U-Stop Convenience Shops, Lincoln, Nebraska, has acquired 11 company-operated retail outlets from Shop Quik Convenience Stores, Manhattan, Kansas.

Greg and Pat Junghans opened their first liquor store in Junction City, Kansas, in 1981 and their first convenience store followed in 1983. Over the years, they grew the number of Shop Quik convenience stores to a total of 20 locations and then consolidated their operation with 11 convenience stores in Junction City and Manhattan.

Greg and Pat Junghans said they have watched the many changes that have occurred during their tenure in the industry, and that the C-store business will continue to be viable, but knew eventually they would be stepping away. After meeting Mark Whitehead, the owner of U-Stop Convenience Shops, they knew that he would be the right person to take the stores to the next level, they said.

U-Stop Convenience Shop began when Bus Whitehead founded Whitehead Oil Co. in 1959 after purchasing the Phillips 66 direct operation in Lincoln, Nebraska. Sixty years later, Whitehead Oil now includes 40 U-Stop convenience stores in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Kansas, offering Top Tier fuel and lubricants though the continued partnership with Phillps 66.

With the addition of the Shop Quik locations, U-Stop aims to enhance the convenience and accessibility of its offerings for its customers in Kansas and become an integral part of the local communities by contributing to their economic development, said Mark Whitehead, president of U-Stop Convenience Shop and Whitehead Oil.

Independent mergers-and-acquisition company American Business Brokers & Advisors, Fort Myers Beach, Florida, provided M&A advisory services to Shop Quik, which included valuation, marketing the business through a confidential process and negotiating the transaction. Terry Monroe, president of American Business Brokers & Advisors, managed the transaction.

By Greg Lindenberg CSP Daily News on Mar. 18, 2024