AMARILLO, Texas -- James Fikes, CEO of Fikes Wholesale Inc., told the Amarillo Globe News on Friday that his company is in talks to buy the Taylor Food Mart chain, where fuel tanks have been empty, merchandise scant, ATMs removed and some employees Friday reported problems cashing paychecks, reported the newspaper.
Earlier news reports pointed to the impending sale of the Amarillo, Texas-based chain of 74 convenience stores operated by Taylor Petroleum Cos. Inc. in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The reports also mentioned the possibility of a bankruptcy filing. Taylor Petroleum confirmed that the chain was up for sale, but cited a confidentiality agreement with a potential purchaser.
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"Negotiations are ongoing, and nothing has been finalized," Fikes told the Amarillo Globe News.
He declined to go into more detail about the potential purchase of Taylor Food Mart sites other than to say that negotiations have been going for just a couple of weeks. "It could happen at any time, or it can not happen," Fikes added. "It's very fluid right now."
Temple, Texas-based Fikes Wholesale owns CEFCO Convenience Stores, which now operates 194 convenience stores in Texas, Alabama and Mississippi. In late August 2011, it announced the acquisition of Food Fast, a 69-unit c-store chain based in Tyler, Texas.
Calls on Friday by the Globe News to Taylor Petroleum headquarters were not returned, it said. On December 29, a receptionist at the headquarters told the paper that the owners (R. Kenton Dorris and Amy R. Dorris, according to state documents obtained by the paper) had been in and out, handling business in preparation "for the sale."
Taylor Food Mart locations sell fuel under the Chevron, Phillips 66, Shell, Valero, Conoco and Fina brands, as well as unbranded sites, according to the company's website, Pumps at the Amarillo locations have been bagged and tagged as "out of service" for weeks now, the report said. Clerks at Amarillo locations last week said the stores have had no recent fuel deliveries. Employees declined to give their names and expressed fear for their jobs, the report added. Calls by the paper made Friday to about 20 stores revealed many of those stores had not been resupplied.
McLean store employee Brandon Ellenburg told the Globe News that he was informed by his bank that his paycheck couldn't be verified. A manager of another Texas Panhandle store said her paycheck bounced, as did those of other employees. Ellenburg tried to contact the Taylor Petroleum corporate office about his check, he said. "They're not returning people's phone calls. They're pretty much playing 'hide out'."
Visits to Amarillo stores last week revealed a lack of merchandise, said the report. Shelves appeared depleted, their racks bare and their beverage coolers out of stock.
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