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84 Oregon Shell Stations Sold to PacWest Energy
Wright Express Acquires Pacific Pride
Magellan Opens Colorado Biodiesel Rack
RHL Design Group Acquired By Stantec
Chevron To Sell 1,000 Retail Sites, Restructure
Thief Installs Card Reader To Steal PIN Numbers
PORTLAND, OR. — Shell Oil has announced that it will "transition ownership" of 84 of its branded service stations in Oregon to PacWest Energy, a new joint venture between Shell and Jacksons Food Stores Inc., of Meridian, ID. The purchase price of the properties was not disclosed.
The service stations, under the control of PacWest Energy, will maintain the Shell brand in the Pacific Northwest. The convenience stores on the properties will be rebranded to the Jacksons brand.
"We look forward to meeting the needs of the residents of Portland and to providing them with great service and quality Shell gasoline," said John Jackson, president, Jackson Food Stores, Inc., announcing the deal. "We anticipate the combined power of the Shell and Jacksons brands will serve to attract new customers throughout the region."
Shell officials said the sale was part of the company's plan "to transition retail assets to joint venture and wholesale operations in order to move toward its vision of becoming the best fuels retailer in the world."
In addition to the Shell brand, Jackson Oil also distributes Texaco and Chevron products and owns and operates approximately 100 service stations and convenience stores in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho.
SOUTH PORTLAND, ME. — In a major market move for the Western cardlock industry, Wright Express Corporation has acquired the assets of Pacific Pride Services Inc., for approximately $32 million.
"We worked for 25 years to build Pacific Pride," said Cindy Condon, vice president of Franchise Relations for the company, "and now we can take it to the next level to support our customers."
The Pacific Pride division and the majority of the staff will remain in the company's offices in Salem, OR. David Harris, who had been serving as president of the cardlock network, will stay on as a consultant, "but first, I'm going to Disneyland...and Hawaii," he joked.
The Pacific Pride franchise network includes over 330 independent fuel franchisees and over 1,000 Pacific Pride and strategic partner cardlock locations in the U.S. and Canada. The Pacific Pride network of processes approximately 32 million fleet card transactions annually and generates approximately 80% of its revenue from transaction fees.
Maine-based Wright Express provides payment processing and information management services to approximately 300,000 commercial and government fleets.
"Pacific Pride offers compelling benefits to distributors and the fleets they serve, making it an outstanding strategic addition to our core business," said Wright Express President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Dubyak announcing the deal. "With products from both [Wright Express'] TelaPoint and Pacific Pride, we can provide fuel distributors with a comprehensive solution that spans everything from management of fuel inventory at their bulk and retail sites to payment processing and purchasing controls for their fleet customers."
"We're very excited about it," concluded Condon. "It's a great opportunity for marketers."
AURORA, CO. — Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. has opened a new biodiesel blending and storage facility here.
The biodiesel blending facility, located at the existing Magellan terminal here, has an 84,000 gallon tank and will produce biodiesel blends. CHS Inc. will market and distribute biodiesel fuel from Magellan's facility.
"By combining a biodiesel blending and storage facility with Magellan's existing infrastructure, we can get blended fuel to our customers faster and more efficiently," said Drew Combs of CHS. "Rack blending as opposed to splash blending provides more accuracy and higher quality as well as one-stop loading with a single bill-of-lading."
PETALUMA, CA. — RHL Design Group, headquartered here, has been acquired by Stantec of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, effective as of March 14. The purchase price was not released.
All of the RHL staff will join Stantec and the RHL offices in Petaluma, Orange, and Sacramento, CA., Denver, CO., Seattle, WA., Portland, OR., and Phoenix, AZ., will be converted to the Stantec name.
"The full transition will be completed with no interruption in client services," said RHL Co-Presidents John Johnson and Brian Zita in an official statement. "Our senior management, project managers, and design team members already working on your projects will continue to uphold their existing responsibilities and commitments."
"Joining Stantec is an exciting opportunity for RHL," added John Johnson.
"We're pleased with the addition of RHL's staff and client roster," says Tony Franceschini, Stantec President and CEO. "Combining the capabilities of RHL and Stantec, the new Commercial Program Development practice area will offer a total array of services nationally to our commercial and corporate clients, including engineering, architecture, permitting, compliance, and environmental services."
Stantec's operations include 8,500 employees working in 125 locations in Canada and the United States. Stantec trades on the TSX under the symbol STN and on the NYSE under the symbol SXC.
SAN RAMON, CA. — Chevron has announced that it plans to divest part of its downstream business in an effort to reduce costs and increase profits.
Chevron Executive Vice President Mike Wirth announced in mid-March that the company plans to divest approximately 1,000 retail sites. Many of those locations are outside the United States; no specific locations have yet been made public. However, Wirth did note that the company will "exit marketing and lubrications operations" in 70 countries worldwide.
Wirth also said that Chevron is going to restructure its marketing and lubricants divisions. With the sales and restructuring efforts, he predicted Chevron would have a savings of $700 million annually.
The restructuring and asset sales are expected to be completed by 2010.
Wirth also reported that Chevron is planning to launch a crude flexibility project at its Richmond, CA., refinery and an improvement project at its El Segundo, CA., refinery. Both projects would increase supply in the California and Western marketplace.
TEMPE, AZ. — A crafty thief mounted a custom-made card reader and camera at a Circle K station here in order to steal credit and debit card numbers.
According to local police reports, a motorist at the Circle K station on University Drive west of Price Road discovered a box mounted over the hood of a fuel dispenser and believed the card reader on the dispenser had been altered. The driver notified the Circle K station staff who discovered that the card reader on the dispenser had been replaced with a custom-mader reader, designed to capture credit card numbers.
Upon further inspection by the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures, it was discovered that the thief had also installed a camera above the dispenser number pad in order to record PIN numbers entered by customers.
Police asked motorists who filled up at the service station to check their credit and debit card statements because they had no idea how long the card reader and camera had been installed on the dispenser.
Police also said they were checking other service stations in the area and encouraged all station owners and operators to inspect their dispensers for similar devices.
Originally published in the April 2008 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2008 by KAL Publications Inc.
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