BOISE, Idaho -- As Valero Energy Corp. takes over the gas stations at 72 Albertsons LLC supermarkets, the Boise, Idaho-based grocery chain—which announced the sale of the gasoline kiosks in Abilene and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; Denver; Baton Rouge and Lafayette, La.; and Phoenix to Valero in May—has forged two additional deals. It has sold 49 grocery stores in Florida to Publix Super Markets Inc., and it announced last week that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its 15 fuel centers in Florida to DBR Lease Exchange LLC.
With the sale of the fuel centers, the [image-nocss] company is exiting retail fueling. The sale "allows Albertsons to focus on its core grocery and pharmacy business in the company 's 40 remaining stores in Florida after the transaction with Publix closes this fall," company spokesperson Stacia Hill Levenfeld told CSP Daily News. "Running great food and drug stores is the heart of our operation and we have made the decision to focus on our time and talent on that business moving forward."
According to Jennifer Vroman, director of public affairs for Albertsons, the sale was a logical choice. "Albertsons is in the food business, and we made the decision to get out of the fuel market and keep our focus on food. Valero is one of the top five energy companies and they came in with a great offer we came up with an agreement that worked for both companies," she told The Abilene Reporter-News. She said she did not know how fuel prices would be affected because that will be decided by Valero. She did not expect any change and believes Valero will keep prices competitive with the surrounding stations.
The sale will affect some outside kiosk employees, who were given the option to work for Valero or move inside to continue working for Albertsons. Vroman said they do not anticipate any problems with the conversion or any inconveniences for their customers.
San Antonio-based Valero will sell its branded fuel at all Albertsons locations.
This deal involves Boise, Idaho-based Albertson's LLC, versus Supervalu's Albertsons stores. SUPERVALU Inc., Minneapolis, acquired portions of the Albertsons corporation, including Albertsons stores operated in southern California, Nevada and the Pacific Northwest. When the Publix deal closes, the company will have 264 Albertsons stores throughout Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas.
San Antonio-based Valero owns and operates 17 refineries throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.1 million barrels per day, making it the largest refiner in North America. It is also one of the nation's largest retail operators, with approximately 5,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean under various brand names including Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar and Beacon.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Lakeland, Fla.-based supermarket chain Publix told CSP Daily News that the acquisition of Albertsons' Florida grocery stores—the deal did not include any fuel centers, which were all sold to DBR Lease Exchange—has not changed the company's strategy or plans for its seven Publix Pix convenience stores, several of which offer gasoline. "We continue to open our Pix stations at our own pace and where we see there is a need…. We're still in the process of evaluating the long-term [success of Pix] will be, because that's a more recent part of our business."
Publix operates 936 grocery stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. Six of the Pix stores are located in Florida, and one is located in Tennessee.
(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of the Valero-Albertsons deal.)
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