Some 15-20 Thorntons stores are scheduled to open in Florida over the next three years.

Thorntons is set to debut its first Florida location with a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m.  

The new store is located at 1698 Gulf to Bay Blvd Clearwater. Clearwater Chamber of Commerce members, Tony Harris, Thorntons’ chief operating officer, the

Clearwater High School Jazz Band, and the official Thorntons mascots, Champ and Phil – UP, are set to be in attendance.

This is the first of 15 to 20 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area stores in the next three years.

Founded by Kentucky native James H. Thornton in 1971, Thorntons Inc. is one of the leading independent gasoline and convenience chain retailers in the U.S., currently operating throughout the Midwest under the brand name Thorntons.

Headquartered in Louisville, Ky., Thorntons operates 166 gasoline and convenience stores, car washes and travel plazas in now six states:  Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida.  Thorntons distributes its petroleum products through its wholly owned Thornton Transportation Co. and operates a river bulk storage terminal in Louisville.