Energy cooperative Farmers Co-op Oil Co. of Renville, Minnesota, in mid-January acquired 10 Cenex-branded FillMeUp convenience stores in the western part of the state from FillMeUp LLC.
“We are thrilled to announce that our family of c-store communities is growing,” Farmers Co-op Oil Co. of Renville said in a Facebook post. “A warm welcome to our newest locations in Arlington, Gaylord, Gibbon, Green Isle, Lafayette, Mayer, New Auburn, New Germany and Winthrop. We’re excited to be part of your communities and look forward to serving you with great products, exceptional service and a friendly smile every time you stop by. Thank you for choosing us, and we can’t wait to see you at our locations soon.”
Farmers Co-op Oil Co. of Renville has a service area of approximately 40 miles from either Renville or Olivia, Minnesota. Along with convenience stores in Renville, Danube, Olivia and Redwood Falls, the company also offers propane delivery, bulk fuel delivery, bulk oil delivery, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) packaged and bulk DEF delivery, bulk K1 dyed kerosene delivery and a mechanics shop in Renville.
The cooperative owns six Cenex-branded gas stations with c-stores in Renville, Danube, Lamberton, Olivia, Redwood Falls and Wabasso, Minnesota. It also runs two Cardtrol unattended gasoline-only locations in Wabasso and Walnut Grove.
The ownership change officially took place Jan. 13, said the report.
Farmers Co-op Oil Co. of Renville will discontinue the FillmeUp branding and plans to remodel the newly acquired locations, Todd Busche, the co-op’s CEO, told CSP Daily News. The company will rebrand the fuel at new sites to bp and Amoco and rebrand the c-stores as Farmers Co-op, he added.
The company also plans to “revamp” its foodservice program chainwide, he said, adding to its current offerings, which include Picadilly Pizza, Hot Stuff and Henry’s Foods’ Mottzaria pizza and wings.
“Our plan is to continue growing,” Bushce told CSP. “We’re a cooperative, and our board of directors is interested in growing. Since we took these [FillMeUp locations] over, I’ve had about 10 calls from people wanting to sell chains. So once we get everything in place here, we’re definitely going to continue to grow within the next year.”
The decision to purchase the new stores was driven by a desire for growth, Busch told the MacLeod County Chronicle, and that the FillMeUp stores were what the co-op was looking for as each is located in smaller communities.
“As a co-op, our board of directors was always looking for different opportunities to grow; this opportunity came about and seemed to be a good fit for us alongside what we already have,” he told the newspaper. We are really big on being involved in our communities, helping out where we are needed, and just being there to provide service.”
Busch also said that the co-op has retained all of the employees who were already working at the newly acquired locations.
“Everybody has been a great addition to our company, and we are happy to have them,” he told the Chronicle. It is also accepting applications at all its locations; so far, it has hired around 10 new employees since taking over the new locations. The co-op has also been able to promote its own employees through the move.
In early 2019, FillMeUp Group acquired the seven United Xpress c-stores of Winthrop, Minnesota-based United Farmers Cooperative (UFC), located in Gaylord, Gibbon, Green Isle, Lafayette, New Auburn, New Germany and Winthrop, Minnesota. FillMeUp, also based in Winthrop, operated retail outlets under the FillMeUp brand. The new owner rebranded the locations as FillMeUp and continued to carry Cenex-brand fuels.