One company’s bankruptcy troubles is leading to another company’s expansion in Kansas City.

 

After Crescent Oil Co. filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, Sunshine Energy LLC  quickly positioned itself for growth, acquiring most of the fallen company’s assets for $11 million on Sept. 4.

 

Sunshine currently operates about 65 c-stores in Kansas under various names, and plans to re-brand many of those as Sunshine Energy stores in early 2010, the Kansas City Star reported.

 

“This is ground zero right here in Kansas City where we will roll out this new brand,” said Bret Berlin, president of Sunshine Energy. “We want to change the mix, to be community-based, catering to local needs. If the customer wants a particular type of beef jerky we will carry that, a certain energy drink, a coffee flavor. We want to build a relationship.”

 

Berlin said the company only buys assets it knows are strong. “We want to make sure that we are a strong company going into the future and didn’t want to purchase any assets that contributed to the downfall of our predecessor.”

 

In addition, Sunshine purchased assets from the bankrupt Appalachian Oil Co. Inc. in Blountville, Tenn., for $6.25 million, and is looking at acquiring other companies as well.

 

Thanks to the recent acquisitions, Sunshine now operates about 170 company c-stores and also supplies another 100 stores in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia. It plans to sell about 200 million gallons of gas a year from Shell, Conoco, Phillips 66, Valero, Citgo and Marathon.