Terrible Herbst
Terrible Herbst, or Terrible Herbst Oil Company, is an American privately held gas station company based in Paradise, Nevada, United States.
Terrible's
1959
3440 W Russell Rd, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
176 (2022)
Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona
Jerry Herbst (CEO)
Gasoline
Convenience stores
US$395.3 million (2022)
2,100 (2022)
The company operates gas stations in Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona.
History[edit]
The company's roots go back to a single Chicago, Illinois, gas station in 1938.[1] The owner of Martin Oil, Edward R. Herbst, was credited with becoming "the P.T. Barnum of gasoline" by engaging in unusual marketing strategies, undercutting the competition with low prices, and pioneering the convenience store model.[2] According to his son, Jerry, each time the elder Herbst would open a new gas station, competitors would bemoan the move: "Here comes that terrible Herbst", inspiring the chain's nickname.[3] Alternatively, the name is traced to a specific incident that occurred in the late 1940s as Herbst was moving to the western United States; when applying for a business license in Cheyenne, Wyoming, one of the city councilmembers (who owned a competing gas station) was overheard saying "If we let that terrible Herbst in, we'll all go under!"[4]
Ed (1910–66) and his wife Lorraine (1909–73) had two children: Dolly (1932–2001), a model who married actor Wild Bill Elliott, and Jerry (1938–2018), a businessman. The site of the Herbst family's original Las Vegas-area home is now part of the MGM Grand Las Vegas resort property.[5] Jerry graduated from the University of Southern California in 1959 and returned to Las Vegas to help with the family business, rebranding it as the Terrible Herbst Oil Co. that year.[6] Both Dolly and Jerry had executive positions in Terrible's.[5] Jerry is credited with the design for the company's mascot, known alternatively as "Mr. Terrible"[7] or "Bad Guy",[8] a cowboy wearing a black hat and a handlebar moustache.[6] Jerry himself was credited as being "the best bad guy of the West".[9]
The Terrible Herbst company is run by Jerry's sons, Tim, Troy, and Ed Herbst.[10] The company's headquarters is located at 5195 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119. Its stations are typically of the Chevron brand. In 2018, the company opened Terrible's Road House in Jean, billed as the largest Chevron in the world, with 96 gas pumps, 60 restroom stalls, and a 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) convenience store.[11]