KANSAS CITY, Mo.-- About three dozen Kansas City-area Conoco and Phillips 66 stations that were closed last month are again selling gasoline, according to a report by The Kansas City Star. An operating agreement among GasMart USA, Phillips 66 and PCF Saleco allowed the pumps and related convenience stores to begin operating again, GasMart officials told the newspaper.
Financial problems at PCF Saleco, operator of the locations, had led to the temporary shutdown, said the report.
GasMart, based in Overland Park, Kansas, now manages 37 of the former PCF Saleco properties in the area, Kevin Lott, GasMart's vice president of operations and the company's merchandising manager, told the newspaper.
GasMart now operates 108 gas station stores throughout the Midwest, he said.
"We worked all weekend to get the pumps up to take credit cards and sell gas," Lott told the paper. "Now we're working with our suppliers to get the stores filled again."
PCF Saleco, based in Lone Tree, Colo., owned and operated stores affiliated with the Phillips 66 stations.
It was the subject of an involuntary bankruptcy petition filed in late July by creditors who said they were owed about $1.65 million.
Distributor Core-Mark International Inc., South San Francisco, Calif., claims PCF Saleco owes it more than $1.64 million; D&H Pump Service Inc., a supplier of commercial fuel systems based in Albuquerque, N.M., said the company owes it $10,778; and ACM Industries Inc., a restaurant-supply company, also of Albuquerque, claims PCF Saleco owes it nearly $3,000.
(See Related Content below for previous CSP Daily News coverage of PCF Saleco's financial woes.)
Groups of PCF Saleco stores in the Kansas City area, Albuquerque, N.M., and elsewhere had dwindling inventory, and many closed, causing the fuel pump operations to shut down as well.
Lott said GasMart is offering some incentives to customers who had been inconvenienced by the closings. For a limited time, customers who buy $20 worth of gasoline will get free cups of Ronnoco coffee or Pepsi products. It will also offer car wash deals also will be offered at the stations with car washes.
"We hope to make this part of our ([ong-term] portfolio," Lott told the paper concerning the operating agreement. "The whole situation made our heart go out to the community that wanted to buy gas at 'their' station."
A Phillips 66 spokesperson referred comment to GasMart and PCF Saleco. PCF Saleco officials were unavailable, the report said.
Earlier this month, Phillips 66 spokesperson Alissa Hicks told the Star that the fuel company was "working with the marketer and the owner to resolve the issue as quickly as possible." Beyond that, she said, "we are not at liberty to discuss the financial status of our customers."
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