SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Cody's Ventures LLC, which operates Cody's Convenience Stores, has acquired nine Snak Atak stores in the Joplin, Mo., area, a CSP Daily News Flash reported on Friday, confirming a rumor about a deal reported in January by CSP Daily News. That speculation emerged following Cody's acquisition of six Express Lance c-stores from the bankrupt Waddill's Markets Inc. At that time, Curtis Jared, executive vice president of Cody Ventures, said the chain had additional acquisition plans.
Late last week, Jared said that the Snak Atak acquisition closed on April 15, according to [image-nocss] a report by The Springfield Business Journal. Terms of the deal were not available. He told the paper that he bought the stores from John Starrett, president of Joplin-based Snak Atak Management Inc., and brothers Donnie and Ronnie Simpson of Simpson Oil Co.
Cody's already had one Joplin location before the Snak Atak acquisition. "It helps give us presence [there]," Jared told the paper. "Joplin's a good market, and it's an area that we've been eyeing for a while anyway. It's a perfect fit."Several other Snak Atak locations in the Joplin area are owned by Jerry Perry, president and CEO of Carthage, Mo.-based Grace Energy Corp. He told CSP Daily News in January that Grace Energy's locations were not involved in the transaction with Cody's. All of the Snak Atak stores do share branding, however.
The nine stores involved in the current deal will be rebranded as Cody's. With the Snak Atak acquisition, and with slated new construction in April, Springfield, Mo.-based Cody's will operate 36 stores in southwest Missouri, said the report.
Jared has said that the company has ambitious expansion plans. He hopes to eventually have a Cody's in every town in southwest Missouri, he told The Springfield News-Ledger last year. At the time, several stores were under construction or in the planning stages. Several are scheduled to open this year, including the chain's first truckstop, slated for a March opening.
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