Industry Convenience Store Number of locations 180 Stores Founded 1 November 1971 | Founder James H. Thornton Website www.thorntonsinc.com Type of business Privately held company | |
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Area served Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee Headquarters Louisville, Kentucky, United States CEO Matthew A. Thornton (Aug 2001–) Areas served Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee | ||
Thorntons Inc. is a gasoline and convenience store chain with locations in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. It was founded on November 1, 1971 by James H. Thornton. Thorntons is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.
Thornton, a 1946 graduate of New Albany High School, first gained entry into the gasoline industry working at a station owned by his stepfather. In 1951, at the age of 24, he became one of the partners of Dixie Dance gas stations. Thornton eventually joined Ashland Inc. in 1955 maintaining a relationship with them until 1970. The first "Thorntons" location opened in 1971 in Clarksville, Indiana. The original site featured a kiosk building and a full-service attendant. In the 1980s Thorntons transitioned from kiosk locations to convenience stores and grew to over 100 locations.
In 2013 Thorntons introduced a larger store with an expanded food program in select Louisville, Kentucky and Southern Indiana stores. In 2016, this platform was expanded in select Chicago metropolitan area stores along with the roll out of Unleaded15TM. Unleaded15 provides an octane rating of 88 and contains approximately 15% ethanol.