Jackson Food Stores Acquiring Premium Oil Co.
Love's Acquires Trillium CNG
Murphy USA Plans to Expand West
Aloha Encourages Customers to "Choose Healthy"
Hydrogen Fueling Added to Valero Station

JACKSONS FOOD STORES ACQUIRES PREMIUM OIL CO.

MERIDIAN, ID. — Jacksons Food Stores, based here, has acquired Premium Oil Company, based in Salt Lake City, UT. The price for the deal, which was closed at the end of last year, was not disclosed.

Included in the sale are 15 Premium Oil gasoline stations and convenience stores located across Utah in Salt Lake City, Salina, Richfield, Midvale, Lehi, Tooele, Sandy, West Jordan, Cedar City, and Orem as well as commercial real estate holdings from Premium Oil Co. The former Premium Oil Company sites are Jacksons Food Stores' first locations in the state of Utah.

The service stations and convenience stores will be remodeled and rebranded to the Jacksons brand and image.

Premium Oil had been founded in 1925 and, at its peak, operated 48 service stations in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. In its 90 years in business, the service stations evolved to add automotive repair shops and then snack shops and convenience stores.

Company officials said the sale of the service stations was "discussed for about six months" prior to the close of the deal.

With the acquisition, Jacksons now operates over 225 convenience stores and gasoline stations in six Western states: Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Utah. Its sister company, Jackson Oil, distributes branded fuel to 854 locations in nine Western states.

LOVE'S ACQUIRES TRILLIUM CNG

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK. — Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc., based here, has acquired Trillium CNG. The price for the sale was not disclosed.

Trillium operated 37 CNG fueling stations open to the public for fueling, serving government agencies and airport fleets as well as individual motorists. The company had marketed more than 55 million gallons of CNG per year.

Love's had already opened 28 of its own CNG fueling sites and expects that the addition of the Trillium sites will allow expanded fueling options for drivers of CNG-powered vehicles.

"The acquisition of Trillium CNG provides Love's with a great opportunity to leverage the very best of two companies," said Frank Love, co-CEO of Love's, announcing the deal. "Trillium's established network of CNG locations and its deep expertise within the industry will also allow Love's to serve new types of customers in new markets, while expanding reach to existing customers."

He continued, "Many of our customers, including fleets and motorists, appreciate the stable pricing that CNG offers, so we've remained committed to developing our CNG network," said Love. "We also understand the demand for cleaner-burning fuels remains steady and we want to provide more options for our customers."

It is expected that Love's will continue to expand its distribution of CNG into more of its locations across the United States.

MURPHY USA PLANS TO EXPAND WEST

EL DORADO, AR. — Murphy USA Inc., a major retailer of fuel in the Midwest and Southeast, has announced plans to continue its expansion into the West.

Murphy currently operates 20 service stations in the Western territory — eight in Colorado and 12 in New Mexico — under the Murphy Express and Murphy USA brands.

In a strategy announced in the company's quarterly report, Murphy plans to begin operations in Nevada and Utah during 2016. Murphy also plans to expand into Nebraska.

The company had been under scrutiny after Walmart announced that it was going to terminate its partnership with Murphy USA in February. For almost 20 years, Murphy had built and operated gasoline stations in Walmart parking lots, primarily in the Southeast. While Murphy will continue to operate the stations it has already built, Walmart is moving forward to build and operate their own gasoline stations on their properties.

"We're extremely confident in our independent growth plan," said Andrew Clyde, president and CEO of Murphy USA, during the company's quarterly earnings call. "We're very well prepared to take this path and now that we're on it, we will continue to maximize our potential and the value of Murphy USA."

Clyde said the company anticipates opening between 60 and 80 new service stations this year, including expanding the territory to the West.

"By the time we finish 2016, we will be operating in three additional states, Nevada, Utah and Nebraska, as we open Murphy Express stores in those markets as part of our independent growth plan where we target high-return unit growth in attractive markets," Clyde noted.

Murphy USA is currently operating 1,335 gas stations in 24 states.

ALOHA ENCOURAGES CUSTOMERS TO "CHOOSE HEALTHY"

HONOLULU, HI. — Aloha Petroleum has been honored after becoming the first retail business in Hawaii to adopt the Department of Health's Choose Healthy Now project.

The Choose Healthy Now project labels healthier items in retail stores, helping create consumer awareness of healthy options at the point-of-decision, and encouraging them to buy healthier foods and snacks.

Aloha Petroleum is launching the program at its Aloha Island Mart Kahala and Waianae convenience stores which now feature a "Green (Go!)" section of 17 healthy items. The company will also utilize posters and other written materials to help show consumers the healthy options available in the convenience stores.

Aloha plans to roll out the program to all of its locations.

Aloha Petroleum was recognized by Hawaii First Lady Dawn Ige who noted, "In today's society, convenience foods are often the unhealthy ones. It's nice to see a business taking a stand to actively promote and make the healthier options accessible."

"We are very pleased to partner with the First Lady and the Department of Health on this initiative," said Aloha Petroleum President and CEO Richard Parry. "One of our key goals is to provide healthy options for our customers, and to demonstrate to them that you can buy healthy items in a convenience store. Choose Healthy Now will make it that much easier for our customers to make good choices."

HYDROGEN FUELING ADDED TO VALERO STATION

CAMPBELL, CA. — First Element Fuel is adding a hydrogen fueling site to the Valero service station located at the corner of Winchester Blvd., and Sunnyoaks Avenue here.

Construction began at the site, located at 2855 S. Winchester Blvd., at the end of last year. In a hearing regarding the station, Shane Stephens, chief development officer of First Element Fuel, said they chose to add the hydrogen dispenser to a gasoline station because permits were easier to obtain. He also noted that drivers are comfortable filling their vehicle in a traditional gasoline station — even if what they're filling it with is hydrogen.

Local residents expressed concerns about the addition of the hydrogen pumps because it would drive additional traffic to the residential area. Stephens noted, however, that the station is able to only fill 30-40 cars per day, an amount residents felt was acceptable.

First Element Fuel recently received a $26 million grant from the California Energy Commission to install stations for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. It is expected this grant will fund 19 hydrogen stations across the state.

Stephens said the first stations will be located in high income areas as that is where they believe the demand for the alternative fuel will be highest. "Think of where the Prius, Hybrid and Tesla drivers are," he noted. "They are willing to spend a little money to be a little greener."

The Campbell station was slated to be operational in March.

Originally published in the April 2016 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2016 by KAL Publications Inc.