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History

Welcome to Speedy Stop!

Headquartered in Victoria, Texas, Speedy Stop was founded by the owner and CEO, Clifton Leo (Cliff) Thomas, Jr. in 1983. In order to better understand the history of Speedy Stop, it may help to start at the beginning to get a better feel for the 25-year evolution of our companies; which when combined, comprise our corporation C. L. Thomas, Inc.

It all started…..

After four years of coaching high school football in Texarkana, Arkansas and a short coaching season at Rice University, where he had to subsidize his income with a milk delivery route in order to support his family; Cliff decided it was time to move on….

In 1977, Cliff embarked on his true calling. He took a position as General Manager for an Exxon distributorship, in Hope, Arkansas. After three years, he learned of an Exxon distributorship for sale in Port Lavaca, Texas. In December 1980, Cliff purchased the distributorship and Thomas Petroleum was born.

Cliff was the company's sole dispatcher, truck driver and salesman. In 1983, as the company began to grow, a second distributorship was purchased in Victoria, Texas. It was then that the doors first opened for Speedy Stop Food Stores! In a short time, the company added a handful of additional locations throughout the Coastal Bend area of Texas. After a period of sustained growth, Speedy Stop expanded the chain by moving into Beaumont, the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Corpus Christi and Southwest Houston areas, running a total of 60 stores.

In 1996, yet another venture, our first Check Express and Subway were opened in Victoria. Since that time, our check cashing facilities, now named "Speedy Check", have grown to 19 stores. Thomas Foods now consists of Subway franchises in 12 locations as well as 3 Wendy's Restaurants.

Speedy Stop completed it largest acquisition to date in May 2002 with the purchase of over 40 stores in the Austin and Bryan-College Station markets. This acquisition combined with the successful management of its existing retail locations, has earned Speedy Stop and Thomas Petroleum the distinct recognition of being in the Nation's top 5 distributors for Exxon Gasoline and Chevron Lubricants for the last 10 years, as well as earning the #1 ranking on numerous occasions.

Today, Thomas Petroleum has grown to 15 facilities in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana. Speedy Stop owns and operates over 100 locations throughout South, Central and East Texas! What began as a one-man operation in 1981 now employs over 1500 employees!

Dedication and support from our associates, along with the entrepreneurial leadership of Cliff and our Thomas and Speedy Stop Management teams has set us apart from our competitors.

While we are proud of our past and mindful of our success as a company, we always look to the promises of our future. As a team, we constantly strive to meet new challenges, celebrate successes and achieve excellence.

We invite and encourage you to get to know us better!