CARY, N.C. -- Nearly 10 years after exiting convenience-store operations, Cary Oil Co. took its biggest step back into retailing this week with the purchase of six c-stores from Mount Airy Oil Co.
The six stores are located throughout Surry and Stokes counties in North Carolina and bring the unit count for Cary Oil Co.’s Breeze Thru Markets to 14, as reported in a McLane Co./CSP Daily News Flash.
“We are delighted to be adding these stores to our growing company and welcome our new store managers and team members to the Breeze Thru family,” said Jim Bosworth, president of Breeze Thru Markets.
Breeze Thru also announced that it opened a new store in Raleigh, N.C., on April 8. This unit was a raze-and-rebuild of an older store and features a Krispy Krunchy Chicken quick-service restaurant.
Based in Cary, N.C., Breeze Thru Markets LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cary Oil Co. Inc.
Cary Oil once operated as many as 12 c-stores under the C-Mini Mart store name. In 2007, it converted those stores to consignment deals and leased the properties to independent retailers. Cary Oil, a petroleum supplier to retailers across 18 states, got back into retailing in 2013 with the development of the new Breeze Thru brand.
“We’ve steadily taken back stores from consignments operators as their leases expired,” Bosworth told CSP Daily News. “The acquisition yesterday was our first transaction of that kind under this new operation, and we are looking for more.”
Mount Airy Oil Co. Inc., Mount Airy, N.C., is a fuel wholesaler and operator of seven Shell Food Marts convenience stores, according to its website.
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