Clipper Petroleum, Inc. originally started as an Amoco Oil Distributor based in Gainesville, Georgia serving the North Georgia area. W. F. Homeyer founded W. F. Homeyer Oil Company in 1933. Several years later, Mr. Homeyer took an around the world trip in the famed Pan Am Clipper airplane. He was so impressed by that famous airplane that upon returning to Georgia he renamed his small oil company Clipper Petroleum. On May 1, 1974, Tom Bower and Robert Braff purchased Clipper Petroleum. Mr. Bower and Mr. Braff had been employed with Amoco Oil Company and saw this as an opportunity to be in business for themselves. In 1977, Mr. Bower's son, Tom Bower III, joined the company. The company started the Circle M Food Shop convenience stores in early 1977. In 1994, Mr. Bower and his son bought out Mr. Braff's holdings. Clipper Petroleum continued to grow the Amoco brand (now BP) at its own Circle M stores and at independently operated dealer stores. Mr. Bower and his son were proponents of the major oil brand. In order to maintain the fuels growth they wanted to achieve, Clipper Petroleum became an ExxonMobil Distributor in 2000. Shortly thereafter, Clipper purchased 16 locations from ExxonMobil, immediately expanding Clipper's presence into Metro Atlanta. Over the next few years, Clipper also became Distributors of Shell, Citgo, Chevron, Texaco, and 76 branded fuels. Clipper Petroleum has had a similar growth focus on the convenience store side. After the purchase of the ExxonMobil sites, some of those locations were retained as Circle M stores. Clipper has added many new-to-industry sites in the last 10 years. In 2009, Clipper purchased 18 stores from BP in Metro Atlanta, solidifying Clipper's market share in the Atlanta market. Today, Clipper operates 28 retail stores and 7 restaurants throughout Metro Atlanta, North Georgia, and South Carolina and Clipper Petroleum is recognized as one of the largest petroleum Distributors in the Southeast.