Dead River sells convenience stores
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — Dead River Company has sold its “Food Trend” convenience stores in Aroostook County and across the state to Circle K.
The sale has been in negotiation for the past six months, according to Alan Dorr, general manager of the Convenience Store Division for Dead River.
Dead River operates 19 convenience stores throughout the state, with stores located in Caribou, Presque Isle, Mars Hill, Houlton, Millinocket, Bangor, Southwest Harbor, Belfast, Rockport, Augusta, Farmingdale, Mexico and Rumford.
There are in excess of 300 employees at these Dead River convenience stores in the state, Dorr said.
“Circle K plans to offer employment to the vast majority of Dead River’s convenience store division employees,” Steinhoff said.
No closures are anticipated with the acquisition, said Jessica Steinhoff, spokesperson for Circle K. In Houlton, for example, there are two Circle K stores associated with Irving stores. One of those stores is directly across the street from an existing Dead River Food Trend. Steinhoff said there are no plans to close either location in Houlton.
Deli service is expected to continue once the changeover takes place. Those Dead River convenience stores which have Dunkin Donuts located inside have also been sold to Circle K.
There are currently 73 Circle K stores in the state of Maine.Circle K Stores began in El Paso, Texas, in 1951, according to Steinhoff.
“Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is the parent company of Circle K and the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry,” she said. “In North America, Couche-Tard is the largest independent convenience store operator (whether integrated with a petroleum company or not) in terms of number of company-operated stores. Couche-Tard’s network is comprised of 5,874 convenience stores, 4,169 of which include motor fuel dispensing, operated by 13 business units, including nine in the United States covering 42 states and the District of Columbia, and four in Canada covering all 10 provinces. More than 53,000 people are employed throughout Couche-Tard’s retail convenience network and service centers.”
According to Steinhoff, the changeover from Food Trend to the Circle K brand will take effect in the near future. Plans are also under development for store remodeling projects, but customers will not notice any major differences right away.
Although many of the Circle K stores in Aroostook County, and around the state, operate under the Irving gasoline brand, there are presently no plans to change the Aroostook County stores from the Shell brand of gasoline.
“At the time of the closing, all fuel brands will remain the same as they are today,” Steinhoff said.
“Dead River’s truck fleet will haul Shell gasoline to the sites on Circle K’s behalf,” Dorr added.
