INDIANAPOLIS -- The man who guided the Village Pantry convenience store chain to an identity of its own after spinning off from Marsh Supermarkets will be retiring from the industry this month.
Charles "Mick" Parker, who currently is president of the VPS Convenience Store Group, announced his retirement recently, noting, "After almost 30 years in the business, my wife Barbara and I are excited to begin this stage of our lives."
Parker took on the role of CEO of 146-store Village Pantry, Indianapolis, in May 2007 after serving as vice president of the Florida/Gulf [image-nocss] Coast region of Circle K. He was hired a year after private-equity company Sun Capital Partners Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., purchased longtime parent company Marsh Supermarkets with plans to spinoff Village Pantry from the grocery group.
Village Pantry "didn't have a business plan in place. They didn't have a clear direction. They were dabbling in some things, but nothing from a cohesive, longer-term perspective," Parker told CSP at the time. "There were no category plans. There were none of the things that you might expect in place.... That was one of the draws for me.... It's like a start-up organization on an ongoing business, and that's a neat challenge."
While some industry watchers at the time speculated Sun Capital Partners would quickly resell the c-store chain, it has instead embraced it and grown its stake. In 2008, Sun Capital purchased Worsley Operating Corp., a 139-store chain based in Wilmington, N.C., and then bought Lil'Cricket, an 88-store chain out of Spartanburg, S.C., later that same year.
At that time, Parker was moved into his current role, overseeing the Worsley and Village Pantry convenience stores. Jeff Turpin retained his title as chairman and CEO of the Worsley Operating Corp., managing VPS and other Sun Capital retail activity.
Turpin told CSP Daily News it is yet to be decided how or if Parker's position will be filled. In the meantime, he said the company is actively seeking out ways to grow.
"We're going to try to grow as much as we can, add more stores, more locations, keep moving," he said. "We're looking. We're out there actively seeking new sites, new locations, new chains, and I'd be happy to talk to anyone that wants to sell."
Noting that parent company Sun Capital Partner's name has been mentioned as a possible second bidder for the Casey's General Stores Inc. after Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. made an initial hostile takeover bid, Turpin said he couldn't comment on the issue.
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