In a stirring biblical narrative, Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, is meditative and contemplative. He has survived The Binding, the call in which God instructs Abraham to bring the son he long yearned for as a sacrifi ce. It is the ultimate test of faith. Only when Abraham’s knife is ready to strike the unfl inching Isaac does an angel shout, “Abraham. Abraham.”
Soon after, Abraham looks to find a wife for Isaac and dispatches his servant to his hometown in Mesopotamia. When Isaac is out in the field, he sees an entourage led by his father’s trusted aid. Behind the servant is a veiled Rebecca. The next verse is beautiful in its simplicity and romantic in its modesty:
“And Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother; he took Rebecca and she became his wife. He loved her and, thus, Isaac was consoled after [the death] of his mother.”
This year has been a time of transition, of saying goodbye to many industry favorites who are leaving the industry and moving on. It is also a year of welcoming, of saying hello to new faces.
For me, the business departures of three stand out as each leaves for a different reason.
Jack Pester was a visionary when he started Denver-based Pester Marketing in 1955. Over the years, he would become recognized as one of the brightest energy executives, building a vertically integrated business that included a healthy wholesale fuel business, c-stores and terminals; he catered to wholesale, commercial and agricultural customers. He was duly honored two years ago by SIGMA with the Distinguished Marketer Award. With no family successor to take over, Jack recently sold his business to World Fuel Services Inc.
In September, Kocolene Marketing, a four-generation fuel marketing and retail chain based in Seymour, Ind., sold its c-stores to Alimentation Couche-Tard. The deal coincides with industry veteran Gary Myers planning to retire in late 2016 while in prime health and with an understanding that his daughter, Andrea, a passionate equestrian and ubiquitous presence at industry events in recent years, was ready to move on.
In explaining the timing of his divestiture, Gary spoke for many moderate and midsize operators who are mulling hether
to stay in a business they love but are vexed by lack of a succession plan and/or piqued by unprecedented valuations that will create financial security for themselves, their children and grandchildren.
“Players in the convenience-store industry are getting bigger, more sophisticated and have a lot of capital,” Gary said. “Although we’ve always been in the fuel business, my late father once said to me, ‘There’s a time to buy and a time to sell. Someday you might feel that it’s the right time to sell this oil company, and it is better to sell two weeks too soon rather than one day too late. You have to know when that time arrives, and don’t let the ghosts of your grandmother and I stop you if you feel it’s the right decision.’ ”
Those ghosts appeared and reappeared for Peter Tedeschi, who in the spring sold the 92-year-old Rockland, Mass.-based Tedeschi Food Shops to 7-Eleven. Long active with NACS, Peter loves the convenience world, and I’d be surprised not to see him return. But he also had a fiduciary responsibility to the broader Tedeschi family who made up the company’s stakeholders.
It wasn’t an easy choice for Jack, Gary or Peter, nor is it for the many of you agonizing over whether to say goodbye or stay invested.
As some of our friends move on, some new personalities have entered the industry. Charlie McIlvaine is a former Wall Street player who now chairs Coen Oil Co. and is remodeling the company’s Ruff Creek Markets retail network. Charlie possesses terrific intellectual curiosity and a genuine interest in the convenience sector.
Kim Lubel, the amiable, impressive leader of CST Brands, is spearheading an extraordinary expansion of the Corner Store brand, synthesizing M&A smarts with retail sensibilities. In the prime of her professional career, Kim is a person to keep an eye on.
We’re also seeing a surge of next-generation stars—such as Lisa Dell’Alba of Square One Markets, Aaron Simpson of Maverik and Rahim Budhwani of 6040 LLC—beginning to leave their marks on an industry that continues to evolve.
It is never easy to say goodbye to friends and to elders whom you’ve long respected and admired. Rather than bid farewell, I prefer to say, “Thank you.”
Wishing each of you a happy and healthy holiday season.
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