LA PALMA, Calif. -- BP West Coast Products LLC said that 155 West Coast retail sites are for sale. Of the 155 sites, 153 are available for franchise and two are available as ARCO dealer sites with fuel agreements only.
The offering features sites in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington and is part of a plan announced by BP in November 2007 to sell its company-owned and operated retail sites to new and existing franchisees and dealers and is in line with BP's strategic plans to expand and grow the ampm brand to reach more consumers with its products and services.
BP owns and [image-nocss] operates approximately 700 company-owned and operated convenience stores, which will be sold over a two-year period.
"The ampm brand has a 30-year proven track record in some of the most competitive marketing areas in the U.S.," said Fiona MacLeod, president of BP U.S. Convenience Retail. Franchising the ampm brand across the U.S. just makes sense."
Diversity and inclusion continues to be an important part of BP's franchising efforts. In 2006, BP began an initiative to recruit minority franchisees, and that important work continues. "As much as possible, we want ampm stores to be owned and operated by people who live in the communities we serve," said MacLeod.
BP has retained NRC Realty Advisors LLC (NRC) to coordinate the sale of the 155 sites. NRC will accept offers submitted by April 17, 2008.
Those interested in submitting offers to become prospective franchisees and BP dealers are required to attend a complimentary seminar in Southern California, Northern California, or Seattle, Washington. Representatives from BP and NRC will host the seminar, which will provide essential information related to ampm franchising and ARCO fuel supply and the NRC offering process. Reservations and a completed franchise application are required for attendance. Contact NRC at (800) 747-3342, Extension 804, for details and to register. The franchise application is available for download at www.nrc.com/bp.
"The ampm franchise is very strong," Fiona MacLeod noted. "The ampm franchise was the only convenience store owned by an integrated oil and gas company to make Entrepreneur's 2008 'Franchise 500,' where its West of Rockies operations ranked 35th, and the Franchise Times' Top 200, where its West of Rockies operations ranked 39th."
Houston-based BP markets more than 15 billion gallons of gasoline every year to U.S. consumers through 13,000 retail outlets. It is the single, global brand formed by the combination of the former British Petroleum, Amoco, Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) and Burmah Castrol. The ampm brand was founded in 1978 in Southern California by ARCO. The brand became part of BP when it acquired ARCO in 2000. Additional information on BP's franchising opportunities is available at www.bpampmfranchising.com.
Chicago-based NRC specializes in the accelerated sale of North American commercial real estate property. With a concentration in the convenience store industry, NRC provides divestiture, commercial and financial advisory real-estate services. Since 1989, it has sold more than 10,000 properties. Clients include companies in a variety of industries, including petroleum (BP, Shell and Sunoco), convenience stores (White Hen, BP Connect and ampm), financial institutions (GE Capital, Bank One and Wachovia), retail (Kmart) and closely-held distributorships and independent retailers.
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