ELIZABETHTOWN, N.C. — Minuteman Food Mart, a division of Campbell Oil Co., has entered into an agreement to purchase Friendly Mart Food Stores, an 18-store chain based in Mount Olive, N.C.
“We are all very excited about this addition to our family,” Chris Postlewaite, senior director of retail operations for Elizabethtown, N.C.-based Campbell Oil, said in a LinkedIn post. “All 18 of these locations have a great food program in the Friendly Dog. With the close of this acquisition, we will grow our store count to 63. Neil [Price] and Mike [Price] have done a great job building this brand, and we are proud to continue their legacy.”
- Minuteman Food Mart is No. 146 in CSP’s 2021 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.Watch for the full 2022 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine.
Campbell Oil is a third-generation, family-owned and -operated company since 1946. It established Minuteman Food Mart in 1976 for the purpose of operating convenience stores. The company operates 44 locations in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Owners Michael Price and Guy McKee founded Friendly Mart, which now operates stores in five counties in eastern North Carolina, in 1977 in Faison, N.C. Neil Price, vice president and general manager, joined the company in 1998 after operating a family wholesale business for more than 20 years.
It is an Exxon distributor, with 10 Exxon- , two Sunoco- and six Friendly Mart-branded stores. Ten of its stores have full delis featuring Piccadilly Circus Pizza, along with burgers and hot dogs. The chain is known as the “home of the Friendly Dog.”
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