APRIL 8-14, 2024 SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 39 I can first recall seeing the Kum & Go name during a trip to play basketball in Arkansas. The branding was instantly iconic for my teammates and me. I suppose the double entendre in the name appealed to our teenage sensibilities. The name, an apparent reference to the phrase “come and go,” using the initials of founders W.A. Krause and T.S. Gentle, continues to be memorable and funny to this day for fans of the brand. That branding even made an appearance in a 2006 movie I like when star Johnny Knoxville was seen wearing a company T-shirt in “Jackass Number Two.” Beyond the gas discounts, huge sodas on the cheap and friendly staff members that have contributed to my fandom, it’s also one of the earliest examples I can think of in my life where a catchy name resulted in brand loyalty. So, when a January article by CSP Daily News reported on an impending name change, it caused some alarm for this sentimental Midwesterner. Citing people familiar with the matter, CSP Daily News reported Salt Lake City-based Maverik would retire the Kum & Go brand by 2025 after buying the Des Moines, Iowa, convenience store chain in 2023. The Kum & Go stores reportedly would take on the Maverik brand name. “I think there was some concern about the inadvertent double entendre of the Kum & Go name,” one of the sources told CSP Daily News. I would argue that the double entendre is not all that inadvertent and in fact is a selling point for Kum & Go, especially when it comes to branding. For this piece, I inquired with Maverik about the CSP Daily News report. I received a news release indicating that Maverik recently completed rebrands of Kum & Go stores in existing Maverik markets in Utah and Colorado. The rebranding decision does not appear to be fully made, per the release. “Feedback from our Utah and Colorado customers has been excellent thus far, and Maverik will continue to evaluate rebrands in additional markets,” Maverik CEO Chuck Maggelet said in the release. “Ongoing market research as well as the results from Maverik’s initial rebranded stores will help guide future branding decisions.” I personally hope the Kum & Go name sticks around in this region. Kum & Go’s brand loyalty appears to be especially present in the Midwest and the Springfield area, and the company in recent years has capitalized on that. In a May 2019 Springfield Business Journal article, dubbed “Why is SGF so enticing to Kum & Go?,” a spokesperson said that through 2020, the company would have invested $140 million into the local metropolitan statistical area since 2012. Clearly, Kum & Go saw the demand. New owner Maverik does as well. As far as branding, I suppose it comes down to why Maverik made the acquisition, as well as its corporate goals. Was it solely a real estate and retail play to shore up locations in profitable markets? Was the brand recognition of Kum & Go a factor in the decision, and how important is that in markets where Maverik isn’t well known, like ours? Certainly, Kum & Go is a very well-known brand in the Midwest. As far as brands go, you’d be hard put to find a Springfieldian who doesn’t know the name and exactly what the company does. That’s pretty powerful in the marketing world, and I’m sure that buying into that brand goodwill isn’t lost on Maverik. At the end of the day, it’s a gas station, and my life will go on regardless of the name on the building. I will choose to shop at Kum & Go/Maverik dependent on its offerings when it’s all said and done. Still, I’d just rather give business to Kum & Go than Maverik. The latter name doesn’t have a sentimental place in my heart, and I bet I’m not alone in this area. I’ll be here with my large soda and sausage, egg and cheese croissant sandwich, waiting to see what happens. Springfield Business Journal Digital Editor Geoff Pickle can be reached at gpickle@sbj.net. A toast to chardonnay wines outside of Europe Kum & Go name change would be a loss for sentimental Midwesterners Chardonnay – a name that indicates the height of excellence and, at times, the pit of mediocrity. For centuries, the chardonnay wines of France were considered to be at the apex of all of the world’s white wines and very often were priced accordingly. During the Prohibition period in America – Jan. 17, 1920, to Dec. 5, 1933 – American-made wines became totally nonexistent. Since the American wineries were under the strict scrutiny of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, wines had to be smuggled into this country from overseas, and they were often pricey. Just as a point of useless information, the expression “It’s the real McCoy” indicated wine or spirits that were smuggled into this country by Tim McCoy, as his “stuff” was always of the highest quality. In this way, the rich and famous were introduced to the best of the best from Europe. When Prohibition ended, the American public had come to expect that the newly freed American wine industry would produce the same wines as it did in the past, which just could not happen. Most of the wineries had pulled out their grape vines and planted other products to remain in business. Also, it takes a new vine about five years to produce adequate wine grapes, and some wines need additional years of aging. The new American wines were not the equal of the foreign wines, and it took several years to bring the wineries back up to the production of better wines. The recognition of the return of fine wines from the American wine industry came in 1976 when, at the Paris blind wine tasting, also known as the Judgment of Paris, a bottle of Chateau Montelena 1973 Napa Valley Chardonnay took first place over all of the much more expensive French chardonnay wines that had always won and cast the eyes and palates of the world on to California wines. So important was this event that in 2008, Hollywood made a movie about it called “Bottle Shock,” and I recommend seeing it if you are interested in wine or even just curious. Anicca Chardonnay ($40) This chardonnay comes from the Willamette Valley of Oregon, a region that is rapidly becoming the source of excellent examples of the Burgundian varieties of chardonnay and pinot noir. Summer flowers are the first aroma encountered when the wine is poured into the glass, followed by citrus, fresh ground herbs and oak. These aromas follow through to the flavor, where they merge and mingle with an obvious and often hard-to-find buttery sensation, which remains on the palate for a very long time, a feature that is not often found in the quickly made chardonnays. Sonoma-Cutrer Sonoma Coast 2022 Chardonnay ($25) There is something in this wine that is not present in the quickly made chardonnays, and that is oak. For centuries, oak aging has been the final step in making a chardonnay and has become an integral part of the flavor and aroma. The aromas of peach and nectarine and oak spice with hints of caramel is easily discernible along with pear, apple and roasted nuts. The finish is a host of freshpicked fruit displaying peach, apple, apricot and an under flavor of honey, vanilla and oak. I found this to be an excellent and affordable example of the variety. Yarden 2022 Chardonnay ($26) From the hills of the Galilee in the nation of Israel, a grape-growing and winemaking region that is as old as the Bible, comes a modern chardonnay of distinction. It is a well-made chardonnay that prominently displays the aroma of green apple, peach and citrus with oak and vanilla firmly in the background. The flavor mirrors the aroma, and the finish is unusually long for a chardonnay. This wine can prove that the chardonnay grape has the ability to produce truly fine and interesting wines, and I found it to be an excellent representative of the variety. Wine columnist Bennet Bodenstein can be reached at frojhe1@att.net. WINE REVIEW Bennet Bodenstein FROM THE WEB Geoff Pickle OPINION WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU Springfield Business Journal welcomes responses from readers. Letters to the editor should be brief, preferably under 300 words, and may be edited for clarity, style and length. No anonymous letters will be printed. Send letters to sbj@sbj.net. 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