Friday, July 10, 2009
APPCO Bid Deadline Approaches
Source: Convenience Store News
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The liquidation of Appalachian Oil Co.'s (Appco) assets, including 47 Appco convenience stores likely entered a final phase yesterday with the deadline for bids, TimesNewsNet.com reported.
The sale, a result of that company's Feb. 9 bankruptcy filing, is being handled by NRC Realty, and bids for the stores will be reviewed for up to 10 days before bid awards, according to the report.
Closings on sales will occur within 30 days of bid awards, or 10 days after the bankruptcy court approves the sale, the report stated.
Several large c-store chains are looking into the Appco assets, including Worsley Cos., a subsidiary of Sun Capital Partners, according to TimesNewsNet.com.
Meanwhile, Appco store employees wait for a resolution.
"We're waiting on the deadline and we're waiting on the final news of who's going to own us," a manager of a small-town Appco, said in the report. "Just somebody buy the store, or shut us down before we have a nervous breakdown."
The company has been prepping for the sale since mid-April, when bankruptcy Judge Marsha Parsons appointed Andy Weber as Appco's "chief restructuring officer."
The bankruptcy process requires Appco to file monthly operating reports, and in its most recent report, for the month of May, the company lost more than $1 million on revenues of $4.5 million, according to the report.
Despite Appco's struggles, the Appco store manager said she believes business would return to profitable levels under the right management.
"There's no doubt customers would come back. It would just take us some time to do some serious advertising and some grand re-opening things. I think right now people just are skeptical about what product we'll have."
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To see a list of convenience stores for sale and gas stations for sale, click here.