Dive Brief:
- Alimentation Couche-Tard is looking to sell 36 Circle K sites scattered across 14 states, a company spokesperson confirmed to C-Store Dive on Friday.
- The spokesperson said these locations no longer fit with Couche-Tard’s brand and market strategy. The Canadian convenience retailer directly owns and operates 20 of the sites and leases the other 16, according to advisory firm NRC Realty & Capital Advisors, which is coordinating the sale.
- Couche-Tard, which operates about 7,300 locations across the U.S., continues to refine its c-store network in the states as it integrates the 270 GetGo Café + Markets it bought earlier this year.
Dive Insight:
Couche-Tard’s spokesperson did not share why these locations don’t meet the retailer’s standards anymore, only noting that the company regularly divests properties it doesn’t see as part of its future.
“We routinely evaluate our real estate portfolio as part of our efforts to optimize our store network,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The stores vary in size and type, according to NRC, with some locations as large as 4,000 square feet. The average lot size of all 36 sites is about 25,000 square feet, the advisory firm noted.
Couche-Tard is selling multiple stores in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, said Evan Gladstone, executive managing director for NRC. Meanwhile, Alabama, California, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia each have one on the market.
Although they’re currently branded as Circle K, the stores are being marketed without any c-store banner or fuel supply, according to NRC.
“We have some good sites in this offering which will be of interest to individual operators and smaller companies,” Gladstone said.
