MARCY, N.Y. — Clifford Fuel Co. Inc. has reached an agreement with Reilly’s Dairy Inc. to purchase its sole convenience store and touch-free car wash in Sauquoit, N.Y.
Clifford Fuel plans to rebrand the location to Cliff’s Local Market in October. Reilly will maintain ownership and operation of the storage units on the site.
Owner Rich Reilly and his wife, Kathy, opened Reilly’s Dairy in the summer of 1977, and the store has maintained a strong presence with their customers for more than four decades. Reilly’s business model has always been family-focused and community-oriented, two key factors in choosing a new company to take over the business the family spent many years building, he said.
“The Clifford family puts their local communities at the top of their priority list,” Reilly said. “Their passion for being accessible to their neighborhoods helped us to feel confident Cliff’s Local Market is the right choice to take over Reilly’s Dairy.”
According to its website, Clifford Fuel contributes each year to the United Way, Community Foundation of Oneida & Herkimer Counties, Operation Sunshine, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Children’s Miracle Network, Stanley Theatre, Upstate Cerebral Palsy, CURE, American Heart Association and more.
“Opportunities like this are rare, and Cliff’s Local Market is excited to become a member of the Sauquoit community,” said Jim Clifford, president of Clifford Fuel Co. Inc. “Rich and his family have a successful business, and we intend to continue the traditions established by the Reilly family in the way they have served their loyal customers.”
Marcy, N.Y.-based Cliff’s Local Market is a chain of 19 convenience stores in central New York owned and operated by Clifford Fuel. Clifford Fuel’s stores were operated as a franchisee of Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes for more than 30 years. In June 2017, Clifford Fuel rebranded its stores to Cliff’s Local Market to better represent its identity, mission and more than 55-year history.
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