Terrible Herbst, or Terrible Herbst Oil Company, is an American privately held

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

company based in

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fif ...

, United States. The company operates

s in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

History

The company's roots go back to a single

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, gas station in 1938. The owner of Martin Oil, Edward R. Herbst, was credited with becoming "the

P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...

of gasoline" by engaging in unusual marketing strategies, undercutting the competition with low prices, and pioneering the

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

model. According to his son, Jerry, each time the elder Herbst would open a new gas station, competitors would bemoan the move: "Here comes that terrible Herbst", inspiring the chain's nickname. Alternatively, the name is traced to a specific incident that occurred in the late 1940s as Herbst was moving to the western United States; when applying for a business license in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

, one of the city councilmembers (who owned a competing gas station) was overheard saying "If we let that terrible Herbst in, we'll all go under!" Ed (1910–66) and his wife Lorraine (1909–73) had two children: Dolly (1932–2001), a model who married actor

Wild Bill Elliott Wild Bill Elliott (born Gordon Nance, October 16, 1904 – November 26, 1965) was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B Westerns, particularly the Red Ryder series of films. Early life Elliott was born Gor ...

, and Jerry (1938–2018), a businessman. The site of the Herbst family's original Las Vegas-area home is now part of the

MGM Grand Las Vegas The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by number of rooms ...

resort property. Jerry graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in 1959 and returned to Las Vegas to help with the family business, rebranding it as the Terrible Herbst Oil Co. that year. Both Dolly and Jerry had executive positions in Terrible's. Jerry is credited with the design for the company's mascot, known alternatively as "Mr. Terrible" or "Bad Guy", a cowboy wearing a black hat and a handlebar moustache. Jerry himself was credited as being "the best bad guy of the West". The Terrible Herbst company is run by Jerry's sons, Tim, Troy, and Ed Herbst. The company's headquarters is located across the street from

Allegiant Stadium Allegiant Stadium is a domed stadium located in Paradise, Nevada. It is the home stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels college football team, the Las Ve ...

. Its stations are typically of the

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brand. In 2018, the company opened Terrible's Road House in Jean, billed as the largest Chevron in the world, with 96 gas pumps, 60 restroom stalls, and a convenience store.

Affiliates

Herbst Gaming

Herbst Gaming was a

slot route operator A Slot route operator is a company that owns and operates slot machines in several locations. By providing this service, many small businesses are able to provide slot machines that they could not otherwise afford to operate. As operators have gr ...

and casino company owned by Jerry Herbst's three sons. It was formed in 1987 to service slot machines in the Terrible Herbst stores. In 1997, it began opening and acquiring full-fledged

casinos Casinos may refer to: * Casinos, Valencia, municipality in Spain * David Casinos (born 1972), Spanish Paralympian athlete * The Casinos, an American popular music group See also *Casino (disambiguation) A casino is a facility that houses and accom ...

, many of which were branded as Terrible's casinos. It operated two casinos in Pahrump before opening a third casino (on the site of the old

Continental Hotel and Casino Silver Sevens Hotel and Casino (formerly known as Terrible's) is a Las Vegas locals casino and hotel east of the Las Vegas Strip, in Paradise, Nevada. Silver Sevens has 370 rooms and a casino. Silver Sevens was the host hotel for the Terrible' ...

) in Las Vegas in 2000. However, a ban on smoking and weak gasoline prices hurt the company's profits. The company went into

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

in 2009, and the Herbst family gave up its ownership stake. Herbst Gaming subsequently changed its name to Affinity Gaming and dropped its use of the Terrible's name. Terrible Herbst - Neon Museum - Stierch - Dec 2019

Terrible Herbst - Neon Museum - Stierch - Dec 2019

JETT Gaming

JETT Gaming is a slot route operator and casino company formed by Jerry Herbst in 2011, after the family lost its ownership of Herbst Gaming. In 2012, JETT bought out the slot route contracts for Terrible Herbst stores from the former Herbst Gaming, and also acquired the Terrible's casino in

Searchlight, Nevada Searchlight is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, at the topographic saddle between two mountain ranges. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census i ...

. In 2015, JETT bought the Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall in Jean, Nevada from

MGM Resorts International MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Pa ...

for $12 million; the property was later rebranded as Terrible's Hotel & Casino. The company also acquired a second casino in Searchlight, the Searchlight Nugget, in 2015. Terrible's Hotel & Casino in Jean announced its indefinite closure in November 2021.

Terrible Herbst Motorsports

*2004 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge * 2006 Las Vegas Terrible's Cup II Pit Crew Challenge winner * 2007 Las Vegas Terrible's Cup II Pit Crew Challenge winner

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.terribleherbst.com/
Vintage photographs of Terrible Herbst service stations, c.1940s & 1950s
Oil companies of the United States Companies based in Paradise, Nevada Privately held companies based in the Las Vegas Valley