ANDERSON, S.C. -- With the rebranding process about to get under way, employees at four Hickory Point convenience stores in Anderson County in Upstate South Carolina said that their locations will become 7-Eleven stores within the next two weeks, according to a report in The Independent Mail. The activity finally confirms rumors of 7-Eleven Inc.'s acquisition of some or all of O'Dell Oil Co Inc.'s stores that have been surfacing on social media and around the industry since late last year.
As reported in a Raymond James/CSP Daily News Flash on Tuesday, Dallas-based 7-Eleven is expected to officially announce the deal this week.
The company's move into the Upstate follows a major push into the region by Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip Corp., which has built 20 stores in the region in the last 18 months, including five in Anderson County, said the newspaper.
QuikTrip operates more than 650 stores in 11 states.
"We are changing on April 8," a clerk at a Hickory Point store in Anderson told the paper.
The manager of an Anderson-area Hickory Point store said she has been told that all of the company's locations in the region will soon be changing to 7-Eleven stores, said the report.
There are more than 20 Hickory Point stores in South Carolina, with the highest concentration found in Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg counties, the report said.
"We will be a 7-Eleven inside the store but it will still say Hickory Point outside for a while," a clerk at a Hickory Point store outside Anderson told the paper.
Patrick O'Dell, president of Hickory Point and O'Dell Oil, did not return a CSP Daily News request for comment on the deal.
7-Eleven is also rebranding at least two Palms c-stores in the area, said a report by Greer Today.
Margaret Chabris, a spokesperson for Dallas-based 7-Eleven, would not comment on a deal when contacted by CSP Daily News. She told the Mail that the company may reveal more about its plans later this week.
Belton, S.C.-based O'Dell Oil has 48 locations in South Carolina. The c-stores are operated by C.B. Mart Inc., a separate business from O'Dell Oil.
Dallas-based 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 10,000 7-Eleven stores in North America. It has approximately 50,000 stores in 16 countries. During 2011, 7-Eleven stores generated total worldwide sales of nearly $76.6 billion.
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