Terrible’s is so ingrained in the collective consciousness of Southern Nevada that locals barely even noticed when the company changed the name of its 150 stores in the Las Vegas Valley.
It happened only two years ago. After growing to more than 180 locations throughout Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona, the family-operated company decided to make a major branding shift and abandon the longtime label of Terrible Herbst.
“After a lot of market research here and across the country, we found that everyone was calling us Terrible’s, even though Terrible Herbst was the name of the store,” says Bryan Breeden, vice president of advertising and marketing. “That’s just what the community knew us as.”
Herbst
So all the signs and employee uniforms and countless other elements were simplified under the Terrible’s banner at all those convenience stores and gas stations, as well as 80 car wash spots. The patriotic red, white and blue color scheme didn’t change, nor did the prominent American flags flying at nearly every location.
And Mr. Terrible is still around, the mustachioed mascot sometimes known as “the best bad guy in the west,” an enduring symbol of the irony of the company’s name. The story of that name goes back to the time when Terrible’s first began expanding into the west, long after founder Ed Herbst opened his first gas station in Chicago in 1938.
“One of his first stations was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and that’s where the Terrible’s name was born,” explains his grandson, Tim Herbst. “He was a real aggressive marketer, always dropping his prices and one of the pioneers of self-serve gas stations. The story goes that once he had his opening in Cheyenne, one of his competitors said now that this ‘terrible s.o.b.’ was doing business, he was going to sell his station and leave. And a guy who was working for my grandfather put up a sign at the station that said Terrible’s, and that’s how it stuck.”
The westward expansion continued and Ed’s son Jerry Herbst took over the company in 1959, incorporating in Las Vegas under the name Terrible Herbst and establishing three gas stations here by the end of the year. There was no indication then, 65 years ago, that Las Vegas would grow into the city it is today, or that Terrible’s would become such a successful, diverse company and a ubiquitous part of the community—a convenience store in a city of convenience, somehow connected to its inhabitants in a more meaningful way.
“I think it evolved,” says Tim Herbst, who continues to anchor the company along with his brothers Ed and Troy, three Vegas-born sons of Jerry Herbst. “You either had a gas station with no convenience store or a store with no gas, and then in the ’80s everyone was putting them together. We tried to make ours almost like going to the supermarket once a week, where we had enough products that if you missed something at that store, we can give you that product.”
Company founder Jerry Herbst (left) and his sons (left to right) Ed, Tim and Troy attend a ceremony marking Terrible’s takeover of three Primm casinos in spring 2007.
The idea of filling specific community needs grew to include much more deep and broad endeavors, “giving back to the city that has been very good to us,” he says. “The Strip made this town and made everybody, raised the quality of life and brought jobs and made it such a wonderful city. It’s ten times better now than it was when we were raised here and has so much more to offer.”
If you grew up in Las Vegas visiting Terrible’s to get your car washed or your oil changed or just to pick up a snack and a drink, you probably remember seeing that sticker on the front door indicating the store was a safe place. The stores have been aligned with the National Safe Place Network’s mission to help local youth in crisis for decades, and that’s one of many outreach and philanthropy initiatives to strengthen the company’s bonds with locals. Mr. Terrible’s Round Up is an ongoing program encouraging customers to donate $1 or $3 at the register to benefit the Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities, which funds various organizations that meet the needs of children throughout Southern Nevada.
“We are passionate about being members of this community and we pride ourselves on being obsessively focused on our team members and customers,” says Breeden. “We’re across four states and we do very specific community and philanthropy programs in each state.” He also points out the Terrible’s Cares UNLV scholarship program that supports a new incoming student each year.
Matt Osa, Terrible’s chief operating officer, says the company’s established practice of surveying customers and local organizations in order to supply specific products to suit the needs of various communities became even more important during the COVID pandemic.
“We were fortunate enough to be considered essential,” Osa says. “The community has allowed us to grow and our goal every day is to support the community. As we grow they grow. COVID was truly an eye opener in how we could support them in their time of need, and it was nice to be open and help the residents of Las Vegas during that time.”
Riley Herbst, #98, son of Troy Herbst.
The Herbst family’s involvement in off-road desert racing runs parallel to the company’s brand and ideals and has played a role in that community connection as well. Jerry Herbst, who passed away in 2018, and friend and Las Vegas residential developer Mart Collins founded Terrible Herbst Motorsports, and Ed and Tim Herbst became the all-time winningest team in SCORE Trophy Truck history. Troy Herbst dominated SCORE Class 1 for years.
“Off-road racing is sort of a big family by itself,” Troy Herbst says. “It’s a passionate community. You’re out there against the environment and it keeps you sharp and thinking. It’s not like [racing] on a NASCAR track.
“I think racing is just in our DNA, from my father to Ed, Tim and I, and our kids. We want to win every day in business and we also love the competition in racing. My dad wanted to keep us together as a family and I think keep us way from any bad environments, and we were always doing something as a family. My mom wishes it would have been tennis.”
Osa says desert racing has added a lot to the company. “We are big supporters of charities involving kids and veterans. That family connection, spending time with family and racing with their boys out in the desert, it’s really what we are as a company,” he says. “The tenure of our employees is significant and it’s very important to us that everyone feels like part of a family. We’re north of 3,000 employees now, and we work hard on engagement to keep that connection with the next generation of customers.”
Through the years, Terrible’s has developed many more ways to stay engaged with current and future customers. Just as established as the gas stations, convenience stores, lube and oil stations and car washes, Terrible’s Gaming includes 270 locations in Southern Nevada at Albertsons and Vons markets in addition to its own stores, and at Terrible’s casinos in Pahrump, Searchlight, Indian Springs and Fernley—or use the Terrible’s Mobile Gaming app anywhere.
White Castle
Terrible’s brought White Castle to Las Vegas, opening in 2015 at Casino Royale on the Strip and adding five locations since then. “Las Vegas didn’t need another McDonald’s,” says Troy Herbst. “We had an opportunity with Casino Royale and we didn’t really know what to do but we looked around the country to find something iconic for the 50-yard line of the Strip. And I still think we’re the only group—White Castle doesn’t franchise so we have a licensing agreement, but it’s been a fantastic relationship, and great to bring something different to the Valley.”
In recent years Terrible’s has expanded more prominently into the neighborhood tavern business, operating the Ridge on Hualapai Way, Millside Tavern on Losee Road in North Las Vegas, Rocky’s on Maryland Parkway, and Skye Bar & Grill on West Skye Canyon Park Drive, and creating the WSKY brand with three locations in Inspirada, on Warm Springs Road and near Allegiant Stadium.
“We could have gotten into that and played the game like everybody played, but we wanted to allow people to have an elevated tavern-food experience in a place that is truly designed uniquely,” says Osa. “We were one of the first to put windows in a tavern and that was a big choice. It’s about having the opportunity to relax and enjoy your time there, have food and cocktails and sit at a slot machine if you choose to, but really have this engagement with social activities.”
He says the future of Terrible’s will include opportunities to do business across the southwest beyond Las Vegas, and the massive 50,000-square-foot travel center the company debuted in Jean in 2018 could be an indication of what comes next for the gas station-convenience store hybrid.
But there’s still plenty of room to grow in the Valley, and there are more younger members of the Herbst family getting involved in the business, ready to sustain that growth and maintain the company’s core values.
“Tim’s two kids graduated from [college] and both are here working, and they’re like sponges,” Troy Herbst says. “They are really a breath of fresh air, they’re working their butts off, it’s great to see. I know my dad would be very proud to see those kids in the office grabbing onto it so quickly.”
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