NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Cloutier Oil Co. has exited the convenience store and gas station business with the sale of its 11 company-owned and -operated Gas Lane & Deli convenience stores and nine "consigned" or dealer locations in Mississippi to Ridgeland, Miss.-based Victory Marketing LLC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The new owner will convert the acquired locations to its Sprint Mart brand "over time," spokesperson Charles Morris told CSP Daily News. The Sprint Mart chain consists of 69 stores, 67 in Mississippi and two in Alabama.
Sprint Marts offer the chain's own Best Bean coffee and Finish Line fountain drinks. Along with proprietary foodservice, its quick-serve restaurants (QSRs) include Burger King, Subway, McDonald's, Domino's, Chix, Hot Stuff Pizza, Penn's and Donut Factory, according to CSPedia.
Lawrie Cloutier, owner of Cloutier Oil, "wanted to sell and get out--he was ready to retire," Pat Huff, office manager for the Natchez, Miss.-based company, told CSP Daily News.
The sale of the company was completed March 19, according to a report by the Natchez Democrat. Most of the week that followed was spent auditing out the c-stores. The company is currently in the process of closing out its books.
Cloutier Oil was started Oct. 1, 1958, and originally served commercial consumer accounts, businesses that had fuel tanks that needed refilling, said the report. Starting in 1984, the company expanded into the c-store business, and Cloutier said it was involved in the development of 17 convenience stores with more than 100 employees. Cloutier Oil weathered the oil allocations of the 1970s, saw the business transition from mechanical and manual to digital distribution and joined in the change from full-service to self-service.
Victory is a partnership formed by Rex Gillis and Joe Morris, two businessmen who also do business with Shell Oil as the Dutch Group, which also includes Dutch Oil, a distributor of fuel and lubricants.
"I am thankful I was able to sell to fellow Shell Oil Co. distributors to be able to keep the Shell brand in Southwest Mississippi," Cloutier told the Democrat.
Victory approached him about buying the business, Cloutier said, and though he said he considered selling the business in the past, these were the first buyers who were able to complete the deal.
As reported yesterday in a Morgan Keegan/CSP Daily News Flash,the Cloutier Oil stores are located in Natchez, Vidalia, Ferriday, Jonesville, Woodville, Meridian, Forest, Port Gibson, Fayette and Bude, Miss. The stations operate under the Shell gasoline brand.
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