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VPS Convenience Store Group
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryConvenience store
Founded1966; 58 years ago (1966) in Muncie, Indiana as Village Pantry
FounderDon Marsh
DefunctJune 2015; 9 years ago (2015-06)
FateAcquired by GPM Investments
SuccessorGPM Investments
HeadquartersWilmington, North Carolina
Number of locations
400 (in 2011)
Area served
Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
ProductsGrocery, Gasoline
BrandsVillage Pantry, Next Door, Scotchman, Young's, Li'L Cricket
OwnerSun Capital Partners
WebsiteArchived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index)

VPS Convenience Store Group was an American convenience store chain headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina that could trace its roots to the founding of the first Village Pantry convenience store in 1966. VPS was sold in two parts in 2013 and 2015 to GPM Investments.

History

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Village Pantry

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Village Pantry was founded as a convenience store chain division of Marsh Supermarkets, founded in Yorktown, Indiana. The first Village Pantry location opened in 1966 in Muncie, Indiana.[1]

In September 2006, Sun Capital Partners purchased Marsh and its divisions, including Village Pantry, $325 million.[2]

In May 2007, Sun announced that they were splitting Village Pantry from Marsh, making it its own company reporting directly to Sun Capital.[3]

In October 2007, Village Pantry acquired Imperial Company, Inc., which operated 33 Next Door Store locations in Michigan and Indiana.[4]

In March 2008, Village Pantry acquired nine AmeriStop Market convenience stores in central Ohio from Petro Acquisitions, Inc., and were rebranded Village Pantry.[5]

In two separate transactions that were completed in March 2008, Sun Capital acquired Li'L Cricket Food Stores Inc., which operated 88 convenience stores in South Carolina under the Li'L Cricket name, and Worsley Operating Companies, which operated 124 convenience stores in North and South Carolina under the Scotchman, Youngs' and S-E names.[6][7] Worsley also owns its private gas label Carolina Petro, which Sun Capital inherited as well.[6]

Formation of VPS Convenience Store Group

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In Spring 2009, Village Pantry and three other Sun-owned convenience store chains—Young's, Li'l Cricket, and Scotchman—began reorganizing to consolidate accounting and administration with Young's and Scotchman parent company Worsley Operating Corporation. As part of the consolidation, VPS relocated its headquarters from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Wilmington, North Carolina.[8][9][10] As of May 2013, the combined operation ran a total of 430 convenience stores as VPS Convenience Store Group.[11][8]

In January 2011, VPS Convenience Store Group acquired 22 former Appalachian Oil (Appco) c-stores in northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia and were rebranded Scotchman.[12]

GPM Investments (operator of the Fas Mart and Shore Stop convenience stores) acquired the Southeast operations of VPS in August 2013 and the remaining Midwestern division in June 2015.[13][14]

Notes and references

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  1. ^ "In Business Today". Anderson Herald Bulletin. November 27, 1966. p. 31. Marsh Supermarkets Inc., Yorktown, has move into the rapidly-growing "Convenience store" field with the announcement of a new Village Pantry Division... the first store will be built in Muncie. The stores are to be located in Indiana and Ohio in the general geographical area now served by its 63 supermarkets. Alternate Link via NewspaperArchive.com.
  2. ^ "Sun Capital Partners Affiliate Completes Acquisition of Marsh Supermarkets" (Press release). Sun Capital Partners. PR Newswire. 2006-09-27. Marsh is a leading multi-format food retailer in Indianapolis and surrounding markets, operating 116 supermarkets, 154 convenience stores, and other catering and retail businesses under such well-recognized brands such as Marsh Supermarkets, LoBill Foods, Village Pantry, Crystal Food Service, and Enflora
  3. ^ Galer, Sara (2007-05-04). "Village Pantry breaks off from Marsh". WTHR. Sun Capital Partners, owner of Marsh Supermarkets Inc., will break off its Village Pantry subsidiary to create a separate business unit. Both businesses will continue to be owned by Florida-based Sun Capital Partners. The Village Pantry convenience store chain was a long-time a subsidiary of Marsh. Marsh operates 105 groceries, while Village Pantry runs 148 convenience stores. According to a company press release, Village Pantry offices will remain in Marsh's Fishers headquarters, but its managers will report directly to Sun. Sun also announced new leaders for Village Pantry. The CEO will be Mick Parker, a former regional vice president for the Circle K convenience store chain.
  4. ^ "Village Pantry Acquires Imperial Company, an Operator of 33 "Next Door Store" Convenience Stores in Michigan and Indiana". Business Wire (Press release). 2007-10-10. Village Pantry operates 146 convenience stores throughout Indiana and Ohio providing a broad selection of grocery, deli, and bakery items.
  5. ^ "Village Pantry Acquires Nine AmeriStop Market Convenience Stores in Central Ohio". Business Wire (Press release). 2008-03-03.
  6. ^ a b "Sun Capital Partners Affiliate Acquires Worsley, Li'L Cricket: The purchase includes 124 convenience stores in North and South Carolina from Worsley and 88 stores in South Carolina from Li'L Cricket". Convenience Store News. 2008-03-27.
  7. ^ "An Affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Acquires Worsley Operating Companies, an Operator of 124 Convenience Stores in North and South Carolina". Business Wire (Press release). 2008-03-27.
  8. ^ a b Holtz, Steve (2009-06-08). "Sun Capital Chains Regroup". CSP Daily News. CSP Information Group. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  9. ^ Daily News, CSP (2015-09-05). "VPS CONVENIENCE STORE GROUP". CSP Daily News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  10. ^ Abcede, Angel (2009-09-08). "Southeast Sun". CSP Daily News. CSP Information Group. Retrieved 2009-01-03.[dead link‍]
  11. ^ Olson, Scott (2009-06-22). "Village Pantry moving HQ out of Indianapolis to North Carolina". Indianapolis Business Journal – via Indiana Economic Digest. Village Pantry's headquarters on the northeast side of Indianapolis is closing as a result of an office consolidation between the convenience store operator and another in North Carolina, both owned by Sun Capital Partners Inc. The merger of accounting and administrative functions will take Village Pantry CEO Mick Parker and at least nine other executives to Wilmington, N.C., where Worsley Cos. is headquartered. Worsley operates 210 Scotchman convenience stores in North Carolina and South Carolina. Village Pantry has 190 stores in Indiana and Ohio.
  12. ^ "Scotchman Hops Into Tenn., Va.: VPS picks up 22 Appco stores; rebranding to begin immediately". CSP Magazine. 2011-01-11.
  13. ^ "How Sun Capital Positioned VPS for Sale to GPM: Transition strategy involved "significant operational improvements"". CSP Magazine. 2015-06-10. As part of a deal announced earlier this week, Sun Capital Partners Inc., a leading private investment firm, said it has completed the sale of its investment in VPS Convenience Store Group, an operator of 161 convenience stores in four Midwest states, to GPM Investments LLC...The affiliate previously completed the sale of 263 southeastern stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia to GPM in 2013. Based in Wilmington, N.C., VPS operates convenience stores throughout Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois under the Village Pantry and Next Door Stores brands. These stores offer retail convenience items, including fuel, and many also offer franchise food offerings including Subway, Chester's Fried Chicken, Noble Romans and Hunt's Brothers Pizza.
  14. ^ "VPS Midwest Is Officially Part of GPM Investments: Retailer will carry on Village Pantry, Next Door Store banners". Convenience Store News. 2015-06-08.
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