Barghausen's 40-Year History in the Fueling Industry
Our 40-Year History with Fueling, Convenience, and Car Wash Developments: How it All Started
Barghausen was founded in 1982 and quickly became one of the premier service providers in the Pacific Northwest. The firm's 40+ years of success and relationships all started through offering pro-bono preliminary feasibility services to commercial realtors and their clients. Our pay-it-forward mentality combined with our ability to find desirable outcomes for properties, jumpstarted the firm’s growth.
In 1983, our connections and expertise led us to a challenging site that transformed into a newfound relationship. We were approached about investigating a site in the Kent Valley on the corner of 212th Street and 84th Avenue. Arco ampm had purchased the land, only to discover it was zoned for industrial, and a fueling station was not an approved use.
They were seemingly at a loss on the new property and needed our help to make a profit possible.
From our local experience, we knew we could allow for the use by changing the written zoning code. In 6 months, we had the city’s approval for zoning code revisions and Arco ampm successfully developed the property. This solution ended up transforming their loss into a profitable fueling station on that site for the past 40 years. To this day, Arco ampm remains on the corner of 212th and 84th.
Bonding over the challenge, Arco ampm became one of our best clients and a longstanding relationship that we’ve maintained for 40+ years. Our nationwide experience with their fueling expansion program was the start of a successful reputation in the energy and fueling industry.
That first opportunity with Arco ampm sparked a domino effect, where we continued to expand with additional services, new partnerships, and countless developments for convenience stores, car washes, fueling canopies, and tank and piping systems.
In the early 90s, laws were revised to allow retailer locations to begin selling fuel. Our reputation with Arco ampm projects earned us the opportunity to help Costco Wholesale start its endeavor into the fueling industry. Costco opened its first gas station in 1995, and Barghausen has remained a continuous partner for their fueling projects over our 30-year relationship. We have also been involved in Costco’s various development programs including ground-up warehouses, warehouse expansions, car washes, tire centers, parking expansions, ADA improvements, propane facilities, optical centers, and more.
Over the past 40 years, we have worked with hundreds of fueling brands and franchise partners on locations for Chevron, 76, 7-Eleven, Kroger, Jackson’s, United Pacific, and more. We have consistently provided planning, civil engineering, architecture, and fueling system services for ground-up and redeveloped fueling locations throughout the United States.
