Village Pantry takes over local Ameristops
By REUBEN MEES
Examiner Staff Writer
rmees@examiner.org

Patrons at nine area gas stations started seeing some changes late this week after the Indianapolis-based Village Pantry convenience store chain began taking over operations.

The company, which now operates 189 stores in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, bought the former AmeriStop stores, including two Bellefontaine locations, the stores in DeGraff, Russells Point, Jackson Center, Kenton and three in Marysville, at an auction in recent weeks and took over operations on Thursday, Village Pantry marketing vice-president Mike Ross said Friday.

The AmeriStop chain, which had 59 stores in Ohio and northern Kentucky, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November.

The West Liberty store also was sold during the auction, but the new owner could not be located by press time.

Mr. Ross said it was still too early to put a pricetag on the company’s total investment as officials are still making changes and planning future store renovations.

“We will be investing in the stores, but our first goal is to get stocked and understand the operation,” he said, explaining that the company wanted to expand its presence in Ohio. “We are very excited about being there.”

Some of the most notable changes are the fuel brand, which will be Marathon Oil instead of Shell, and the accompanying fuel cards, Mr. Ross said. He explained that the company is working with customers to help them switch from Shell cards to Marathon cards.

But it won’t mean changes to the current employees, he said.

“We are very pleased with the employees and the customers,” Mr. Ross said. “We want to maintain the same level of service people of (Logan County) have received. We are very pleased, not only buying a business, but with people who have worked through a very difficult time of bankruptcy.”

During that time, the stores occasionally ran out of supplies, including gasoline, but that won’t be the case as the operation moves forward, Mr. Ross said.

“The number one thing is that we are going to be in stock unless for some unforeseen reason,” he said.

Other changes include a wider selection of coffee products, cappuccino machines, new soda fountains and a variety of other new products.

Village Pantry, and its former parent company Marsh Supermarkets, are divisions of the larger corporation Sun Capital Partners, which acquired Marsh in late 2006. Village Pantry became a separate division of Sun Capital in May 2007, Mr. Ross said.