Remember that line from Highlander? THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.
Well, it goes for Maveriks as well. If you'll take a little trip with me, I'll paint a picture of this Maverik through the backdrop of history and explain why I'm quoting a line about immortal swordsman.
Way back in the day, there used to be a chain of gas stations in Utah called Circle K. Actually, the chain still exists, but just not around these parts. In fact, Circle K was such the radness that it even became a part of one of the greatest movies of all-time: Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure.
[Thunder, lightning flash outside a gas station]
TED: Whoa!
[A phone booth appears to descend quickly in to the parking lot amidst a flash of blue lightning]
BILL & TED [Unison]: Not bad!
RUFUS [exits the phone booth]: Greetings, my excellent friends!
TED: Do you know when the Mongols ruled China?
RUFUS: Well [removes glasses] perhaps we could ask them?
[approaches boys] Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan. Gentlemen, I'm here to help you with your history report.
TED: What?
BILL: How?
[Another flash of light appears and another phone booth descends quickly into the parking lot. We hear voices inside, oddly reminiscent of Bill and Ted's]
TED: Bill?
BILL: What?
TED: Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
I remember** filling up the tank at a Circle K, but not long after my first licensed memories, I remember the sudden disappearance of Circle K and all (many?) of their old locations being converted into Maverik gas stations.
Now, that works out handy hunky dory if you're looking to expand your retail footpring. But you're also bound to have some conflicts along the way when you take on a bunch of already existing locations in a market where you already have your own retail branches.
Such was the case here on the corner. The northwest corner held a Circle K and the southeast corner and old Maverik Country Store. Like any forward-thinking corporation, they turned both stores into Maveriks. And sold gas, jerky, and junk food just a few dozen feet away from each other.
Enter the Highlander, and there can be only one. At some point not immediately after the conversion, the southeast side of road Maverik bit the dust. The northwest side has since been remodeled - perhaps even demolished and rebuilt (I don't get by here too often) -and is now a shiny, slick Maverik station. The southeast side is now a little café (Mo's Place, seen here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/mos-place-cafe-salt-lake-city) but not much has been done to the building. You can still see the old spindled white posts that used to adorn the outside of many Maverik stations back when they were Maverik Country Stores and before they became LOUD REVVING ENGINES OF ADVENTURE AND THE TESTOSTERONE-FUELED FIRST STOP.
Yep, there could be only one. And the one that survived has flourished. Its remodel/upgrade/redo has a few years on it now, but it's the fittest and has indeed survived.
**It occurs to me that this tale has aged some in my mind. I've never actually told the tale, so the details, names, dates and locations seem correct in my head but I'm open to the possibility that there's a little blur on the lens of my memory. It's a true story, just don't yell at me if you remember the details differently. If you're so sure, write your own obscure gas station review! read more
