Strickland Propane is a fictional propane and propane accessories supplier in the animated series King of the Hill. Buck Strickland runs the company, headquartered at 135 Los Gatos Road in Arlen, Texas[1] though he delegates most of the day-to-day responsibilities to his 41-time employee of the month, senior assistant manager Hank Hill. Sometimes, Buck is seen at Strickland headquarters, but he spends much of his time with his mistresses and otherwise enjoying himself around town.
Strickland sells propane and propane accessories, including grills such as the Vogner Char-King, Char-King Imperiale and Vogner Citizen, which are showcased during the annual "Grillstravaganza" sale. The company has five branch offices in Texas, known as Strickland Propane, Strickland North, Strickland South, Strickland East, and Strickland West. It is unknown how far these branches are from the Arlen headquarters, though Buck has said that North is in "charcoal country" which he thinks is the reason for the low sales numbers at that branch. Buck would eventually lose the North division from gambling.[2]
Hank runs the main branch and in normal circumstances is the "senior assistant manager" of the company, ranking above the other four assistant managers who run the other branches. In "Snow Job", Buck briefly creates a "manager" position to run the company while he is medically incapacitated, though his unwise selection of Lloyd Vickers for this position proves disastrous and quickly leads to Vickers's firing and Hank's reinstatement as second-in-command, still with the "senior assistant manager" title. Hank is once again promoted to a newly created manager position when Liz Strickland briefly takes over the company in "Hanky Panky", and once again returned to his old role upon Buck's return.
In addition to Hank and Lloyd, there are three other unnamed assistant managers running the other three branches, who appear only in "Snow Job", and an unseen replacement who is presumably hired or promoted as the new assistant manager of Lloyd's home branch after his firing. Other than the visual fact that two of the other assistant managers are women and one is a man, nothing is known about these characters.
For a brief time, Strickland Propane sponsored the Propaniacs, a traveling comedy troupe formed by Bobby Hill, Luanne Platter, Joe Jack, Donna from Accounting, Dale Gribble, and Hank (although Peggy insists on calling them the "Propane Maniacs"). Hank and Buck conceived the idea after Bobby prevented a customer walkout at a "Grillstravaganza" sale with his comedic antics. Buck decided to take the group on the road to spur sales in the other Strickland branches.
The company slogan is "Taste the meat, not the heat," which refers to the way that propane does not alter or mask the taste of meat while grilling, unlike charcoal.
Strickland's primary competitor is Thatherton Fuels, owned and managed by former Strickland employee M.F. Thatherton (their slogan is "We sell the heat... with warmth.")
Mega Lo Mart began selling propane. Due to its size, Mega Lo Mart was able to sell propane at prices too low for Strickland to compete. This forced Buck to close down the Arlen branch. Following a propane-fueled explosion at its store, Mega Lo Mart stopped selling propane, and Strickland resumed business as usual.[1]
Branches[]
- Strickland Propane (Headquarters)
- Strickland North
- Strickland East
- Strickland South
- Strickland West
Events[]
- Strickland Propane Summer in January Picnic (at the Arlen City Public Park)[3]
- Strickland Propane Family Fun Day (at the Arlen City Public Park)[4]
- National Propane Gas Convention (in Memphis, Tennessee)[5]
Staff Members[]
Note: Numerous people have worked at Strickland in some capacity, such as: Peggy, Bobby, Dale, Kahn, Luanne, and Joseph.
- Buck Strickland (Owner, Founder, Operator)
- Hank Hill (Assistant manager)
- Joe Jack (Truck driver)
- Enrique (Mechanic)
- Donna (Accounting)
- Roger "Booda" Sack
- Melinda Grab
- Maria Montalvo (Accessories associate)
- Jason Adderly
- Tammi Duvall (Customer service associate)
- Hector (Truck driver)
- Stu (Truck driver)
- Tom (Truck driver)
- D.C. (Truck driver)
Former Staff Members[]
- Donna ("Meet the Propaniacs")
- Rich ("That's What She Said")
- Travis ("That's What She Said")
- Leon Petard ("Junkie Business")
- M.F. Thatherton (in "The Company Man"; current owner of Thatherton Fuels)
- Debbie Grund (deceased)
- Lloyd Vickers ("Snow Job")