Erickson Oil Company
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Erickson Oil Company was founded by Herman Erickson and his son, Claire Erickson in 1950 when they opened their first station store in Red Wing, Minnesota. The stations were arguably the first convenience stores to appear with no repair services offered. At first, the station stores and products were branded "Erickson." In 1956, the "Holiday" brand name starts to appear. Eventually, the Holiday name appeared on stations and many of the products sold in the store.

Herman got into the retail business in 1928 when he traded his farm for a general store. In the 1930's, he along with his brothers bought an oil refinery which they disassembled and moved to Minnesota. It was named the Northwestern Refining Company.

In the early 1980's, their company was split into the Holiday chain and the Freedom Valu chain of stations.

Brand names: Holiday, Erickson, Dur-A-Lub, Super Valu, Pure Gold, Powrlube, Golden Penn.