Black Oil Exits C-store Business

MONTICELLO, Utah – Black Oil Co. Inc. exited the convenience store industry last week after selling its five Out West Food and Fuel stores, according to a San Juan Record report. Resort Retailers Inc., dba 7-Eleven, began operating the stores, located in Monticello, Blanding, Mexican Hat, Moab and Thompson, Utah, as of July 8.

All five stores will be rebranded as 7-Eleven stores, a process that is expected to take approximately three months, said Resort Retailers President Dan Slaugh. They will keep their affiliation with Shell for oil and gas products.

Family-operated Black Oil operated in southeastern Utah since the 1930s, according to the report. It sold its distribution business to Kellerstrauss Oil Co. in 2012.

Out West employees were offered continued employment under Resort Retailers' ownership. "We think everyone is staying on, thank goodness," Slaugh told the news outlet.

Black Oil also sold its Monticello headquarters to Resort Retailers. "We have been working on this for 10 months," said Slaugh, "and everything came together just last week." He added that approval of financing through the Small Business Administration was one of the final steps.

Park City, Utah-based Resort Retailers is a family-based business that has operated 7-Eleven stores for 26 years, according to Slaugh. Over the last two years, it more than doubled its holdings to 18 stores.

After rebranding is completed, the five new 7-Eleven stores will operate 24/7.