Laredo Taco Company

Laredo Taco Company is a proprietary Mexican fast-food brand operated within Stripes convenience stores, a chain of more than 700 locations across Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The brand is not a standalone restaurant chain but an in-store foodservice concept that gives Stripes locations a differentiated prepared-food offering. More than 300 Stripes locations feature the Laredo Taco Company brand of Mexican fast food, alongside another proprietary food brand, Country Cookin’. The concept is closely tied to the Stripes retail network, which is headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas, and owned by 7-Eleven. Stripes itself is one of the largest non-refining convenience store operators in the United States, and its stores sell fuel under a range of brands including Sunoco, Chevron, Conoco, Exxon, Phillips 66, Shell, Texaco, Valero, and unbranded fuel. Laredo Taco Company therefore functions as a foodservice brand within a larger convenience-retail and fuel-retail ecosystem. Its market presence is concentrated in Texas and adjacent states where Stripes operates, and its parentage has changed over time through corporate transactions involving Susser Holdings, Energy Transfer Partners, Sunoco LP, and ultimately 7-Eleven. The brand’s identity is built on providing Mexican fast food—tacos and related items—to convenience-store customers, a segment where proprietary foodservice has become an important differentiator. Because the brand is embedded in Stripes stores, its expansion and visibility are directly linked to the Stripes store network and to 7-Eleven’s ownership of that network.

Laredo Taco Company is a proprietary foodservice brand associated with Stripes Convenience Stores. Stripes operates more than 700 convenience stores in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma and is headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Laredo Taco Company brand is featured in more than 300 of those locations, offering Mexican fast food to convenience-store customers. The brand’s history is intertwined with the corporate history of Stripes. In 2007, the company that became Stripes acquired the Town & Country Food Stores chain. In August 2009, it acquired 25 Quick Stuff convenience stores in Texas and Louisiana from Jack in the Box Inc. In August 2014, Stripes was acquired by Houston-based Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company of East Coast fuel brand Sunoco, when ETP bought Susser Holdings Corporation, which operated more than 580 stores at the time. In late 2017, all Stripes locations in Louisiana and parts of Texas were sold to 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven initially could not acquire all Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma locations due to a noncompete agreement with 7-Eleven franchises such as Delek US Holdings. However, 7-Eleven later acquired the remaining Stripes locations after Delek terminated its franchising agreement and rebranded its stores as DK, with 7-Eleven maintaining a presence in those markets through Stripes or Speedway for El Paso, Texas stores. Throughout these ownership changes, Laredo Taco Company remained a proprietary food brand within qualifying Stripes stores, serving as an in-store Mexican fast-food concept rather than a standalone restaurant chain.

• More than 300 Stripes locations feature the proprietary Laredo Taco Company brand of Mexican fast food.

• In late 2017, all Stripes locations in Louisiana and parts of Texas were sold to 7-Eleven.

• In August 2014, Stripes was acquired by Energy Transfer Partners, parent of Sunoco, through the purchase of Susser Holdings Corporation.

Proprietary in-store Mexican fast-food brand differentiating Stripes convenience stores.

• Laredo Taco Company Mexican fast food

  Proprietary brand of Mexican fast food offered at more than 300 Stripes convenience stores.

1. 1Stripes Convenience Storesen.wikipedia.org
2. 27-Eleven, Inc.'s Laredo Taco Company® Celebrates National Taco Day with Taco Tuesday Deals - Morningstarnews.google.com
3. 3First Laredo Taco Company Drive-Thru Opens at Newest 7-Eleven Evolution Storeprnewswire.com
4. 4Texas 7-Eleven Opens Drive-Thru Taco Shop; I Demand One for Lubbockkfmx.com