Burch Oil Co. Sells Off Its Convenience Store Portfolio

HOLLYWOOD, Md. — Burch Oil Co. Inc. is selling off its Burchmart convenience store chain after 34 years in business to an affiliate of NSR Petro Services LLC.

Founded by Samuel Burch in 1928, Burch Oil began operations as a distributor of gasoline, kerosene and motor oil. In 1986, the company's retail division was created for the purpose of building a c-store and gas station business.

Today, it operates eight Burchmart c-stores, five of which feature Subway franchises. All locations sell Shell-branded fuel.

The stores, which average 3,000 square feet on sites in excess of 1.1 acres, are located in southern Maryland, including one site each in Charlotte Hall, Hollywood, Hughesville, Leonardtown, Prince Frederick, Waldorf, and two locations in Mechanicsville.

"The Burch family was extremely proud of the network of convenience stores that it built over the last 34 years and has worked hard to provide our customers with the highest quality offerings and service," said Kelli Mattingly, director of retail operations, Burch Oil. "It was an extremely difficult decision for our family to sell our retail network, but we concluded that, for a number of reasons, it was the right time to proceed with a sale."

Greenbelt, Md.-based NSR operates 40 c-stores and gas stations and is a distributor of Sunoco-branded motor fuels, as well as BP, Exxon, Marathon, Mobil and Shell. Today, NSR is a diversified real estate holding company, with investments in retail, car washes, restaurants and entertainment assets.

Burch Oil tapped NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC to assist in the transaction, including financial advisory services and assistance on legal and environmental issues.

"NRC was extremely gratified to be able to assist the Burch family in the sale of their retail convenience store portfolio. This was obviously a difficult decision for them, and we tried to make the process as seamless as possible," said Denny Ruben, NRC's executive managing director. "These are certainly challenging times, and all of the parties involved in this transaction worked very hard to make this happen. We were proud to be a part of it."