About
Pak-A-Sak is the retail division of Jay Petroleum, Inc., founded in 1959 by current chairman of the board Jim Peterson.� Jim began his career in the petroleum industry in 1952 as an employee of the Standard Oil Company.� It was during these early years on his tank wagon delivery route throughout east central Indiana, that Jim developed his interest in the oil business.
As Jim’s small business began to grow, it became apparent to him that there were many opportunities to diversify beyond distributing fuels to farms and small gas stations. As a result, he began to acquire retail service stations which he then leased to dealers to operate. Some of these locations would later become the early sites of Pak-A-Sak’s beginnings.
From the late 1960’s through the late 1980’s, Jay Petroleum expanded its operations to include a wholesale automotive division, a bulk lubricant division, and a retail convenience store division. During this time, Jim’s small business grew from a handful of employees to over 200 associates.
During the late 1970’s as the gasoline marketing landscape began to take on a new appearance with the emergence of the convenience store, Jim teamed up with two other individuals to form the Pak-A-Sak convenience store company. The business originally began with the acquisition of three locally owned mom & pop grocery gas stations. However, the business rapidly grew from the original three locations to eight traditional convenience stores by the early 1980’s. Although these early stores were nothing like the glamorous food and fuel centers of today, the name and image of Pak-A-Sak quickly became synonymous with fast, friendly, 24 hour shopping.