On the Run is a flagship convenience store brand developed by ExxonMobil, used at Exxon and Mobil stations in the United States, BP and Mobil in Australia and at Esso and Mobil stations internationally. Alimentation Couche-Tard acquired the On the Run trademark and franchise network in the U.S. in 2009, and Parkland Fuel did the same in Canada in 2016; ExxonMobil retains full ownership of the brand in the rest of the world. On the Run stores are described as larger and having more products than older-model convenience stores, featuring "fresh snacks, fill-in groceries, health & beauty supplies, plus quick meal options". The name "On the Run" is used, untranslated, around the world. Locations in the Canadian province of Quebec utilize similar branding as Marché Express; Imperial Oil faced criticism in 2007 when it planned to rebrand the locations as On the Run, but threats of boycotts by the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society, as well as sanctions from the Office québécois de la langue française, caused the company to backtrack on this decision.
Divestments
On April 29, 2009, Canadian convenience store company Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operates stores in the United States under the Circle K name, acquired the 450-store On the Run franchise network plus 43 ExxonMobil-owned and operated stores in the Phoenix, Arizona area. In August 2011, 7-Eleven announced it was acquiring 51 ExxonMobil-owned and operated On the Run locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area; the convenience stores were re-branded as 7-Eleven, but will still sell Exxon-branded gasoline. Houston-area On The Run locations were rebranded either as a Timewise or Star Stop convenience store since 7-Eleven does not operate franchises in the Houston Metro area. In 2016, Imperial Oil began to divest its retail locations in Canada; various Esso locations in Ontario and Quebec were sold to Couche-Tard, and 7-Eleven acquired 148 locations in Alberta and British Columbia for $2.8 billion. Parkland Fuel acquired the remaining On the Run/Marché Express franchise network and associated trademarks in Canada, and has since begun to utilize the brand in conjunction with its own retail brands.
Operations
Australia
On The Run is an umbrella brand of 24-hour convenience stores coupled with service stations owned and operated by the family-owned Peregrine Corporation. Peregrine founder Fred Shahin opened his first service station in 1984 and the company now owns over 160 sites across South Australia. Although the sites were originally branded Mobil, they initially switched to On the Run branding (with minor acknowledgement of selling Mobil fuels", then to OTR branding, with a switch to BP fuels. Many OTR outlets operate alongside other brands such as Subway, Brumby's Bakeries, Oporto and Wendy's. In 2018 the chain received significant criticism from consumers and environmental groups for a decision to ban reusable coffee cups, amongst growing concerns of the negative effect of the 1.2 billion disposable cups that end-up in landfill in Australia each year. Also in 2018, On The Run became the inaugural title sponsor of the Supercars Championship event The Bend SuperSprint at the Peregrine-owned The Bend Motorsport Park.
Ireland
Ireland has many On the Run stores. Most of them used to have a food company called Nine-One-One in them, but they were ordered by the High Court to withdraw in 32 stores.
United Kingdom
Esso's company-operated convenience stores in the UK were run through ROC UK, a subsidiary of Esso Petroleum Company Limited and ExxonMobil. Initially branded Snack & Shop, the stores were gradually converted to the On The Run format after Exxon acquired Mobil. Between 2011 and 2015 Esso/ROC sold off 359 of its company outlets in regional tranches to three large independent operators - Euro Garages, MRH, and Rontec, although it continued to supply them with Esso branded fuel through an independent wholesaler, Greenergy. None of the new owners continued to use On the Run. Euro Garages mainly used third party names, notably Spar and - for food offerings - Greggs, Subway, Burger King and KFC; MRH used a mix of third party names and its own Hursts C-store branding; and Rontec initially mainly used its own Shop'n Drive name, but occasionally Spar and a discount format, Family Shopper. Esso retained ownership of around 200 sites that have Tesco Express stores where the site is leased to Tesco but sells Esso branded fuel.
In 2003, On the Run was named Chain of the Year by Convenience Store Decisions magazine. In 2007, the chain was again recognized by CSD with the Best in Class Foodservice Award for its line of proprietary gourmet breakfast sandwiches under the On the Run Cafe brand name.
