STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Uni-Marts LLC will pay $2 million to owners of convenience stores around the state, as well as pay for other services and operating costs, as part of a settlement of a 10-month-old lawsuit, reported The Citizen's Voice.
Owners of 172 stores in the commonwealth sued Uni-Mart for extensive and ongoing wrongful conduct, including the misrepresentation and omission of information in materials soliciting buyers for the stores, said the report. Store owners suffered financially as a result, the suit alleged.
The $2 [image-nocss] million will be split among the owners of 67 stores who will continue to do business with Uni-Mart. The settlement also limits Uni-Mart to selling gasoline to store owners for 2 cents per gallon more than the price at which it was purchased, the report said.
According to the newspaper, other provisions included require Uni-Mart to:
Pay $250,000 to replace outdated cash registers in the stores. Pay $2,500 to stores that discontinue their relationship with an ATM operation company. Reimburse stores' rent if the replacement or maintenance on underground storage tanks disrupts the sale of fuel for more than five days. Pay an annual $2,300 fee per store to retain the services of a maintenance contractor.The settlement was slated to be presented to Luzerne County Judge Thomas Burke yesterday for approval, the report said.
In January, CSP Daily News reported that Attorney Joseph Lach and the Philadelphia law firm of Berger & Montague filed the civil suit against State College, Pa.-based Uni-Marts, Chicago-based NRC Realty Advisors LLC and Edison, N.J.-based Kuber Financial Services LLC in Luzerne County Court.
Approximately 70 stores with 40 separate owners who purchased stores in Pennsylvania during 2004 and 2005 were complainants in the suit, Lach said. Seven of them are in Luzerne County, including three stores in Nanticoke, one in Pittston and one in Mountain Top, he said.
My clients believe that the information they were provided was either not accurate or incomplete at the time they entered into these deals, and that the opportunity to purchase these stores looked a lot more attractive than it was in fact, Lach told The Citizen's Voice at the time.
In 2004, the owners were solicited through booklets and seminars to buy 225 c-stores. The suit said information owners received contained serious omissions and representations. In particular, according to the report, the company allegedly misled owners about critical costs to operate the stores, misstating or neglecting to mention how much payroll, maintenance, taxes and insurance would be.
The company is also said to have overcharged owners for gasoline, in violation of agreements, the report said.
The defendants prohibited owners from contacting personnel at stores they were considering purchasing, the suit states, added the report.
In a press statement responding to the suit, the company said at the time, Uni-Marts believes that the claims alleged in the complaint are without merit and will defend itself vigorously. John F. Stoviak of the Philadelphia law firm of Saul Ewing LLP will serve as Uni-Marts' lead trial counsel. In the meantime, Uni-Marts plans to continue to work with its dealers in a constructive and mutually beneficial manner.
Aprivate company, Uni-Marts was founded in 1972 and operates 288 c-stores and Choice Cigarette Discount Outlets in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.
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