GONZALES, Texas -- Roy Cole, CEO of Johnson Oil Co., offered details to The Gonzales Inquirer on the Texas company's sale of its 21 convenience stores to Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.'s Circle K.
In addition to the convenience stores that operate under the brand names The Tote and Tiger Tote, which offer Exxon and Chevron fuels, the deal included 151 dealer fuel supply agreements in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
The Mama's Kitchen foodservice operation is also included in the transaction, said the report.
The delis, which are in 10 of the chain's convenience stores, account for 18% of inside sales, according to a recent Convenience Retailing University (CRU) operational session (click here to view the CSP Daily News coverage).
The companies announced the deal on March 16. They said that they expect the transaction to close by July 19. It is subject to standard regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
Once Circle K's deal with Johnson Oil is completed, all 21 stores will be rebranded as Circle K and will be operated by Circle K's Southwest Division, the report said.
The sale will not affect Johnson Oil's lubricants and commercial fuels distribution business, which will "continue to provide quality service and products in addition to its Exxon-branded quality service and products in addition to its Exxon-branded lubricants business," Cole told the newspaper.
He also said that Circle K will offer continuing positions to all eligible retail-level employees.
"The Johnson family is pleased that our stores and employees will be in good hands with Circle K and we think they have a bright future ahead of them," Cole said.
"For our dealer business, we expect Circle K to build on the great relationships we've developed over our company's long and successful history," he added.
Couche-Tard operates a network of more than 6,300 convenience stores throughout North America. Its North American network consists of 13 business units, including nine in the United States (under the Circle K brand) in 40 states and four business units in Canada (under the Mac's and Couche-Tard brands) covering all 10 provinces.
Gonzales-based Johnson Oil was founded in 1958. The company opened its first Tiger Tote convenience store in Luling, Texas, in 1985.
Click here to view the full Gonzales Inquirer report.
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.