Full ahead into 30th year for Yatco gas/convenience chain

WORCESTER – When Tarek Yatim looks 30 years back to the time his family started a business out of a neglected Exxon gas station on Lincoln Street, he remembers it being a tough experience that required hard work and “a lot of sleepless nights.”

At one point, his wife, Khadijeh, worked both at a doughnut shop and the gas station to support her husband, who alongside his two brothers, worked around the clock to brave the demands of a 24-hour business venture.

On Tuesday, while standing in the parking lot of that same gas station at 446 Lincoln St., now known as Yatco-Gulf — one of the 13 locations under the Yatco brand — Yatim also threw in the word “adventure,” in line with the spirit of a true entrepreneur.

“We take a lot of pride in what we do, and this business means a lot to us,” said Yatim. “You’ve got to work hard to make it.

“This was a great adventure.”

Yatco Inc., a play on the family name Yatim and Co., was the dreamchild of Yatim and his brother, both immigrants of a family with roots from Lebanon.

A civil war in the 1970s forced the family to flee Lebanon to Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa where the family patriarch, Mohammed Yatim, owned a general store which his four sons, among them Tarek, helped run the day-to-day after school.

It was during that experience that Yatim’s idea of owning a gas station first came about.

“Getting fuel was very difficult, and people who owned gas stations were making a lot of money selling fuel,” Yatim said. “It just came to my head that, ‘Holy cow, I think when I go somewhere, I got to open a gas station.’ ”

Yatim laughed at that memory, apparently at the simplicity of his thinking at the time.

Yet, that simple realization grew into a dream that Yatim, who was still in his early 20s, carried with him in 1992 to the United States, where he immigrated with his wife, Khadijah, and their two young sons.

Only a year later, on Sept. 28, 1993, he and his older brother, Hassan, opened their doors to the first Yatco Inc.-run location — a “rundown” Exxon gas station on Lincoln Street that immediately required a lot of work to breathe life into.

Khadijeh, Tarek’s wife of 35 years, remembers racking up to 18 hours a day between working across the street at a Dunkin’ Donuts shop, and then helping out at the gas station.

Three decades later, Khadijeh, who now co-owns Yatco Inc., keeps it simple when thinking about her family’s experience of building up from nothing to a multilocation company.

“It’s a dream come true,” Khadijeh said Tuesday. “You have privileges and opportunity in the U.S. that if you don't embrace, that if you don’t seize with hard work and patience, you won't get anywhere.”

As years went by, another of the Yatim brothers joined the company. Quickly, the Yatco brand grew as it branched out into Yatco Food Mart with as many as 20 locations, and Yatco Energy, a gas distribution company.

In 2021, Yatim, his wife and their son Hussein became the sole owners of Yatco Inc. after his brothers parted ways with the company.

While some of the locations were absorbed by one of Yatim’s brothers, Hassan, to start Chop Chop Convenience, the Yatco Inc. company now owns 19 locations, 13 of which operate under the Yatco brand.

Starting Tuesday, the family held a celebration that continued for the rest of the week across different locations, setting up vendor tents with food, giving out free merchandise, offering a 30-cent discount to all customers and an extra 30-cent discount to membership holders.

Wearing a bright green T-shirt, the brand color of Yatco, one of Tarek’s three sons, Hussein, spent the day making sure things were in order at the Lincoln Street location, also shaking hands with those stopping by to congratulate the family.

Yatco’s heir apparent, Hussein holds the title of vice president, something that wasn’t always in the plans.

Hussein holds an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering and a master’s in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which gave way to him working for 10 years at Boston Scientific, a biomedical engineering company.

Since his uncles’ departure from the company, he saw the opportunity to take the reins on his family’s business as his true calling.

In his words, it wasn’t something he had always thought about doing, but the family business was where he “literally grew up in.”

“I was 4 years old, running around eating candy off the shelves,” Hussein said. “Through high school and even in college breaks I would clean, run a cash register, stock shelves.”

Bob Gordon, a regular customer of 10 years at Yatco’s Lincoln Street location, usually stops on his way to work every morning, getting a regular coffee, a bagel, a few scratch tickets and gas, too, when needed.

On Tuesday, he walked out to his delivery truck with a bright green bag, folded together with the day’s newspaper and tucked under his armpit.

“The place is always busy,” Gordon said. “With the pandemic and everything else, to have lasted this long, it’s a really great achievement.”

Among those visiting the Yatims at their Lincoln Street location Tuesday was also Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis, who lauded the family’s efforts in building their brand.

Evangelidis also recognized Yatco Inc. with an honorary citation.

“It's not easy to make it in business,” said Evangelidis. “I'm here to celebrate the work they've done across Worcester County, to make our community as we all do, try to make it just a better place.”

As for the future, Hussein said the family’s vision is to grow into as many as 25 locations in the next two years, mostly with sit-down food service and electric vehicle charging stations.

The ultimate goal, according to Hussein, is to make the locations into “a destination” rather than just the classic pullover stop for gas and snacks.

“They've done really the hard part now,” said Hussein about his elders. “What's going to drive me forever is literally seeing it in real time going from literally nothing, where nobody expects anything out of you, to creating a great business.

“The goal is to run with what we have, and really take it to a next level.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Yatco gas/convenience chain marks 30 years in Worcester County