Mountain Express Purchases Brothers Food Mart Chain With Plans to Expand Across the Southeast

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Mountain Express Oil Co. has acquired New Orleans-based Brothers Food Mart, which is the largest convenience store chain in the city with 50 locations in the area.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mountain Express purchased a majority of Brothers Food Mart stores and a license to use the name.

As part of the deal, Mountain Express co-CEOs Lamar Frady and Turjo Wadud have entered into a joint venture with Brothers Chicken, the chain's signature fried chicken product. Imad Faiez "Eddie" Hamdan, co-owner of Brothers Food Mart with his brother-in-law Ziad Odeh "Z" Mousa, will become a joint venture partner with Mountain Express.

"We found a great match in Mountain Express, a company that can help grow and move Brothers forward," Hamdan said. "Turjo, Lamar and the team are great partners and can help us grow our brand without changing what makes it so special today."

The goal of the acquisition is to expand the brand into more southern markets, including North Carolina, Atlanta, Memphis and Dallas, while simultaneously growing Brothers Food Mart's Louisiana footprint. Mountain Express plans to add up to 100 additional Brothers sites in the next six months, according to Wadud.

News of the acquisition comes soon after Mountain Express announced it had closed a $205 million financing deal to capitalize on growth opportunities, as Convenience Store News previously reported.

Hamdan founded Brothers Food Mart in 1989 after immigrating to America from Israel in order to support his family and contribute to the New Orleans community. The company is known for its fresh fried chicken, which has been praised by celebrities such as Kevin Hart and Seth Rogen, and provides donations to local areas hit hard by natural disasters such as hurricanes.

"Brothers Food Mart has definitely made its mark in the New Orleans area as a standout c-store amongst the competition, and one bite of their famous chicken makes it obvious as to why Mountain Express wants to expand its reach by bringing the popular brand to a number of cities across southeast," Frady said.

Founded in 2000, Alpharetta-based Mountain Express Oil owns and/or controls more than 200 gas stations and provides fuel to more than 600 stations across the United States under several major oil and regional fuel brands.

"As Mountain Express continues on a significant growth trajectory, partnering with proven convenience chains like Brothers aligns perfectly with our vision for the future," Wadud added. With the experience and leadership of Hamdan and Mousa on the team, the company "will make every consumer's craving for Brothers fried chicken closer to a reality than they've ever been able to imagine."