Fikes Wholesale Inc.

After closing some stores in the past year or two that didn't meet company standards, CEFCO added three new-to-industry stores in 2019 to bring its total to 207 by year-end. Another eight NTI sites are scheduled for 2020, along with two rebuilds. The CEFCO portfolio also includes 27 franchised restaurants.

Clarence Edison Fikes opened a single Texaco station in his hometown of Cameron, Texas, in 1952. Fikes, known as C.E., expanded his fuel business and opened his first convenience store in 1979. Son James joined the business and is CEO today. He grew the CEFCO chain of stores mainly by acquisition, taking the first venture out of Texas and into Mississippi and Alabama. Operations now include stores in six states: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. The first site in Florida was a new build in 2014.

Parent company Fikes Wholesale Inc. is a supplier of branded and unbranded gasoline and diesel fuel to retail and commercial locations throughout the Southeast U.S. CEFCO and Fikes Wholesale support their communities through donations and volunteering to organizations such as the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. The company's C.E. Fikes Endowed Scholarships program provides funds to help students with college tuition.

For benchmarking purposes, store counts are year-end 2019.