HOUSTON --Sunoco LP is fulfilling its promise to bring its Laredo Taco Company foodservice program to the Northeast.
As part of a test, the convenience-store and fuel distribution company plans to offer the foodservice program at 15 to 20 locations in the region by the end of 2016.
“We’ve opened the first four locations in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, and we will be opening an additional two locations by the end of the first quarter,” CEO Bob Owens said during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 earnings call on Feb. 25.
Houston-based Sunoco gained access to Laredo Taco Company through its $1.9 million purchase last year of Susser Holdings Corp., Corpus Christi, Texas. As of Dec. 31, Laredo Taco had 442 locations primarily in Texas, and Owens said every newly built location received the offering.
"The customer response has been very good," he said.
An APlus store in Greensburg, Pa., became the first site in the state to offer the line of fresh-made tacos and other Mexican foods this winter, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The corporate-owned store in Greensburg was selected as the first in the area to add the Laredo Taco Co. offering because of its location in a high-traffic area, Sunoco spokesman Jeff Shields said in a previous Daily News story.
By adding additional test sites, Sunoco is “attempting to determine … what the demand is going to be in smaller footprint locations up and down the East Coast,” Owens said.
A typical Stripes store is about 5,000 square feet, whereas the 440 legacy Sunoco locations range from just under 2,000 square feet up to about 4,500 square feet, meaning less space to work with.
The investment, Owens said, can be in the mid-$100,000 range up to north of $1 million if significant inside reconfiguring is done.
While Sunoco is looking to expand Laredo Taco outside of Texas, the company is looking to expand its iconic Sunoco fuel brand within Texas.
“As of Dec. 31, we have hoisted the Sunoco diamond to at least 200 locations,” Owens said.
Houston-based Sunoco LP is a master limited partnership that operates approximately 900 convenience stores and retail fuel sites and distributes motor fuel to convenience stores, independent dealers, commercial customers and distributors located in more than 30 states at approximately 6,800 sites, both directly and through its 31.58% interest in Sunoco LLC, in partnership with Energy Transfer Partners LP. Sunoco LP’s general partner is owned by ETP.
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