SYLACAUGA, Ala. — Bowden Oil Co. has exited the petroleum and convenience-store industry by selling its branded Chevron distribution business and chain of 17 Shop “N” Fill Food Mart locations to Majors Management LLC, Lawrenceville, Ga. The deal closed Aug. 2.
Founded in 1955 in Talladega, Ala., Bowden Oil, now based in Sylacauga, Ala., served a wide area of central Alabama. The company opened the first Shop "N" Fill Food Mart in 1982.
Donna Jones and her sister Debbie Rogers operated the company on behalf of their mother, Nora Bowden.
“Since the passing of our father several years ago, Debbie and I assumed a split management role in the company, with her handling the fuel distribution side and me handling store operations,” said Donna Jones. “The decision to sell our business was a very hard one to make, as we took great pride in our stores and the close relationships that we had with both our customers and employees. Debbie and I worked hard to fine-tune the business into a quality operation, but we were ready to start a new phase in our lives and the timing of the sale just seemed right.”
Bowden Oil has a private-brand subsidiary known as Wesco that supplies nonbranded and independent retail locations with petroleum products and services. It supplies wholesale and retail customers, industrial accounts, contractors and farms with Chevron and Texaco fuels and automotive lubricants.
PetroActive Real Estate Services LLC provided exclusive advisory services to Bowden Oil in this transaction.
“Donna and Debbie and their managerial expertise are the best representation of traditional multigenerational wholesale petroleum excellence. They fine-tuned their business while working a well-defined exit strategy to garner optimal rewards in today’s brisk acquisition market,” said Mark Radosevich, president of PetroActive Services, Coral Gables, Fla.
The sale allows Majors Management LLC the opportunity to expand its Chevron-branded business into central Alabama and provides critical mass for subsequent growth throughout Alabama, the company said.
Majors Management develops, services and supports leased c-stores with gasoline and retail sales. It is a distributor of branded motor fuels, and it partners with brands such as Chevron, CITGO, Exxon, Mobil, Phillips 76, Shell, Sunoco, Texaco and Valero. Its current markets include Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina and Arkansas.
The company was founded in 1970 by Marvin Hewatt, who formed Allstar Petroleum Inc. in 1999, Excell Petroleum in 2001 and Majors Management in 2002 to manage a growing real estate portfolio. Between 1998 and 2011, the companies developed more than 100 new stores. Today, Majors is focused on improvement in support of its c-store owners, small-business entrepreneurs, fuel customers, petroleum partners and communities.
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