text: Convenience stores Most of Irving Oil's corporate owned-and-operated stations also contain convenience stores. These locations operated as simply "Irving" stations until the late 1990s, when the "Mainway" banner ("Marché Mainway" in Quebec) was introduced; "Mainway" being a brand appropriated from one of Irving's U.S. acquisitions.  By the early 2000s, 56 of the company's Quebec locations had been leased to the Couche-Tard chain and rebranded accordingly, conversely 60 of Couche-Tard's fueling stations were supplied by Irving fuels and re-branded accordingly. By the mid 2000s, Irving began to renovate and rebrand its old "Mainway" stations under the name "Bluecanoe" as part of the company's modernization plan. The Bluecanoe brand was first introduced in New England and was introduced to some stations in eastern Ontario and the Atlantic provinces; however, many others were not upgraded and retained the older name "Mainway".
  On May 8, 2008, Irving announced that they would lease 252 of its gas stations in Atlantic Canada and New England to Couche-Tard for 20 years. Their gas remain supplied by Irving, but their convenience stores were converted to Circle K. In 2018, following Couche-Tard's acquisition of CST Brands (which saw most of its Canadian assets sold to Parkland Fuel), 36 Ultramar gas stations in Atlantic Canada were converted to Irving/Circle K locations. Of them, 13 were in turn sold to Irving Oil and leased by Couche-Tard.
  Big Stops
  Irving Oil also operates several "Big Stops", which are truck stops featuring family restaurants, facilities for truck drivers, and convenience stores. These large stations are located at strategic locations throughout New England, the Maritimes, Quebec and Newfoundland.
  They occupy several hectares near important highway interchanges and junctions and have been developed since the 1970s; some of the oldest Big Stops are still in operation with the interiors being evocative of that era. These locations, aside from their convenience store operations, continue to be operated by Irving Oil.