"We know that the trajectory of the recovery is not going to be straight up. It is going to be more like two steps forward and one step back, or a stutter step." Maureen Maguire, Think Research (page 24)
		Only 2 percent of the average consumer's days (about 7 days a year) come close to resembling the USDA's MyPlate dietary guidelines. Source: The NPD Group

The wheeling and dealing days are back. 2011 ended with a bang as more than 700 convenience and grocery stores were sold, merged or put up for sale throughout North America.

Although 2011 may not be remembered as the "year of the merger," there was a flurry of activity at the end of the year that was certainly memorable. Completed transactions were both large and small, ranging from Pilot Flying J buying two stores last month to Bi-Lo LLC acquiring Winn-Dixie's 480 supermarkets.

Here's a look at the year-end transactions in more detail:

• PMG New Jersey LLC, a newly formed entity created by Petroleum Marketing Group, a large Shell, Exxon, Mobil, Sunoco, Gulf and CITGO branded jobbership, closed on the acquisition of 46 Shell stations owned by Shell subsidiary, Motiva Enterprises LLC. All the sites are located in northern New Jersey, according to Petroleum Capital and Real Estate LLC, which acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the buyer.

• Mauldin, S.C.-based Bi-Lo LLC acquired Winn-Dixie, an operator of 480 supermarkets throughout Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi. Bi-Lo will pay $560 million, or $9.50 per Winn-Dixie New York Stock Exchange share. Once approved, the combined Southeast regional supermarket chain will operate 690 stores, making it the ninth-largest U.S. supermarket operation. The deal, unanimously approved by Winn-Dixie's board of directors, is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.

• Slidell Oil Co. LLC acquired the assets of Interstate Oil Co. Inc., a Chevron wholesaler and retailer in Montgomery, Ala. Interstate operates 24 convenience stores in and around the Montgomery market.

• Sobeys inked a deal with Shell to purchase approximately 250 retail gas locations in Canada. About 200 of the locations are in Québec, with the remainder in the Atlantic provinces. Subject to regulatory approval and customary conditions, the deal is expected to close by the end of March.

• Pilot Flying J acquired two Pennsylvania travel centers. Located in Duncannon and Frystown, both locations feature diesel exhaust fluid at the pump, vending machines, pay phones, Western Union, ATM, lottery tickets and general merchandise for sale.

• Circle K purchased 11 locations from Neighbors Stores. Owner Gary York said the move was part of a larger effort to sell all its retail outlets. Once the transaction is completed, Neighbors will have eight stores remaining in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina.

• Fleming Oil will now focus on its convenience stores and gas stations after merging its heating oil and services division with Bangor, Maine-based Dead River Co. Under terms of the deal, Dead River will own and operate Fleming's heating oil and services division, while Fleming will operate 11 c-stores/gas stations in Vermont and New Hampshire under the new name of Shell Food Marts.

• Buchanan Energy placed 61 gas stations up for sale in the Chicago and St. Louis areas as part of a plan to shed the company-owned portion of its locations. Buchanan tapped NRC Realty to handle the sale, consisting of 38 ExxonMobil-branded locations in the greater Chicago area and 23 BP-branded locations in the greater St. Louis area.

• Empire Petroleum Partners merged with Quik-Way Group, which owns real estate interests in 87 properties. The combined company will continue to operate under the name Empire Petroleum Partners, with its main corporate office in Gaithersburg, Md. The merger allows Empire Petroleum to extend its reach to Texas and Louisiana.

Eye on Growth

• Susser Holdings Corp. earned approximately $72 million from its secondary stock sale, completed last month. The company, which has 1,100 company-operated and contracted locations, sold 3.5 million shares of its common stock for $21.75 each. Susser earned an additional $6 million roughly, as the underwriters exercised their options to purchase 275,000 shares of the company's stock. The operator of Stripes convenience stores intends to use the proceeds as growth capital for new store development and general corporate purposes. Susser's aggressive retail building program for 2012 calls for an estimated 25 to 30 Stripes stores to be built and opened by year end.
• The industry's truck stop chains have been busy adding to their store counts. Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores opened 23 travel stops and 46 truck tire care centers in 2011, as of mid-December. New locations include Little Rock, Ark., Dwight, Ill. Kankakee, Ill., and Whitestown, Ind. Pilot Flying J recently added new travel centers in Marion, Ill., Gilman, Ill., and Nevada, Mo. TravelCenters of America, too, opened a new TA travel center in Lexington, Va., and a new Petro Stopping Center in Dodge City, Ala.
• Western New York chain NOCO Express unveiled a newly rebuilt gasoline convenience store across from Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The former 1,600-square-foot store was demolished in early September to be replaced with a 5,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art store featuring NOCO's "store within a store" concept; new convenient amenities for customers such as a kiosk for check-in at the airport; and various green building technologies to reduce energy consumption.
• Family Express Corp. plans to expand its c-store and fuel retailing business westward from its Valparaiso, Ind., base. The family-owned company spent nearly $8 million to purchase the property and open three new locations in Indiana's Lake County, bringing its store count to 57 locations in northwest and north central Indiana.
• The recently opened Cumberland Farms store at 263 Grafton St. in Worcester, Mass., is the second of the company's nearly 600 locations to feature a drive-thru window. The first store with a drive-thru opened in Kingston, Mass., last winter. Cumberland Farms is currently undertaking a multimillion-dollar renovation project to modernize its stores.
• GPM Investments LLC, operator of the Fas Mart and Shore Stop convenience store chains, entered into a $35-million credit facility with PNC Bank N.A. that matures in November 2016. Company CEO Arie Kotler said the money, in part, would be used to enhance the customer experience at its c-stores, launch new marketing campaigns and possibly for store acquisitions. As of press time, GPM operated 213 locations.
• 7-Eleven Inc. was expected to open about 650 U.S. stores in 2011, more than double the number it opened in 2010. The Dallas-based company saw an increase in acquisition opportunities, along with having organic store growth, according to media reports.

In Memoriam

• Lynn Burkhart Weigel, co-founder of Weigel's Stores, died at his Knoxville, Tenn., home on Dec. 18. He was 94. Weigel and his brother William were credited with transforming Weigel's Jug o' Milk and later Weigel's Inc. into successful businesses. The two were also credited with being among the first to sell milk via drive-thru locations. The company, now run by Weigel's nephew, chairman and CEO Bill Weigel, celebrated its 80th anniversary last year. The business has grown to roughly 60 c-store locations within a 75-mile radius of Knoxville. Burkhart Weigel is survived by his wife Kathleen, his son Lynn Weigel Jr., a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
• Julian Jackson, founder of Jackson's Minit Markets and Lil' Champ Food Stores, passed away in Jacksonville, Fla., in November at the age of 98. At one time, Jackson's Minit Markets ranked third among the largest chain-store companies behind 7-Eleven Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. After expanding to 525 stores, Jackson sold the business and opened Lil' Champs, which went public in 1976 and was eventually bought by The Pantry. Jackson's son Victor recalled his father as "a pioneer in the convenience store business." Jackson was also a known philanthropist who was a big supporter of the Police Athletic League (PAL). The PAL facility in Arlington, Fla., bears his name. He is survived by his wife, Lolly, 89, of Jacksonville; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Retailer Tidbits

• Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc. (GPMI) filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Dec. 5. GPMI operates roughly 800 gas station/convenience stores it leases from Getty Realty Corp. GPMI Chief Executive Bjorn Aaserod, in an exclusive interview with CSNews, said the company's independent c-store owners can expect no changes at their stores. However, retailers subleasing from GPMI said they still have questions about the future of their sites.
• Northern Tier Energy LLC is going public. The independent downstream energy company filed an S-4 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in an effort to launch an initial public offering of Class A common stock. Northern Tier operates 166 SuperAmerica convenience stores and 67 franchised stores under the same brand.
• Casey's General Stores Inc. will convert 150 more of its stores to a 24-hour format by the end of this month. The convenience store chain already converted more than 70 locations as of December. The retailer will also remain aggressive regarding acquisitions. Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas are the states in which Casey's is looking to expand, the company's CFO said during a conference call last month.
• A 50-percent-off Shell gasoline gift card promotion worked a little too well, as bargain hunters crashed CouponTrade.com's website at midnight Dec. 10. The flash sale attracted more than 400,000 requests in seconds. The site was back up in 90 minutes.
• TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) has become an authorized Verizon wireless retailer and opened Verizon retail outlets under the UltraMobile name at eight of its TA and Petro Stopping Centers branded locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The UltraMobile outlets provide a full-service offering in a convenient location for professional drivers and highway motorists. With UltraMobile, customers can purchase phones, set up service plans and new activations, upgrade existing plans and pay their Verizon bills.

BP added 800 ATMs to its ARCO-branded ampm locations as part of an expansion effort. About 75 percent of the ATMs will be installed in California ampm locations, bringing the total number of Chase ATMs in California to nearly 4,000.

QuikTrip inked an agreement to place Blackhawk Network's Gift Card Mall in its more than 500 convenience stores. The product line now offered across QuikTrip includes a variety of gift cards, digital content cards and telecom prepaid cards.

The Pantry Inc. expanded its Fresh Initiative program to Raleigh, N.C.-area Kangaroo Express stores in time for National Bakery Day last month. The new bakery case at the stores features glazed doughnuts that are almost 40 percent larger than other well-known brands; blueberry and banana nut muffins; cheese Danishes; and jumbo chocolate chunk and oatmeal raisin cookies. The bakery offering will also include seasonal treats, such as red velvet muffins and doughnuts with holiday sprinkles for the winter.

Hess Corp. and Town Pump have teamed up with OpenStore by GasBuddy. OpenStore helped debut the Hess Express mobile app and redesigned website, HessExpress.com, to provide users with customized deals and coupons, real-time gas prices and traffic information. Meanwhile, the pact with Town Pump involves a new digital marketing strategy that includes new website, free mobile apps offering deals and coupons, social media promotions and a variety of contests.

People on the Move

• The Pantry Inc., operator of Kangaroo Express, continues to search for a new CEO following the resignation of its former president and CEO Terry Marks. Edwin Holman, a 40-year retail veteran, is currently serving as The Pantry's interim CEO. During an earnings call last month, Holman, who is not on the CEO search committee, said the board "has a sense of urgency to identify and employ a permanent CEO" who's a "seasoned C-suite executive with extensive experience and proven results in the retail industry." However, he said there is no definite timeline as to when a new CEO will be named.
• Murphy Oil Corp. promoted Kevin Fitzgerald to the position of executive vice president, and John Eckart to the post of senior vice president. Fitzgerald, who will continue to also serve as the company's CFO, is a 29-year industry veteran and will report to David Wood, Murphy Oil's president and CEO. Eckart, who will also remain as the company's controller, has served Murphy Oil for 21 years and will report to Fitzgerald.
• Thorntons Inc. promoted Tony Harris to COO. He now handles operations, marketing, gasoline pricing, brand management, customer experience and retail strategy. The company also promoted John A. Zikias to vice president of category management and supply chain for the fuel and merchandise categories. Rodney Lloyd was appointed director of brand development and strategic initiatives. Also, Jason Doyle is now Southern Division vice president of operations and Matt Dabulis was promoted to Northern Division vice president of operations.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. Vice President and ExxonMobil Fuels Marketing Co. President Harold R. Cramer announced he will retire on June 1. Cramer has served the company for more than 38 years.
• Hy-Vee Chairman and CEO Ric Jurgens will retire June 1 after spending four decades with the Iowa-based chain. Jurgens has held Hy-Vee's top post since 2006. He will ask Hy-Vee's board of directors to name COO Randy Edeker as his replacement during its May meeting. Hy-Vee grew to 235 stores in eight states under Jurgen's watch.
• Kraft Foods Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld will take on those same roles at the new $31 billion-revenue global snacks company that will be created when Kraft splits into two companies later this year. In addition, W. Anthony Vernon, currently executive vice president and president of Kraft Foods North America, will become CEO of Kraft's $17-billion North American grocery company once the split is complete.
• KSS Retail named Andy Kalamaras its senior vice president, sales and professional services. He has two decades of experience working with technology solutions providers.
• Steve Willoughby was appointed vice president of marketing for Frymaster on Jan. 1. He now helps drive sales growth via the development of product marketing strategies and business development initiatives.
• Scott Jordan became Master-Bilt's new president. He previously served as vice president of operations and general manager for BKI, a Standex Food Service Equipment Group company, for three years.
• Heineken USA appointed Catherine Vieira as senior director, trade marketing activation. She will lead the development of all channel strategies and retail marketing programs for Heineken's brand portfolio.