Chester company buys 172 Exxon stations

Chester-based Southside Oil LLC has bought 172 Exxon retail gasoline stations, mainly in Maryland, more than doubling the company's retail operations.

The privately held company did not disclose the terms of the sale.

Southside Oil is a wholesale gasoline distribution company owned by Steven and Linda Uphoff.

The Uphoffs also operate 42 Uppy's Convenience Stores Inc. locations in Virginia. They own the property where 67 other BP and ExxonMobil gas stations are, but they don't operate those stations.

"It's a big acquisition," said Terry Johnson, Uppy's director of marketing and purchasing, noting that "we've been in a growth mode ever since our inception, and the opportunity [for the Exxon station purchase] was there."

"What's been purchased in Maryland are all dealer locations," Johnson said yesterday. "We're going to sell them gasoline and collect rent."

The Southside Oil deal follows a national trend in gasoline retailing.

"The major integrated refiners like Exxon . . . have largely divested themselves of any retail interests," said Michael J. O'Connor, president and CEO of the Virginia Petroleum, Convenience and Grocery Association and its subsidiary Petroleum, Convenience and Grocery Services Inc.

Increasingly fuel-efficient cars and trucks have dampened gasoline sales for smallstation operators. Large retailer-convenience store chains, such as Wawa and Sheetz, have increasingly dominated the gasoline sales business.

However, "our industry has the best corner locations all across the state of Virginia," O'Connor said. "And that still means a lot."

The Uphoffs founded Uppy's, which now employs more than 550 people, in 1995. Southside Oil has been in business for more than 75 years.

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or .