As reported in a Morgan Keegan/CSP Daily News Flash, MACS officials yesterday announced the appointment of Dan Pastor as CEO, filling in the position previously held by Steven Uphoff, who has transitioned from his role as CEO while remaining a member of the MACS board of directors and advisor to [image-nocss] the company.
According to Uphoff, Pastor's appointment will provide strong strategic direction to MACS based on his more than 20 years of experience in the fuel, convenience and grocery store industries.
Pastor previously served as vice president of fuels and convenience for Pittsburgh-based grocery chain Giant Eagle, which included the responsibilities for GetGo, the c-store arm of Giant Eagle; WetGo car washes; and the mid-format Giant Eagle Express brands until 2010. At Giant Eagle, Pastor played roles in brand development, defining the retail strategy and expanding the business. Pastor also served on the executive and real-estate committees for Giant Eagle.Interviewed for the cover feature of CSP magazine almost four years ago, Pastor spoke of the industry's need to "provide more savings of time, money or some combination of both." In that June 2007 issue, Pastor said that Giant Eagle's move into smaller-format locations was a "needs-based" strategy, with the goal to "earn a larger share of consumer spend by providing a format for consumers' different need states at different locations."
Just how Pastor's experience will translate to MACS and the network currently being assembled is yet to be known, but the success of Giant Eagle's expansion into convenience and petroleum retail is unmistakable, especially its ability to tie purchases at the grocery store to the redemption of gasoline discounts at the chain's fueling sites.
Prior to joining the Giant Eagle organization, Pastor served as vice president and COO of Crossroads Convenience LLC, Belle Vernon, Pa., and held various positions at that chain's parent company, Guttman Oil Co., an integrated wholesale fuels, terminal operator, transportation, c-store and lubricants company.
He has served on various industry boards and committees, including NACS; Kraft, Northfield, Ill.; and most recently, as the chair of the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association and Pennsylvania Convenience Store Council, both headquartered in Camp Hill, Pa.
"I'm looking forward to joining the experienced and talented leadership team at MACS, as well as working with our key suppliers, our dealers and our customers," Pastor said in a statement. "It is an exciting time to become a part of a company on such a trajectory of growth, including acceleration through strategic acquisitions and organic retail innovations."
The MACS leadership roster is populated by a "who's who" of experienced industry veterans. (Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage. Andclick here for additional coverage of MACS.)
Based in Richmond, Va., and operating in Maryland and Virginia, MACS is the largest ExxonMobil fuel distributor in the United States, according to company officials. Built largely from the relatively recent purchase of the Uppy's convenience chain and the divestment of ExxonMobil properties by the consumer-focused private-equity firm called Catterton Partners, Greenwich, Conn., MACS is now a network of approximately 300 company-owned and dealer locations with a wholesale fuel and distribution arm.
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