"Today, C.K. Smith, a division of Petrolex II, continues to provide the same fuels and services that the company has provided to customers for over 116 years. [image-nocss] All customer accounts, including customers who have prepaid for their oil and customers with a positive budget balance, will continue to be honored," president Bruce A. Fortin said in a press release cited by the newspaper.
"Due to financial difficulties, C.K. Smith, an owner and operator of multiple gasoline stations, has stopped selling gasoline at all of their 23 Irving-branded locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire," Liza Dube, Irving Oil's public relations and community affairs manager, told CSP Daily News, which reported the closures in a Flash yesterday.
The stations, mostly in central and eastern Massachusetts, were closed by the end of last week, Dube told the paper. "Irving does not own any of the stations. It only provides the gas."
She added, "It's been happening in a staggered way. All of those were closed over the last week or two."
C.K. Smith, headquartered in Worcester, Mass., since 1893, sells and delivers fuel oil and propane, and had owned several gas stations in Massachusetts before taking on the Irving brand, according to the report.
Irving Oil, based in Saint John, New Brunswick, in Canada and Portsmouth, N.H., in the United States, provides gasoline to more than 100 Irving stations in southern New England. There are about 800 Irving stations across Canada and New England.
"Despite C.K. Smith's closures, Irving is committed to continuing to grow our brand across New England through partnerships with local dealers and distributors and our ongoing joint-venture partnership with Circle K," Dube told CSP Daily News.
Irving Oil said on its website that C.K. Smith has decided to "temporarily close their locations due to financial difficulties."
"We are encouraging our customers to visit www.irvingoil.com to use the site locator to find the next nearest Irving location in order to continue to take advantage of our fuel savings program and gift cards," Dube added. "We're looking forward to remaining a part of the Massachusetts community now and into the future."
Irving Oil also has a partnership with six Shaw's supermarkets in Webster, Shrewsbury, Auburn, Leominster and Worcester, Mass., in which shoppers can earn fuel discounts at Irving stations based on their supermarket purchases, the report said.
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