Our Journey

Today McClure Oil Corporation is a fourth-generation family owned business. The company headquarters is in Marion, Indiana, with offices in Logansport and Indianapolis. Our company employs approximately 500 people in 20 different communities, and we own and directly operate more than 37 convenience stores and fueling facilities in the state of Indiana. In addition to our retail stores, we wholesale and deliver fuel, lubes, and oils through our trucking company to any business, home, farm or municipality with a fuel need.  In 2010, Cubberley’s Distribution Corporation was acquired. Cubberley’s Distribution Corporation is a tobacco, candy, food service and sundries distribution business and operates a Cash and Carry warehouse open to the public in Marion, Indiana.

Our journey was a result of one man being in the right place at the right time, reinforced by several generations of hard work and innovation. During the early 1900’s, Edward McClure built kitchen cabinets in Marion, Indiana.  Edward often earned extra money unloading coal at a railroad siding.  In 1917, he opened the McClure Coal Company after noticing the demand for “black fuel”.  In 1934, while Edward’s business was thriving, he passed away in a tragic accident on the job.  His son George, who had learned the business as a youth, then took over the company.  George soon added fuel oil to the products sold and renamed the company McClure Coal and Oil Company.

And as the story goes, it was around 1935 when a passing motorist ran out of gasoline near the entrance of McClure Coal and Oil Company and coasted to a stop.  George McClure, who kept just enough gasoline on hand for his own vehicles, sold the motorist a few gallons.  It was then that the idea of the retail gasoline operation was born.  George added gasoline and automotive oil to the coal business and created “Marion’s Complete Fuel Service.”

The late 1950’s and 1960’s was a transitional period for McClure Coal and Oil, as using coal for heat was becoming less attractive and the business was transitioning to liquid fuel.  The first McClure “gas station” was built in 1963. Sites were added or acquired, and more products were added to the small buildings such as tobacco, pop, and candy.  As the business continued to evolve, so did McClure Oil.  When self-service fueling became legal in 1975, McClure Oil was the first company to operate a “self-service gasoline station” in the state of Indiana, and this store continues to operate today.

In the late 1980’s, the company began building and renovating their current sites into larger “convenience stores,” and the brand was updated with a new logo and image.  Since then there has been a steady progression of site acquisitions and new product lines.  Today our stores and fuel stops distribute as many as 9 grades of fuel:  gasoline, diesel, E-85, and Kerosene.  Many stores have food service franchises including Noble Roman’s pizza, Subway, and Charlie Biggs chicken.

What had started as a cabinet manufacturing company, then coal distributor, has grown into a convenience store chain and wholesale fuel distribution and transportation company that now covers most of Indiana.  Our success is attributed to a passion towards our business, a great team of staff, and a dedication to our customers.