Struggling gas station chain files for Chapter 11…

Struggling gas station chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The gas station and convenience store sector has faced distress in recent years marked by bankruptcy filings and store closings.

The Store convenience stores and gas stations, owned by Team Schierl Cos., in July 2024 was forced to shut down all operations of its 25 locations in Michigan and Wisconsin after its landlord Mountain Express Oil Co. filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in August 2023, Convenience Store News reported.

Alpharetta, Ga.-based Mountain Express was founded in 2000 and distributed fuel to 828 fueling centers and 27 travel centers in 27 states, before filing bankruptcy. The Store in 2022 sold the land and buildings for its stores to Mountain Express, and maintained all store operations, including equipment, inventory, employment of staff and working with local vendors.

One of the biggest changes in the gas and convenience store sector this year, however, has less to do with current financial distress and more to do with a change in retail strategy. Of course, a change in retail strategy has everything to do with preventing future distress.

Giant gas station operator Shell plc in March revealed its plans to divest about 500 company-owned retail sites in each year in 2024 and 2025 as an upgrade of its retail network with expanded electric vehicle charging and convenience offers in response to customer needs, the company said in its Energy Transition Strategy 2024 report.

Shell operated more than 46,000 Shell-branded retail locations, including 12,500 convenience stores worldwide at the end of 2022, according to its 2022 annual report. The company also owned about 139,000 electric charge points, including over 28,000 charge points at Shell forecourts, on-street locations, mobility hubs and destinations like supermarkets.

SQRL Service Stations has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Photographer: Graham Hughes/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg/Getty Images

SQRL Service Stations files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

But financial issues were a big reason why the new owners of SQRL Service Stations of Florida filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas, seeking to restructure over $1.2 billion in unsecured debt.

Gas Hub LLC, which purchased a chain of gas stations and convenience stores in April for $17 million, owes most of its debt to Blue Owl Capital, which had previously owned leases to hundreds of SQRL locations, C-Store Dive reported.

The gas station owner's attorney Sidney Scheinberg said this week that Gas Hub was "going through the list" to determine how many service stations it owns.

“We’re trying to protect the assets and leases of that business and reorganize it … if possible,” Scheinberg told C-Store Dive.

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SQRL Service Stations in Florida's new owner filed its Chapter 11 petition on Aug. 16, more than three months after filing an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation petition on May 13 against gas station chain owner SQRL Holdings and its founder Blake Smith for millions of dollars in unpaid rent.

Attorneys for both sides of the Chapter 7 case in July filed a joint motion to dismiss the involuntary Chapter 7 case, with SQRL Service Stations planning to file for Chapter 11, which it did in August. Judge Bianca M. Rucker, however, denied the motion to dismiss the involuntary Chapter 7 case. Smith is not involved in the Chapter 11 case.

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