MATTHEWS, N.C. -- In a move representative of the company's strategy to shift its focus away from retail and towards wholesale gasoline, Sam's Mart Inc., Matthews, N.C., has put seven of its convenience store locations in the Atlanta area up for sale, according to a listing on the BizBuySell business sale marketplace.
"The wholesale gasoline supply is where we're moving towards in general, not just in Atlanta," Sam's Mart's business broker, Paul K. Joseph, told CSP Daily News.
"What we are doing is we are just selling seven sites with oil supply agreements in place," he added. "It's nothing new to us--we buy and sell properties."
The representative site described in the BizBuySell listing has a $400,000 asking price and an $8,000 monthly rent; the deal includes an option to purchase the real estate within five years. It is a 3,600-square-foot Shell-branded station with eight multipump dispensers (MPDs) pumping 140,000 gallons per month. It is in a "great location with not much competition around in a fast-growing area."
According to Joseph, the location of the sites has little to do with the company's decision to sell them. "These are the seven we chose to market and see if people were interested in buying," he said. "Once we're done with this, we will look to sell another 10 more Atlanta locations."
In January, Sam's Mart sold 55 sites to Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. In June 2011, Sam's Mart sold 34 locations in the Atlanta market. In September 2010, Sam's Mart bought 20 On the Run locations from Houston-based Exxon Mobil Corp. in Charlotte, N.C., area (see Related Content below for previous CSP Daily News coverage of these deals).
Sam's Mart currently has more than 130 locations in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. All of the locations are operated by franchisees.
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