LOMBARD, Ill. -- The White Hen Pantry Inc. convenience store chain has placed 15 stores up for sale through a sealed-bid process. Tom Romanello, senior director of merchandising and advertising, told CSP Daily News the sale includes stores that no longer fit the Lombard, Ill.-based chain's criteria.
They are underperforming stores, he said. And [the sale] is part of making sure that our portfolio is filled with the very best-performing stores. We are predominantly a franchised organization so we need to make sure that we have locations that are [image-nocss] going to be viable not just for us but also for franchisees in terms of their income.
Romanello added that although the chain does not aim to keep the White Hen brand on the stores, the sale is not part of a downsizing by the company. Our goal is to open as many stores as we close over time, he said. So this is just something that we've been looking at for a long time and we went ahead and put those out to bid.
The bidding process will be carried out by NRC Realty Advisors LLC, Chicago. All the locations are currently operating convenience stores and will be de-branded at the time of sale. Purchasers will be acquiring long-term leases of varying terms and all store inventory. Real estate will not be included in the sale other than control through a long-term lease. The site locations are all in Illinois, including Chicago, Round Lake Beach (2), Wheeling, Glenview (2), Mount Prospect, Des Plaines, Hanover Park, Roselle, Carol Stream, Aurora, Naperville, Bolingbrook and Sauk Village.
WHP is making available 15 desirable convenience store locations throughout the Chicago suburbs because they no longer meet their long-term strategic positioning criteria, said Hope Mineo, managing director of NRC Realty Advisors. Entrepreneurs and investors seeking an established business presence in the c-store arena will want to look very closely at these opportunities.
The locations will be sold through a sealed bid sale in a buy one, some or all format with bids due on Tuesday, May 16, 2006. A complete site list is available online at www.nrc.com/606, or by calling the NRC Customer Service Center at (800) 747-3342, ext. 606. NRC has prepared a color sales brochure and individual property specific packages (PSP) for each property. The PSPs contain store-level information and bidding terms of sale. Packets are $35 for a hard copy and $25 for a CD-ROM.
NRC Realty specializes in the accelerated sale of petroleum industry property and commercial real estate throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.
White Hen Pantry Inc. is a franchised chain of convenience stores that has been serving Chicago and the greater Boston area for 40 years. White Hen Pantry is predominantly franchisee-owned and -operated with more than 265 stores.
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