LA PALMA, Calif. -- As major oil company BP makes good on its announcement to sell an estimated 700 company-operated stores in a move to a franchise model, the deadlines to participate are fast approaching in markets across the country.
According to officials with Chicago-based NRC Realty Advisors, which is spearheading the sale alongside BP, how-to-bid seminars will be held in markets whereproperties are being sold, with bid deadlines for the Chicago areacoming up April 8.
According to the NRC website, properties are also up for sale west of the Rockies, with the next bid seminar [image-nocss] set for today, March 17. Those offers are due April 17. Similarly, offers on 155 West Coast sites in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington are due April 17.
Finally, seminars for the 146 Ohio and Pennsylvania properties are set for the week of April 28. The due date for those offers is May 28.
For more specific information, those heading the sale ask that potential buyers visit www.nrc.com/bp as a critical starting point.
Last November, BP officials announced the changeover of its company-operated stores into its existing franchise model, which features the ampm c-store brand that started on the West Coast. The intent is to bring the ampm name into BP markets east of the Rockies. In addition to the convenience franchise, many site sales will include the land and buildings as well as 20-year contracts tied to the ampm and BP brands.
Seminars will provide prospective bidders with information about BP franchising and the NRC sealed bid process. Instructions on the site suggest potential buyers contact NRC for a property specific package, which will contain site-specific due diligence information. Such information includes store sales, tank and line data, environmental reports, site plans and the bid package itself.
For its April cover feature, CSP magazine will feature executives Fiona MacLeod, president, BP U.S. convenience retail, and Andrew Baird, vice president of marketing and merchandising for ampm, talking about the reasons behind the sales and the company 's move to a franchising strategy. In the conversion, the company is closing its corporate retail headquarters in Naperville, Ill., in favor of its ampm headquarters in La Palma, Calif. BP corporate headquarters in the United States will be based in Houston.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.