Independents

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. has entered into an agreement to acquire Stephen L. LaFrance Holdings Inc., the owner and operator of the USA Drug chain, for about $438 million, gaining stores in several Southern states. The acquisition comes on the heels of Walgreens’ announcement that it was buying a 45% stake in Alliance Boots GmbH for $6.7 billion last month to expand globally.

The nation’s convenience stores continued to grow last year creating a peculiar blend of competitive challenges and sales opportunities for Sam’s Club.

Dallas -- 7-Eleven announced that it has completed a transaction to acquire 18 Open Pantry convenience store locations in Wisconsin, primarily in the greater Milwaukee and Madison markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Houston -- On average, Hispanics visit convenience stores more frequently on a monthly basis compared to non-Hispanics, according to a recently released report by The NPD Group. The report, entitled The Hispanic Convenience Store Shopper, finds that Hispanics overall made almost two more visits a month than non-Hispanics to major oil chain c-stores, and nearly one more visit over a 30-day period to traditional c-stores than non-Hispanics.

Dallas -- 7-Eleven said Thursday it has completed its previously announced transaction with convenience store operator Strasburger Enterprises and has acquired 23 c-stores in Texas, mostly under the Quix banner.

Terms of the deal, which brings 7-Eleven’s Texas store count to 570, weren’t disclosed.

Charlotte, N.C. -- Harris Teeter Supermarkets entered into an agreement with Lowe’s Food Stores whereby Harris Teeter will acquire 10 Lowes locations in the central Carolinas region and Lowes Foods acquiring six Harris Teeter store locations in western North Carolina.

In addition to the six Harris Teeter stores, Harris Teeter has agreed to pay Lowes Foods $26.5 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in the company’s third quarter of fiscal 2012, which ends July 1, 2012.

New York -- 7-Eleven Inc. plans to open 15 to 20 stores this year in the Jacksonville, Fla., market and 80 locations by 2015, according to the Florida Times-Union.

Ankeny, Iowa -- Casey’s General Stores said Thursday that it will break ground on its first site in Kentucky later this month. This store will be located in Cadiz, Ky., and will mark the 12th state in which the c-store chain operates.

The Cadiz store is slated to open summer 2012, and will be followed by additional stores in Paducah and Henderson later this year, said the company.

Casey’s said it also has land under contract in Tennessee with plans to break ground next fiscal year as well.

Dallas -- 7-Eleven said Tuesday it has completed its acquisition of 55 Sam’s Mart stores in the greater Charlotte, N.C., area, part of the c-store operator’s plan to accelerate its growth in the region.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Dallas -- 7-Eleven has entered into an agreement with Sam's Mart LLC to acquire 55 Sam's Mart stores in North and South Carolina and convert them to 7-Eleven stores this year. Local contractors will be hired for the remodeling program to begin later this year.

The transaction is anticipated to close in February, subject to standard closing conditions and regulatory approvals.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.