WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Beroth Oil Co. said it plans to sell up to eight of its 32 Four Brothers convenience stores as part of a strategy focused on operating larger, more profitable stores, reported the Winston-Salem Journal.
Two of the stores are in Beroth's hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., two stores each are in Mount Airy and Kernersville, and one store each is in Hiddenite and Statesville. Winfield Beroth, president of Beroth Oil, said that the decision to sell the stores "is part of a normal course of business for us, as well as our competitors. [image-nocss] We're selling stores that are profitable, but not at the level we're accustomed to. I want to make sure that people understand that the company itself is not for sale, and we have plans to grow the company in our market and into new markets.
When Beroth does expand, it plans to do so with much bigger stores, according to the report. The average Four Brothers store is about 2,500 sq. ft., Beroth said. The new stores will be 3,500 to 5,000 sq. ft. Those stores are in the same range of c-stores opened by Quality Oil Co. and Sheetz Inc. in Forsyth County in the past year, the report added.
"We're responding, like our competitors, to consumer demand for more robust food and beverage products in our stores as a matter of convenient shopping," Beroth told the newspaper. He also said that the company, which started in 1958, is considering partnerships with fast-food restaurants at its larger stores.
Members of the Beroth family are officials at Bulldog Holdings LLC, the Triad-area franchisee for Backyard Burgers, which is based in Cleveland, Miss., and has about 150 restaurants in 18 states. Backyard Burgers has restaurants in Clemmons and High Point and has plans for eight more in the Triad, said the report.
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