BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Holiday Stationstores, a 12-state, 400-store operator based in Bloomington, Minn., recently acquired six stores from Oasis Markets, continuing a growth strategy that has resulted in 60 new stores in less than two years.
The latest acquisition resulted in two purchases of three stores apiece, the most recent occurring last Thursday and focusing on St. Paul and Minneapolis, where Holiday is a dominant player. We shut down the stores at 11 p.m. Thursday, and by 5 a.m. Friday, they were Holiday stores with the Holiday logos, David Yamaguchi, [image-nocss] Holiday's vice president of marketing, told CSP Daily News.
Unlike other chains that have assigned a special acquisition team, Holiday taps all its key departmentsIT, human resources, engineering operations and othersto swiftly transition stores to the Holiday format. About two years ago, the Midwestern giant took an unusual step when it acquired more than two dozen stores in Anchorage, Alaska. Since then, sales at those stores, Yamaguchi noted, have ballooned by double digits.
As for the latest deal, which represents a half-dozen stores averaging between 2,500 and 3,000 square feet, Yamaguchi said that while the units are a bit smaller than the chain's prototype, they further Holiday's expanded presence in the Twin Cities. It's already carrying the Holiday flag. Everything transitioned in less than 24 hours, he said. I give kudos to our entire team. This was a good acquisition.
Oasis Markets are run by Twin Cities Stores Inc., a chain with about 90 stores based in Eagan, Minn.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.