The middle of the 20th century found the nation on the cusp of dramatic social and commercial change. Post-war prosperity caused citizens to reach for their piece of the American dream, which typically meant a house in the suburbs, and a car in the garage. Our love affair with the car had taken root, and people drove to connect the dots of their increasingly hectic lives.
Amarillo was no different. While the downtown district still had the preponderance of shopping opportunities, there was already movement afoot to expand the city limits. This would ultimately lead to the development of retail centers and malls toward the south and west of the city center, changing the way that people shopped.
It was into this tableau, in 1950, that Eldon “Lefty” and Novie Mitchell opened a tiny convenience store at the corner of 15th and Washington. Today, with 99 stores doing business across four states, Toot’n Totum—a reference to early customers who would announce their arrival with a toot of a horn, and a clerk who would tote their order to their car—is celebrating its 75th anniversary.
A New Decade
Amarillo had about 75,000 residents in 1950. The Air Base, which had opened in 1942, had brought newcomers, but the base was shuttered in 1946 once the war was resolved. The base reopened the next year, signaling a growth spurt of 80 percent for the coming decade.
Convenience stores (or “c-stores” in industry jargon) were nothing new by this time. The Southland Ice Co. had opened its first store in Dallas in 1927. Originally known as Tote’m Stores, they changed their name to 7-Eleven in 1946. An industry was born, a reflection of changing consumer needs and wants. C-stores could compete against traditional supermarkets—which had more restrictive operating hours—by opening early and staying open late. Eventually, this meant 24-hour operations. Convenience truly was king.
While they competed for the customer’s dollar, both c-stores and supermarkets flourished in the 1950s. Though c-stores had already been around for a quarter of a century, industry-wide statistics were not tallied. But we do know that the number of supermarkets more than doubled, from 14,000 to 33,000, by 1960. The two approaches could not have been more different. Early c-stores fell in the range of 1,000 to 1,500 square feet—focusing on household staples like milk and bread, along with snacks and soft drinks—while mid-century supermarkets ranged from 10,000 to 30,000 square feet.
The smaller footprint of a c-store meant they could be placed strategically on busy street corners, or shoehorned in between intersections. A shopping trip was intended to be only a few minutes, unlike at a supermarket. The convenience justified slightly higher prices, especially if you only needed a few items. The Mitchells took this model and ran with it.
Growth Came Quickly
Their first store was an instant success. Five years later, they had six stores. But then Lefty passed away unexpectedly in 1955, leaving Novie to raise two young children and the fledgling enterprise. She rose to the occasion, taking on larger competitors and building a loyal hometown clientele.
Much of the chain’s growth came not from acquiring land and building new stores, but rather through acquisition. Novie systematically grew the company starting in the 1960s, setting in motion a long string of purchases that either laid competitors to rest, or sent them packing. In 1966, she acquired seven Anderson Dairy Stores. This was followed by 12 Jiffy Food Stores in 1969. Acquisition, as she discovered, was a very efficient means of satisfying her growth ambitions.
In the 1980s, she took on two c-store giants by buying four local Circle Ks in 1985, and then 15 7-Elevens in 1988. While Circle K has returned to the Amarillo scene in the past couple of years, 7-Eleven ran away as fast as it could. It has not been back.
Novie was a driving force at a time when women in business leadership roles were rare, savvy to the point of beating the big guys at their own game. “She was an amazing businessperson. She was singularly focused on serving the guest,” says John Lutz, vice president of fuel and marketing at Toot’n Totum. “She had a deep commitment to providing innovative service, and was the foundation in terms of our intense commitment to the guest.” Perhaps most importantly, he says, “she had very high standards so that she could make sure that her guests were well-served.”
Clearly on a roll at this point, Novie went on to acquire 11 Diamond Shamrocks in 1995. She passed away in 1998, leaving her son, Greg, at the helm. The firm still maintained a laser focus on the Amarillo market alone, bypassing growth opportunities elsewhere. Greg continued in his mother’s footsteps by buying 10 Phillips 66 stations in 2004.
But in 2013 the company pivoted by acquiring 10 Express Lane stores, which were scattered across the Panhandle. This marked Toot’n Totum’s first ventures outside the city limits. While geographic growth brings multiple challenges, it whetted the company’s appetite for more. Soon the company had stores popping up in Liberal, Kansas (2015); Boise City, Oklahoma (2015); nearby Canyon (2019); and Clayton, New Mexico (2020). A large travel center on Amarillo’s east side also signalled Toot’n Totum’s willingness to think outside of its traditional box, adding a Wendy’s franchise and its own Mitch’s Texas Style BBQ restaurant.
“When we move into a new market, we are bringing the full Toot’n Totum experience with us,” Lutz explains. The Express Lanes, for instance, were owned by a company out of Dalhart, who decided to sell the locations in 2013. Toot’n Totum made that 2013 purchase hoping to introduce the business to a broader audience. “When you’ve got a great team, product and concept, you want to share it with others,” Lutz says.
Then came another big pivot in 2022, when Toot’n Totum announced it was entering the Lubbock market, with plans for 20 stores. This marked its biggest and boldest growth move yet. Novie’s grandson Andrew took over the reins in 2023, overseeing this move into the Hub City.
“We got a lot of community feedback. There was an intense desire there to have the Toot’n Totum brand of service and experience,” Lutz reflects. “They didn’t just want c-stores. They wanted us. The response from people down there has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Innovation is a key competitive tactic, as it can cause customers to favor you above others. This is particularly true for another Toot’n Totum innovation: the drive-thru c-store. “We pioneered this. Local people think they must be everywhere, but it is not true,” Lutz says. He counts complimentary remarks from out-of-towners as affirmation of this innovation’s merit.
Growth always brings with it risks, costs and challenges. Lutz contends, though, that what has helped ensure the company’s success is its employees. “Every business has challenges as it grows in size and geography, but one thing that really differentiates us is our team. When you talk about the commitment that you have to make to do these things successfully, we are all in to being a service organization.” Being locally based makes it all easier to manage.
Today and Tomorrow
Today Toot’n Totum is ranked the 85th largest c-store chain in the U.S., according to CSP Daily News. With its 100th store set to open later this year on Amarillo’s north side, Toot’n Totum has extended its local dominance over a much larger footprint. While there are 152,000 c-stores in the U.S., Toot’n Totum may appear small in comparison, but its regional market share is impressive. The population of its service area is no more than one million people—less than one-third of a percent of the total U.S. population. To be No. 85 is a statement attesting to its success.
“Our mission is to create experiences worth repeating,” Lutz says enthusiastically, reflecting a sentiment that Novie believed in 75 years ago. It is a concise summary of the company’s five core values, which include being team-focused, customer-ready, and “quick, clean and convenient.”
The company is also not finished growing, as it seeks out more opportunities for expansion, ever mindful of the formula that has made it so successful here. Unlike the much larger national chains that prepare food in a central kitchen, then freeze it and ship it across the miles, Toot’n Totum is able to deliver fresh food over a much shorter distance. This allows, as Lutz says, for it to keep the customer experience first and foremost.
“There absolutely is a plan,” Lutz foresees. “We do have extended growth. We do have continued expansion plans. We are not growing just to grow, to have store counts. We do these things strategically, where we can be part of the community.”
As c-stores strive to compete and serve customers, there are ongoing challenges Toot’n Totum and the others face. “Peoples’ sense of need and convenience are evolving so rapidly,” Lutz continues. “The overall trend is staying keyed into and committed to the customer. We see consolidation continuing. We see rapid growth and innovation in food, which is a much more important c-store offering.” The convenience aspect, he notes, is paramount.
To mark its anniversary, the firm is introducing new features. “One of the things we are doing is rolling out our new rewards app. We are also doing some different marketing to expose the public to different parts of Toot’n Totum that maybe they don’t see on a daily basis,” Lutz says. This includes team member stories.
While Lefty did not live long enough to relish the fruits of his labors, Novie did. Lutz is certain she would be proud of how the company has flourished after her passing. While the stores and cities served are no longer as Amarillo-centric as what she once managed, the company’s mission has remained steady.
“I think her consistent question would be, how are we serving our customers,” Lutz proposes. “I think she would be delighted in the growth, the values she instilled on day one when it was one store. She would be thrilled to see those same values that led to the success of the first store are still honored, and the commitment is still as strong today.”
But there’s more, because this is a family-owned business, a phenomenon that rarely finds offspring willing to take the helm. “She would be delighted to see how her son and grandson have kept that commitment. The number of family businesses that successfully go through not one, but two, generational changes is minute,” he concludes.
Somewhere in the hereafter, Lefty and Novie are no doubt looking down with nods of approval.
