Par Hawaii Unveils Its New Station Brand: Hele

HONOLULU — Par Hawaii Inc. will rebrand 37 of its 97 gas stations to the Hele brand name, a Hawaiian word that means “to go” in English.

According to Pacific Business News, Par Hawaii — one of the largest convenience store and gas stations operators in the Aloha State — will keep the 76 brand name or rename sites to the 76 brand on its remaining 60 gas stations.

The Tesoro brand name will disappear at all of its stations.

The process of changing the names of its gas stations to Hele and 76 will cost Par Hawaii $4 million, reported the news outlet. A new name for its convenience stores, as well as a new tagline, has yet to be announced.

“We were looking for something dynamic and local, and it’s going to be a new look that the community will love,” Jim Yates, president of Par Hawaii, told the news source. “It’s also part of our continued investment in this market.”

Par Hawaii contracted Honolulu-based MVNP to come up with the new brand, which includes speed lines and italicized lettering intended to indicate forward movement.

Par Hawaii looked at about 80 different names before deciding on Hele.

“We wanted a Hawaiian sense of place, but we didn’t think it needed to be a Hawaiian word,” Yates told Pacific Business News. “We had the option to continue on with the Tesoro brand, but this allows us to control our own destiny.”

As CSNews Online previously reported, Par Hawaii is the parent company of retail operations under the Par Pacific Holdings Inc. umbrella. Houston-based Par Pacific also owns a refinery located in Kapolei on West Oahu, which is housed under its Par Hawaii Refining LLC banner.