PITTSFIELD, Ill. -- With current ownership exiting retail, Pittsfield, Ill.-based JiffiStop Stores has sold its convenience stores to GPM Investments LLC. GPM has closed on the acquisition of and has begun operating 17 gas stations and convenience stores in central Illinois and Missouri, the Richmond, Va.-based company officially confirmed.
The deal also includes one stand-alone car wash.
GPM will continue to operate these stores under the current JiffiStop brand name, and it has hired all of the employees.
“These stores have served customers with dedication and enthusiasm. We are eager to continue on the same path of service with passion and commitment,” said Don Muscatell, GPM’s senior vice president of operations. “Bringing these employees into the GPM family was very important to our leadership team and we look forward to growing with these new stores.”
Keith Smith, who died in 2015, founded JiffiStop in 1952. He and his father, Clem, owner of Smith Oil Co., formed C.H. Smith and Son Inc. In 1983, along with his son David and son-in-law John Schoenherr, he formed a new corporation, opening JiffiStops and car washes in Pike, Morgan, Green, Sangamon, Adams and Hancock counties in Illinois.
David Smith and Schoenherr, responsible for expanding the chain to its current state, are now exiting the convenience-store business.
“The people make the business, and we are proud of the loyal team that have built the JiffiStop brand into one that is well-respected in the communities we serve,” Smith said.
Downstream Energy Partners LLC provided exclusive merger and acquisition advisory services to JiffiStop.
“David and John have built an exceptional company,” said George Wedemeyer, managing partner of Downstream Energy Partners, Chicago. “[GPM] has acquired a quality chain of stores in a location strategic to their growing Midwest footprint.”
As reported in a McLane/CSP Daily News Flash, with the addition of the JiffiStop stores, GPM has widened its reach to more than 850 stores in 18 states.
GPM operates or supplies fuel to stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Its convenience stores have a wide variety of food offerings, a house blend of coffee, fountain and packaged beverages, a large selection of groceries, tobacco, alcohol and personal-care products.
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