Henry D. Sahakian was the founder of

Uni-Mart Uni-Mart was a Pennsylvania-based company that owned, operated and franchised numerous convenience stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States (US). In 2008, the company operated 283 convenience stores and gas stations in the US state ...

, which quickly became one of the largest convenience store and gasoline station chains in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. A Christian Armenian from Iran who moved to the United States in 1956, he studied mechanical engineering at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. There, he founded Unico, a builder of student housing projects. The venture was a success, but Sahakian sought new challenges and, noting the rapid growth of

Southland Corporation 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

convenience stores throughout the region, flew to the chain's

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

headquarters to personally petition for an exclusive territory of stores. When Southland offered him only a single store, Sahakian turned to Munford, Inc., the Atlanta-based owners of the Ma-jik Market convenience store chain, which granted him a 20-year license for convenience stores in the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Sahakian opened several Ma-jik Market stores in Central Pennsylvania in the early 1970s and by 1980 was operating 90 stores in the state. In 1981, he severed his relationship with the Maj-jik Market chain and rebranded his stores as Uni-Mart. His convenience store chain continued to rapidly expand in the Mid-Atlantic region and eventually grew to nearly 300 stores at its peak. Sahakian was also a licensed pilot and co-founded Sana Airlines, which later became Atlantic Airlines. In addition to housing development, airline, and convenience store businesses, Sahakian and his family also owned various

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

, and automotive

oil change Motor oil, engine oil, or engine lubricant is any one of various substances used for the lubrication of internal combustion engines. They typically consist of base oils enhanced with various additives, particularly antiwear additives, detergen ...

specialty shop franchises in the

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...

area.

Philanthropy

Henry Sahakian, and his wife Seda, established the Henry D. Sahakian Family Fund to help offer financial support to various

Centre County, Pennsylvania Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County comprises the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The lands ...

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

s. Sahakian received the prestigious Oak Tree Award form the Centre Foundation for his philanthropic support and devoted leadership.

References

American businesspeople in retailing American people of Armenian descent Armenian businesspeople Iranian people of Armenian descent Iranian emigrants to the United States 1937 births 2021 deaths People from Tabriz {{US-business-bio-stub