Goodbye to Home Depot's Fuel Offer

NASHVILLE -- Ten years after Home Depot shook the convenience-store industry with the introduction of a c-store concept and the threat of 300 of the orange-rimmed sites, the risk appears to have subsided.

The six Fuel c-stores opened in the parking lots of Home Depot stores in 2006 are now owned and operated by Tri Star Energy and going through rebranding this spring, according to sources.

A Home Depot spokesperson confirmed the stores have been sold, and a first round of rebranding added the Tri Star Energy "T" logo to the Fuel brand. (See photo above from Google Earth.)

Home Depot opened its first Fuel c-store in Brentwood, Tenn., in February 2006 saying the site—complete with foodservice, beverages and a product selection aimed at contractors and construction crews—was part of a test. Eventually, four sites were opened in and around Nashville, and two more sites near Atlanta, including one in Acworth, Ga., where Home Depot is based.

"We're assessing the results from [the test]," a Home Depot spokesperson told CSP in 2006. "If successful, which we think they will be, we think we'll have 300 stores in the system, with average estimated annual revenues of $5 million to $7 million per site.

In 2012, the company said it was pleased with the way the store performed but that there were no plans to expand beyond the six sites. Instead, the stores became a noncore distraction, according to sources.

There are more than 2,200 Home Depot hardware stores across North America.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Tri Star Energy is a partnership between Kimbro Oil and The Parman Corp. The company includes 84 company-owned locations under the Twice Daily and Daily's banners, and delivers fuel to 164 dealer locations.