VENTURA, Calif. -- Alan Dikes, the owner of Dikes Chevron in Ventura, Calif., since 1968, sold the station earlier this month to Woodland Hills-based Macland Investments Inc. for about $5.5 million, reported the Ventura County Star.
Macland is led by Bhupinder Mac, who owns 17 other gas stations, including 15 Chevron outlets, in and around the San Fernando Valley, said the report.
Dikes, 54, said he is retiring for health reasons. A cancer survivor, he opted to sell the business he built after suffering a heart attack last year [image-nocss] and a stroke a few months ago. With total monthly revenue averaging $800,000 this year, the station is one of the area's busiest, said the report, selling about 230,000 gallons of gasoline a month, or 7,500 to 8,000 gallons a day on average, Dikes told the newspaper. Gasoline sales total about $680,000 monthly, while revenue from the station's convenience store and Subway sandwich shop are about $120,000 a month, he added.
When he made the decision to sell, Dikes called Mac, a friend who occasionally asked about buying the station over the past 20 years. Alan called me about four months ago, Mac told the paper. He told me he had had a stroke and he wasn't feeling very well and would like to retire. He had me over and we met and shook hands and that was it, basically. It's a wonderful location and the city of Ventura is beautiful. I want to have a bigger presence there.
Mac and a nephew also own a Chevron station at Telegraph and Mills roads in Ventura, the report said.
Dikes said he wanted to leave the station in good hands, and said he believes that the sale to Mac does that. The two men put the deal together without a lot of help from attorneys. This was almost a handshake deal, Dikes said. People were telling me I was nuts for not getting very much of a down payment and all that, but I trust him so much. He's just one of those guys who I've always trusted and respected, believe it or not, with all that money.
Dikes and his wife plan to travel. He will remain a partner with Jamie Thornton in Dikes-Thornton Automotive, a vehicle repair business in Ventura. The garage, a member for decades of the Automobile Club of Southern California's Approved Auto Repair network, was an integral part of the station until 2002, when Chevron Corp. ordered its dealers to either close their garages or move them out of the stations.
Mac said he has renamed the service station Victoria Chevron. He has repainted the business, plans to install signs and pumps with Chevron's newest designs and generally intends to spruce up the business, said the report. He said he will retain the station's 12 employees, including several who work full time, and the station will continue to be open around the clock.
In all, Macland Investments owns 16 Chevron stations and two under ConocoPhillips' 76 brand.
In a separate deal, BMC Capital, Dallas, said that it originated a $3 million loan for the acquisition of a USA Travel Center in Kingman, Ariz., through its Phoenix office, the firm said. The property includes a gas station, a convenience store, and a Subway restaurant.
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