Mountain Express Oil Co. Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March in an attempt to reorganize the company, let employees know that all nonessential staff would be laid off as soon as today, according to a memo obtained by CSP.
After Mountain Express missed payments to gasoline suppliers, which has forced some operators to close their fuel centers, travel centers and convenience stores, Judge David R. Jones, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Texas, terminated all of Mountain Express Co.'s real estate leases.
In a series of court orders Thursday, the judge converted the filing from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, essentially directing Mountain Express to liquidate its assets.
- Mountain Express Oil is No. 50 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by store count.
Alpharetta, Georgia-based Mountain Express, founded in 2000, has a network of 166 company-owned convenience stores and 300 dealer-owned customers.
The memo, signed by Chapter 11 Trustee Janet Northrup, and addressed “to all employees of Mountain Express Oil and its affiliates,” says, “Despite everyone’s best efforts, it has unfortunately become impossible to continue to operate Mountain Express Oil and its affiliates. The Bankruptcy Court has announced that it will convert the present Chapter 11 cases to liquidation cases under Chapter 7 at 4:15 Central Time this afternoon. This will result in an immediate cessation of all ongoing operations of the companies, except for those operations necessary to transition the companies into liquidation mode. A list of essential employees is being compiled who will be asked, but not required, to continue their employment on the same salary and benefits as before. Regrettably, other than these people, all other employees will be terminated as of 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.”
The memo added, “This is an incredibly disappointing outcome, but we thank you for all your tireless efforts throughout the pendency of the Chapter 11 and your dedication to Mountain Express.”
Working with St. Petersburg, Florida-based investment banker Raymond James & Associates, Mountain Express had previously conducted an auction of most of its properties, with c-store retailer and wholesaler GPM Investments LLC, a unit of Arko Corp., Richmond, Virginia, as the apparent winning bidder, offering approximately $49 million. That deal has since fallen through, and Raymond James has withdrawn as a party to the bankruptcy.