Dive Brief:
- East Coast convenience retailer and fuel distributor Petroleum Marketing Group has acquired independent competitor Blythewood Oil Company, according to an announcement from advisory firm American Business Brokers & Advisors, which coordinated the deal.
- The deal features Blythewood’s nine company-operated convenience stores located between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina.
- This marks second-generation-owned Blythewood’s exit from the c-store industry after about half a century in business.
Dive Insight:
All nine of Blythewood’s convenience stores operate under the company’s Sharpe Shoppe banner and sell BP-branded fuel in the forecourt, Terry Monroe, president and founder of American Business Brokers & Advisors, said in a statement to C-Store Dive. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Monroe did not say why the Sharpe family decided to sell its retail and wholesale businesses. However, the company’s exit from the industry continues the wave of small convenience retailers — many with between 10 and 50 locations — selling their assets amid a difficult operating environment. Industry experts have said they expect this trend to continue in 2026.
Although Blythewood is stepping away from convenience retail, the company will remain in the wholesale transportation and dealer business, according to the announcement.
The deal is the first retail-focused purchase that Virginia-based PMG has made since it went on a buying spree three years ago. Between April and November of 2023, PMG acquired over 50 company-operated c-stores as well as consignment and wholesale fuel supply agreements for roughly 150 others in the eastern U.S.
Today, PMG employs over 600 people and serves 1,200 gas stations from Maine to Florida. Besides fueling and convenience, the company also offers retail design, engineering, construction, finance, accounting, operations and management services.
