Pri Mar to Exit the Convenience Channel
ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — Pri Mar Petroleum is saying goodbye to the convenience and fuel retailing industry.
In separate transactions, the third-generation business will sell to two Michigan companies with similar long track records of growth, service and family ownership, all centered historically on a traditional local oil company, reported Moody on the Market.
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In the first transaction, Blarney Castle Oil Co., headquartered in Bear Lake, will pick up the Pri Mart portfolio of 13 c-stores and gas stations. The sites will join the EZ Mart chain of nearly 200 c-stores, expanding the company's reach from Berrien County to Munising in the Upper Peninsula and east to the Lansing area. The stores will operate under the Amoco, bp and CITGO brands.
Blarney Castle Oil is controlled by the McCarthy family, another multigenerational operator whose history dates back to 1933, and has grown across northern Michigan.
In the second transaction, Merle Boes Inc. will acquire the Pri Mar Petroleum fuel oil and lubricant business. Pri Mar Petroleum currently operates three fuel and lubricant bulk plants in St. Joseph, Niles and Bangor.
Merle Boes, also a multigenerational family-owned business, began in Holland, Mich., in 1929. The companies focuses on the fuel and lubricant segment, and operates a chain of c-stores under the MB Markets banner.
Both of the Pri Mar transactions are expected to close before May 31. Price of the sales were not disclosed.
According to Pri Mar Petroleum's website, in 1928, Harry Priebe and his brother formed Priebe Brothers Oil, under the Pure oil brand, as a distributor of petroleum products to farm, industry and home heating customers. Over the following years, Priebe Brothers added Cities Service (CITGO) as a supplier in 1937, started Priebe Transport in 1948 and acquired Pyramid Oil of Benton Harbor in 1969.
In 1972, Harry Priebe's son-in-law, L. Richard Marzke, took over the company and merged the two surnames together to create Pri Mar Petroleum. Over the years, the company acquired other oil distributors.
In 1976, Pri Mar's first c-store opened in Stevensville, Mich. It was one of the first convenience stores in the area.