WARRENVILLE, Ill. -- Colorado retailers and consumers can say goodbye to the BP sunburst logo come early 2006. The petroleum giant confirmed yesterday that it will exit the Denver market and Colorado overall as part of a continuous review of its portfolio.
We have approximately 14,000 BP- and ARCO-branded retail sites coast to coast, and we have a number of opportunities for investment across the country. So we made the decision to focus our investment in other markets, BP spokesperson Scott Dean told CSP Daily News. There are about 100 branded retail [image-nocss] sites in Colorado; approximately one-third are dealers, another one-third are jobbers, and the remaining one-third are owned and operated by BP.
Dean said BP has entered into discussions with potential purchasers and invited them to submit bids for the about 35 sites that will be sold outright; however, he would not disclose who those potential purchasers are. The remaining 65 or so sites will have their marketing agreements and supply arrangements pulled over the next 180 days, Dean said.
If we reach an acceptable sales agreement, our plan will be to stop selling BP-branded gasoline and retail products through BP- and Amoco-branded service stations by early 2006, he said. This will not be a divestment that will include a supply agreement. We will no longer be marketing under that brand in Colorado.
At least one BP retailer in Boulder, Colo., said he was concerned the sale and debranding may not go well, leaving him and others in a lurch, according to a report in the Denver Post. The future is uncertain for many of us, store operator Michael Berrigan said. I suspect they'll have a difficult time finding buyers for all of the stations.
He added that BP has tended to invest the most money for improvements in company-owned stations, making those outlets the most likely to find buyers. BP spent as much as $2 million to $3 million each at some stations beginning in 2002 to change signs, colors and store design during the conversion from Amoco to BP.
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