BP’s ampm convenience store business has landed on Entrepreneur magazine’s 2010 list of Top 10 franchises.
The 10th place ranking represents a jump from 2009 when ampm came in 35th on the magazine’s Franchise 500 list. The BP convenience store brand also rose in the magazine’s rankings of fastest-growing franchises. Entrepreneur ranked ampm 14th on its list for 2010, up from 57th in 2009.
The Entrepreneur ranking underscores ampm’s 30-year tradition of offering customers a unique product while expanding the brand into new marketing areas, noted Bill Fry, president of ampm.
“The ranking is recognition of our growth and we’re excited to continue to grow ampm nationally as a leading c-store franchise,” Fry said. “But what really matters is bringing too much good stuff to customers through franchisees in their local communities. That’s what this business is all about.”
Entrepreneur magazine’s rankings of the top 500 franchises appear in its January 2010 issue. According to the magazine, companies are judged by objective, quantifiable measures of a franchise operation. The most important factors include financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system.
The rankings of fastest-growing franchises are based on the number of new franchise units added in the U.S. and Canada from 2008 to 2009, as verified by Entrepreneur‘s Franchise 500.
The 2010 Franchise 500 Top 10 list and list of the fastest-growing franchises both appear online at the Entrepreneur Web site.
ARCO-branded ampm stores are currently found in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Arizona; BP-branded ampm stores are located in Chicago, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Atlanta.
The ampm brand was founded in 1978 in Southern California by ARCO, which was acquired by BP in 2000. Additional information regarding BP’s franchising opportunities is available at http://www.bpampmfranchise.com for the Midwestern and Southeastern U.S. and at http://www.arcoampmfranchise.com for the Western U.S.