasoline Stations
2. Bay Counties Gasoline Stations
3. Coast Counties Gasoline Stations
4. Southern Gasoline Stations
5. San Joequin Gasoline Stations
6. Valley Gasoline Stations
7. Oregon Gasoline Stations
8. Northwestern Gasoline Stations
Each of these Marketing Companies Administers their seperate merchandising policies according to their own standards. Therefore, motorists find little in common at the various Standard Oil Stations throuhgout the west, and seldom feel at home except at their neighborhood stations."
It can easily be seen that Standard Oil Co. (California) sensed the need for more uniformity in their service stations in the late 1920s. As such, it was recognized that the various marketing companies needed to be consolidated as one entity. Hence, the forming of Standard Stations Inc.
Next stop, some of the major milestones achieved in the first 10 years of operations...
[This message has been edited by Thunder (edited 08-06-2005).]
