
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990                   TAG: 9003022928
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HOP-INS NOW GETTY, BUT BUNNY MAY STAY

The Getty Petroleum Corp. purchase of Hop-In Food Stores has been completed and the new owner has renamed the convenience stores and service stations Getty Marts.

William Chase will be chief operating officer of the Roanoke-based chain of 70 stores and general manager of Kwik Farms Inc., the Getty subsidiary that owns the chain.

Chase, a former marketing vice president, has had a long career in convenience stores, said Stephen Salzman of Getty. J. Larry Trull, president of Hop-In for two years, has left the company.

Although the Getty Mart trade name replaces Hop-In, Salzman said, "We still might keep the rabbit . . . That decision hasn't been made yet. We don't want to kill the rabbit."

A rabbit logo and the Hop-In name were picked when John Hudgins of Roanoke started the chain 22 years ago. Hudgins sold the chain to Silcorp Ltd. of Toronto in 1982 and Silcorp sold it to Getty, a Long Island seller of gasoline and petroleum products that has convenience stores in 13 states from Maine to Virginia.

Salzman said he hopes the company will add stores to the new Virginia organization. There were 134 Hop-In stores five years ago.

by CNB