All “Kum & Go” Gas Stations Will Have a New Name in 2025

Like everything else in life, brands die and eras come to an end. In this case, however, you could say this brand lived up to its name before it "came and went."

After acquiring the Iowa-based chain Kum & Go in 2023, Maverik, whose parent company is FJ Management (better known as Flying J) has announced that it will begin the steps to phase out the brand in 2025.

How This Happened:

In 2023, FJ Management/Maverik acquired Kum & Go and Solar Transport from Krause Group. The acquisition was estimated to be $2 billion, and Maverik agreed to retain Kum & Go's 5,000 associates in the process, per CSP Daily News.

However, the writing was more-or-less all on the wall when the company began rebranding stores in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho as "Maverik" last year. As was the case with their western stores, the existing Kum & Go gas stations in Iowa will be renamed "Maverik."

Kum & Go's History:

Established in 1963, Kum & Go was founded by Bill Krause and his father-in-law Tony Gentle. Selling both fuel and merchandize, the men didn't want their establishment to be known as a gas station, but rather, a "station store." In 1988, the pair of relatives moved the company's corporate headquarters to West Des Moines, which set the course for an expansion period in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Was the "Kum & Go" Name Too Suggestive?:

A former Maverik member spoke to CPS Daily News and offered some insight as to why the company would make this change:

I think there was some concern about the inadvertent double entendre of the Kum & Go name. I also believe that [Maverik CEO] Chuck Maggelet envisions growing Maverik into a multi-regional brand, and he’s not deterred by Casey’s, Kwik Trip or other well-respected brands in the Midwest. - per CPS Daily News

However, maybe the change is just in effort to make Maverik/FJ Management's stores more uniform and under the umbrella of a singular name. Either way, you can't help but feel like a piece of Iowa history is being discarded with the Kum & Go brand soon to be put to rest.

Read more about Kum & Go rebranding as Maverik on CPS Daily News.