WEST POINT, Ga. -- We started in 1970 with just two stores, Albert C. Woody Woodroof III, chairman, president and CEO of Spectrum Stores Inc., told CSP Daily News. In that time, the West Point, Ga.-based company has built a lasting legacy sure to benefit its prospective owners from north of the border.
Since 1970, the small chain of stores that prominent industry personality Woodroof and his team began piecing together more than 35 years ago has blossomed into a network of more than 90 stores throughout Alabama and Georgia. But the definitive agreement [image-nocss] Spectrum signed earlier this week to have its stores acquired by Quebec's Alimentation Couche-Tard will close the curtain on this esteemed Southeast enterprise.
I've been very fortunate to have worked with a team at Spectrum and grow the company over the course of 30 years, said Woodroof, chairman of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) for 1995. I've worked with many long-tenured store employees, officers and support staff, and they've made it a wonderful career for me. I've watched them build it to where it is today.
At present, Spectrum owns more than two-thirds of its locations and leases the remainder on long-term leases, according to the company's website; Spectrum Realty Inc. holds the owned real estate. Chattahoochee Oil Co. Inc. operates wholesale operations and currently has approximately 50 dealer locations under supply agreements. Spectrum Stores, Chattahoochee Oil and Spectrum Realty are wholly owned subsidiaries of Spectrum Holding Inc. The company was founded in 1925.
Woodroof said the decision to sell to Couche-Tard was a tough one stemming from a decision last fall to hire financial advisor Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. The hiring of Morgan Keegan was to help the company evaluate our alternatives, ranging from growing through acquisition to selling the company.
Alain Bouchard of Couche-Tard is an entrepreneur like I am, Woodroof told CSP Daily News. We looked at several offers, and we thought [Couche-Tard] was the best fit. They have a very entrepreneurial environment.
As for Woodroof's immediate future, he will focus on closing the deal with Couche-Tard and making sure his store-level people are taken care of. He expects the deal to close in June of this year. We've got a lot of work left to do to close the transaction, he said. We're making sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible so that it won't be too disruptive for our employees.
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