STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Convenience store owners are suing Uni-Marts LLC for fraud and breach of contract, claiming the company and its real estate and financial firms misled them about operating costs and profitability, reported The Citizen's Voice.
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 on Tuesday, the newspaper said.
The suit alleges Uni-Marts engaged in a wide range of wrongful conduct that financially hurt store owners, it added.
Approximately 70 stores with 40 separate owners who purchased stores in Pennsylvania during 2004 and 2005 are 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 paper.
In 2004, the owners were solicited through booklets and seminars to buy 225 c-stores. The suit says 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.
Lach said that since the suit was newly filed, there had not yet been a reply from the defendants in the suit or their attorneys. The ethical rules are such that we don't want to talk about the merits of the case [just yet], he told the paper.
In a press statement responding to the suit, the company said, 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.
Uni-Marts officials offered no further comment when contacted by CSP Daily News.
Aprivate company, Uni-Marts was founded in 1972 and operates 288 c-stores and Choice Cigarette Discount Outlets in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.
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.