Alimentation Couche-Tard

New York -- Shares of Safeway Inc. shares rose as much as 9% on Wednesday on rumors of increased buyout interest for its Canada operations by Canadian grocer Metro Inc. and Loblaw Companies Ltd.

On Tuesday, Metro announced it was selling off nearly half its stake in Couche-Tard Inc. for $482 million.

In December, Loblaw announced plans to spin off the vast majority of its property assets into a real estate investment trust.

CARY, N.C. — The Pantry, an independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States, announced that Joe Venezia is joining the executive leadership team as SVP operations.

Venezia joins The Pantry from TitleMax. In his new role at The Pantry, he will lead the company’s store operations and be focused on driving sales, improving store productivity, and leading a great store operations team.

Laval, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. said Tuesday its subsidiary Circle K Stores will acquire 29 stores in Orlando, Fla., from Florida Oil Holdings.

The transaction is expected to close at the end of August.

The BP-branded stores will be operated by Couche-Tard's Florida Division under the Circle K brand.     

"This is a great opportunity for the Florida Division to strengthen our market share in the Orlando market,” said David Morgan, VP operations, Florida.
 

Melville, N.Y. -- Commercial real estate consulting, advisory and investment group A&G Realty Partners announced that Peter Lynch and Andrew Margolick have joined the firm as partners.

Lynch joins A&G from DJM Realty, where he was a principal and senior managing director, and Margolick was president of his own firm, ARM Consulting, as well as a former VP at Hilco Real Estate.

Cary, N.C. -- C-store chain The Pantry announced Wednesday that it has appointed Dennis G. Hatchell as president and CEO, effective March 5.

Hatchell succeeds Edwin Holman who served as interim CEO since Terrance Marks resigned as CEO effective in October 2011.

Hatchell previously served as vice chairman of Alex Lee, a holding company for Lowe’s Food Stores, Merchants Distributors and Institution Food House.

It’s not easy keeping up with the comings and goings of retail executives these days. Every day seems to bring a change at -- or near -- the top. Among the most recent announcements was the news that Terrance Marks, CEO of The Pantry and architect of the chain’s turnaround strategy, was stepping down to take a position in Atlanta. Also hot off the wire: Mark Cosby, former president of stores at Macy’s, has been named president of CVS/pharmacy.

Cary, N.C. -- The Pantry said Monday that CEO Terrance M. Marks plans to resign within two months.

In a statement, Marks said that his decision was driven by personal reasons, and that he had accepted "an opportunity that will enable me to return to my home and family in Atlanta."

Laval, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard, parent of Circle K Stores, has signed an agreement to acquire up to 322 sites, plus an additional 65 reseller contracts, in Southern California, from ExxonMobil Corp. The purchase price was not disclosed.

“These stores are high volume, high impact locations,” Tim Tourek, Couche-Tard’s VP of operations for the west coast division, said in a statement. “They would significantly strengthen our overall footprint in this important market.”

Cary, N.C. -- Convenience-store operator The Pantry is selling 114 locations located in nine states throughout the Southeast. The properties are a combination of owned and leased locations. All are operating convenience stores with gasoline, except for one standalone store.

NRC Realty Capital Advisors, Chicago, is assisting The Pantry in the sale. As of May 9, The Pantry operated 1,659 stores in 13 states under select banners, including Kangaroo Express, its primary operating banner.

Laval, QC -- Canadian c-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard reported Thursday that net income for its fiscal third quarter rose 29.6% to $71 million, compared with $54.8 million in the year-ago period.

Revenues rose 13.7% to $5.6 billion. Same-store merchandise sales were up 3.9% in the United States and 0.4% in Canada.
 
Alimentation Couche-Tard operates a network of 5,874 convenience stores in the United States and Canada.