El Paso 7-Elevens rebranded DK stores by Tennessee oil-refining company

Vic Kolenc, El Paso Times
·3 min read

7-Eleven, one of the most recognizable retail brands in the United States, is no longer in El Paso.

Delek US Holdings, a Tennessee-based oil refining company, which acquired the 7-Eleven licensed convenience stores in El Paso and other areas of Texas and New Mexico almost five years ago, has rebranded them as DK stores.

"Reimaging our retail locations is core to Delek's long-term strategy to build the 'DK' brand across Texas and neighboring states," a Delek spokesperson said in an email.

Delek operates 249 convenience stores, including 77 stores in El Paso. It also operates stores in other parts of West Texas, Central Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas.

El Paso-area 7-Eleven convenience stores are being rebranded as DK stores by the stores' owner, DK US Holdings Inc. A cover with the DK logo is over the 7-Eleven sign, near the gas pumps, at a store at 3525 N. Yarbrough Drive, in East El Paso, as seen Jan. 23. The stores will continue to sell Alon-branded gasoline.
El Paso-area 7-Eleven convenience stores are being rebranded as DK stores by the stores' owner, DK US Holdings Inc. A cover with the DK logo is over the 7-Eleven sign, near the gas pumps, at a store at 3525 N. Yarbrough Drive, in East El Paso, as seen Jan. 23. The stores will continue to sell Alon-branded gasoline.

Delek acquired the 7-Eleven stores as part of its June 30, 2017, acquisition of Alon USA Energy and its refineries, including one in Big Spring, Texas, which supplies gasoline to the El Paso stores.

The El Paso DK stores will retain Alon-branded gasoline at its gas pumps, the Delek spokesperson said.

In late 2018, Delek terminated its license agreement with Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. and was to remove 7-Eleven branding from its stores by Dec. 31, 2021, under terms of the termination agreement, according to a Delek financial report. Delek was the largest 7-Eleven licensee in the United States.

Delek rebranded 7-Eleven stores in Midland in 2019, according to published reports. But only in the past several months did it begin the rebranding process in El Paso.

This rendering shows how the front of the DK convenience stores in El Paso will look. 7-Eleven stores are being rebranded by the stores' owner, Delek US Holdings Inc.
This rendering shows how the front of the DK convenience stores in El Paso will look. 7-Eleven stores are being rebranded by the stores' owner, Delek US Holdings Inc.

Delek officials aren't saying why the El Paso stores' rebranding missed the 2021 deadline.

The 7-Eleven signs have been removed on El Paso storefronts to eventually be replaced by the simple DK logo, and the facades have been repainted in blue, black and red. Plastic coverings with the DK logo recently have been slipped over 7-Eleven signs near the El Paso stores' gas pumps.

The stores no longer sell Slurpees or other 7-Eleven products.

"DK stores will sell comparable quality products under other brand names," the DK spokesperson said.

DK officials aren't saying if other changes are coming to the El Paso stores.

Delek, which operates four oil refineries, had sales of $10.65 billion in 2021, including $797.4 million at its stores, according to the latest full-year, financial data available. It lost $203.5 million in 2021. Its stock price closed at $26.53 per share Jan. 27 on the New York Stock Exchange.

A cover with the DK store logo is over the 7-Eleven sign near the gas pumps at a former 7-Eleven branded convenience store at 10026 Montana Ave., in East El Paso, on Jan. 23. El Paso's 7-Eleven stores are being rebranded as DK stores, but Alon-branded gasoline will still be sold at the stores.
A cover with the DK store logo is over the 7-Eleven sign near the gas pumps at a former 7-Eleven branded convenience store at 10026 Montana Ave., in East El Paso, on Jan. 23. El Paso's 7-Eleven stores are being rebranded as DK stores, but Alon-branded gasoline will still be sold at the stores.

Even though the 7-Eleven brand has disappeared in El Paso, 7-Eleven Inc., a subsidiary of the Japanese company Seven & I Holdings, still has a presence in this area as the owner of Speedway convenience stores.

In 2021, 7-Eleven bought about 3,800 Speedway stores in 36 states from Marathon Petroleum Corp. for $21 billion. Marathon operates an oil refinery in El Paso.

After the sale, 7-Eleven and Marathon agreed to sell 292 Speedway stores in 20 states, none in Texas, to three companies to settle a Federal Trade Commission charge that the deal violated federal antitrust laws.

7-Eleven franchises or licenses about 77,000 stores worldwide, including about 16,000 in North America, according to company information.

The 7-Eleven logo is being replaced by the DK logo at 77-area El Paso convenience stores.
The 7-Eleven logo is being replaced by the DK logo at 77-area El Paso convenience stores.

Speedway operates just over 30 El Paso-area stores, according to its website.

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Speedway and DK are competing in an El Paso market with another large convenience-store player – Circle K, which has about 75 El Paso-area convenience stores, according to its website. The worldwide chain, owned by the Canadian company Alimentation Couche-Tard, has been on a building spree in the El Paso area, replacing many of its locations with larger stores.

Circle K was started in El Paso in the 1950s by the now-late, former El Paso Mayor Fred Hervey.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 7-Eleven stores in El Paso rebranded DK by Tennessee oil refiner