Atlas Oil Co., of Taylor, Mich., has reached an agreement with BP Products North America to acquire and supply 23 BP branded stores in northwest Indiana. The sale, which is scheduled to close in the fall, includes a number of retail locations owned by BP, several dealer-supplied sites and an agreement for Atlas to operate a number of sites in the market.
As part of this deal, Atlas plans to convert a number of its retail sites to BP’s ampm franchise offer, which after 30 years of success on the West Coast has recently been introduced to the Chicago metropolitan area.
This agreement is the first BP Jobber Supplied Franchise agreement reached east of the Rockies following BP’s announcement that they would be moving most of its direct-supplied marketing areas to jobber supplied.
"Utilizing BP’s fuel brand and the ampm franchise program will allow Atlas to further build upon our reputation in the marketing areas in which we supply and operate," said Sam Simon, CEO of Atlas Oil.
The company will operate the sites from its South Bend, Ind. headquarters, from which Atlas currently supplies more than 100 retail locations in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.
Atlas announced its strategic relationship with BP in December 2007 when it began branding multiple locations to the BP brand following its acquisition of R&J Oil Co.
"This expansion with BP is exactly what we’ve been working toward since we became a BP Jobber in 2007," continued Simon. "We are excited to continue to grow with BP and the ampm franchise."
Atlas, which directly operates 40 convenience stores in the Midwest, is also the primary distributor of fuel to more than 300 stores in the Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Florida and Minnesota markets.