Sampson-Bladen Oil Co. has acquired all 15 Breeze Thru-branded convenience stores from Cary Oil Co. According to a statement from Matrix Capital Markets Group, which served as advisor to Cary, the company will continue to operate its wholesale fuels distribution business that supplies about 1,000 dealers across more than 20 states.
Cary Oil Co. was founded in 1959 by Harry Stephenson, operating as a single tankwagon delivering home heating oil throughout the town of Cary, N.C. Over the next several decades, Cary began offering a full slate of branded motor fuels and further expanded its geographic reach across the southeastern U.S.
As its wholesale distribution network continued to extend into the southwest and parts of the midwestern U.S., Cary also began operating convenience stores in its home state of North Carolina, branding these locations with its proprietary Breeze Thru Markets imaging. The Breeze Thru network consisted of 15 stores, selling BP, 76 and Amoco branded fuels and served many local communities throughout North Carolina.
“The Stephenson Family has built a very well-known and successful family business, and we are honored that they now trust our family to carry on this one small part of their legacy,” said John Litton Clark, Sampson-Bladen Oil Co. president. “We have engaged with Matrix in several acquisitions, and their knowledge of our industry really streamlines the process.”
Sampson-Bladen Oil Company, Inc. was founded in 1936 and now, as a fourth-generation, family-owned enterprise, has expanded into convenience store operations, quick service restaurants (QSRs), car washes, a wholesale fuel division and a lubricants division.
With the purchase of the Breeze Thru stores, Sampson-Bladen Oil Company’s store count has increased to 125 stores covering North Carolina from Duck to Blowing Rock.
