LINCOLN, Ill. – With the sale of five large, high-volume convenience stores in central Illinois to TravelCenters of America LLC, Illico Inc. is exiting the retail convenience-store industry.
TravelCenters of America announced the closing of the deal for the Apollo Mart locations on June 9, part of a previously announced series of acquisitions in the convenience-store industry. It will rebrand the sites to its Minit Mart c-store brand
Lincoln, Ill.-based Illico was founded in 1904 as a gas station and farm supplier, and the company grew to operate almost 50 convenience stores throughout central and southern Illinois, including servicing a large, multibranded dealer organization with wholesale fuels.
Illico acquired Peoria, Ill.-based Apollo Oil Co. and its 11 convenience stores in 1986.
Illico’s president, Dave Golwitzer, said he will miss the excitement and challenges of the convenience-store industry but, after more than 40 years in the business, he said the time was right to let the “big operators get bigger” and for he and Illico to focus on other projects.
American Business Brokers & Advisors, an independent advisory and transaction-focused company based in Effingham, Ill., and W.J.F. Services Inc., a petroleum advisory service based in Normal, Ill., provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Illico, said Terry Monroe, president of American Business Brokers & Advisors.
Westlake, Ohio-based TravelCenters of America is a leading travel center business in 43 states and Canada. With 254 travel centers off interstate highway exits, TA and Petro Stopping Centers offer customers diesel and gasoline fueling services, more than 500 full-service restaurants and QSRs, 24-hour c-stores, heavy-truck maintenance services, RoadSquad Connect emergency roadside service, Reserve-It truck parking reservations and other services within large, high-traffic facilities. It operates convenience stores under its Minit Mart brand.
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