POTEAU, Okla. -- A tough business atmosphere and a feeling this is the right time to sell its store led on small, regional gasoline wholesaler to opt to get out of the retailing business this past week. Troy Saidleman, president ofSunburst Energy and Zip Trip convenience stores, based in Poteau, Okla., is proud of what his company has accomplished with the seven-store chain, but felt selling the stores to E-Z MART Stores Inc. was what his best option.
We're a 23-year-old convenience store chain. We've doubled our sales over the last six years, Saidleman [image-nocss] told CSP Daily News. That put our convenience stores in a very optimal position to sell them to somebody that we felt would continue to take what we've done and make it better.
Texarkana-based E-Z MART announced its purchase of the Zip Trip stores over the weekend, as reported in CSP Daily News yesterday. The stores are in the small Oklahoma towns of Poteau, Howe, Shady Point, Spiro, Wilburton and Stigler. Geographically, it was a perfect fit for them, said Saidleman. If you look at where they had stores and where they didn't, there's a little pocket here in LeFlore County [where they didn't have any].
The transition from Zip Trip to E-Z MART was scheduled to take place during the first week in March and calls to the stores already are answered by employees enthusiastically announcing, Thank you for calling E-Z MART. The acquisition of the seven sites brings E-Z MART's total store count to 317.
We had reimaged and renamed and branded and remodeled all of our stores, said Saidleman. They're in phenomenal shape. Sales are way up. And that's a perfect opportunity and a perfect time to sell them. [E-Z MART has] more efficiencies. And that way, we can focus on what we're better at, which is hauling fuel.
Saidleman's company will continue as Sunburst Energy, distributing ConocoPhillips gasoline to a variety of dealers in the area, including the former Zip Trip sites. We're going to continue to haul fuel to them; so it's a partnership. They're taking over our stores, and we're going to continue to haul fuel to them. From our side, we're delighted.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.