PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. -- Open Pantry Food Marts will continue to honor its CITGO contract, according to company president and CEO Robert A. Buhler.
In a press release sent yesterday, Buhler said the bizarre statements made by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavezcalling President Bush an alcoholic and referring to him as the devilare of concern; however, he said as a long-term partner, he and the company will honor its contracts supporting CITGO's U.S. executives and employees.
Oil and politics often times creates an explosive [image-nocss] discussion, said Buhler.Hugo Chavez's remarks are not warranted, and we in no way support his reasons for those remarks.The hard-working CITGO people in the United States daily deliver product on a professional and continual basis for our customer base in Wisconsin, extremely well.These people I care about and choose to call my partners.All politics should be put aside on this issue and frankly are purposely contorted and impractical to the true delivery of fuel in the United States by CITGO.
Open Pantry has worked with CITGO in the United States for 25 years. And Buhler said some of the Wisconsin media recently associated Open Pantry with last week's announcement by 7-Eleven that it is ending its supply relationship with CITGO.As a result, Buhler sent is press release to set clear Open Pantry's current contractual obligation, and continued presence in the market with the U.S. CITGO commitment.
Open Pantry operates a chain of 33 convenience stores throughout the state of Wisconsin and Illinois, while servicing 11 dealers and three franchisees. Open Pantry sites sell more than 40 million gallons of CITGO and BP fuel annually and have annual sales of more then $100 million.
Following CITGO's press release yesterday, in which the company reaffirmed its commitment to U.S. consumers (to read the complete press release, click here.), the CSP Discussion Board lit up with activity this morning. A sample of the posts:
My opinion, for what it is worth, is that CITGO is missing the point when handling their response to this public relations nightmare (for them). I agree that they should point out the good things that CITGO brings to the table; however, it seems to be too defensive. They might be better served to publicly disagree with the comments made by Chavez. This could be risky because of a possible backlash from south of the border.
CITGO is finally dealing with the backlash of a more informed public. No amount of rationalization by CITGO can overcome the fact that they are owned by a foreign country whose dictator demonstrates disdain for the people of Venezuela, the basic principles of the United States and the leadership of our president.
To read these posts in their entirety or to join the discussion, click here.
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