freddy
2010-05-21 13:56:31 UTC
When did the Terribles empire originate and how did they come about
the name?
A:
Terrible's does, at first glance, seem like a, er, terrible handle for
a brand of gas stations and casinos. But it's also a legendary name in
Las Vegas; it's so familiar that few people who’ve been around for any
length of time give it a second thought.
The story starts in Chicago in the 1930s, when one Ed Herbst bought a
gas station. A marketer at heart, Herbst, who's been called the "P.T.
Barnum of Gasoline," soon realized what a cutthroat business he’d
entered and that his station had to stand out to be successful. He
subsequently used every trick in the book to gain market share. He
held giveaways with a fill-up, such as flowers for the ladies and
sodas for the kiddies; for the menfolk, he hired teenage girls to pump
gas. Everyone got bubblegum. He offered free pony rides behind his
station and sold beer, cigarettes, and magazines inside. Ed Herbst is
credited with establishing the full-service gas station, as opposed to
just the ordinary gas station.
Most importantly, he was admittedly shameless in cutting his gasoline
profit margin to the bone and making it up in volume and inside sales.
He recognized that car owners would drive two miles out of their way
to save a nickel on a gallon of gas, then head inside and pay through
the nose for highly marked-up convenience-store goods.
In the late 1940s, Ed Herbst packed up his family and moved west,
opening a chain of Herbst service stations as he went, undercutting
the competition so severely that he wound up with an unsavory
reputation. The story goes that when he applied for a business license
in Cheyenne, Wyoming, one of the city counselors, who happened to own
a gas station, exclaimed, "If we let that terrible Herbst in, we'll
all go under!"
When Ed heard the words "terrible Herbst," he thought that would be a,
er, wonderful name for his empire.
The Herbsts settled in southern Nevada, where the big signs above
Terrible Herbst service stations tickled newcomers. This writer once
came to town with a girlfriend who got such a kick out of the name
that she adopted it as a synonym for a hangover. "I had so much to
drink last night that this morning, I have a terrible herbst!"
Along the way, the "Herbst" was dropped in favor of just plain
"Terrible's," which is symbolized by the familiar "Bad Guy" cowboy
logo. Today, the Herbst Gaming Inc. is still run by the Herbst family,
principally Ed Herbst's three grandsons.
the name?
A:
Terrible's does, at first glance, seem like a, er, terrible handle for
a brand of gas stations and casinos. But it's also a legendary name in
Las Vegas; it's so familiar that few people who’ve been around for any
length of time give it a second thought.
The story starts in Chicago in the 1930s, when one Ed Herbst bought a
gas station. A marketer at heart, Herbst, who's been called the "P.T.
Barnum of Gasoline," soon realized what a cutthroat business he’d
entered and that his station had to stand out to be successful. He
subsequently used every trick in the book to gain market share. He
held giveaways with a fill-up, such as flowers for the ladies and
sodas for the kiddies; for the menfolk, he hired teenage girls to pump
gas. Everyone got bubblegum. He offered free pony rides behind his
station and sold beer, cigarettes, and magazines inside. Ed Herbst is
credited with establishing the full-service gas station, as opposed to
just the ordinary gas station.
Most importantly, he was admittedly shameless in cutting his gasoline
profit margin to the bone and making it up in volume and inside sales.
He recognized that car owners would drive two miles out of their way
to save a nickel on a gallon of gas, then head inside and pay through
the nose for highly marked-up convenience-store goods.
In the late 1940s, Ed Herbst packed up his family and moved west,
opening a chain of Herbst service stations as he went, undercutting
the competition so severely that he wound up with an unsavory
reputation. The story goes that when he applied for a business license
in Cheyenne, Wyoming, one of the city counselors, who happened to own
a gas station, exclaimed, "If we let that terrible Herbst in, we'll
all go under!"
When Ed heard the words "terrible Herbst," he thought that would be a,
er, wonderful name for his empire.
The Herbsts settled in southern Nevada, where the big signs above
Terrible Herbst service stations tickled newcomers. This writer once
came to town with a girlfriend who got such a kick out of the name
that she adopted it as a synonym for a hangover. "I had so much to
drink last night that this morning, I have a terrible herbst!"
Along the way, the "Herbst" was dropped in favor of just plain
"Terrible's," which is symbolized by the familiar "Bad Guy" cowboy
logo. Today, the Herbst Gaming Inc. is still run by the Herbst family,
principally Ed Herbst's three grandsons.