The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

7-Eleven Inc.

Lutz 7-Eleven sells to Brandon investor

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Drivers on State Road 54 going by 7-Eleven on Livingston Road may have noticed the 7-Eleven signs are gone.

The corporate parent of the convenience store chain, 7-Eleven Inc. — through its Southland Corp. affiliate — sold the 27-year-old store late last month to Sailfish Real Estate LLC of Brandon. The owner of that company, William McKnight, owns several convenience stores around the region, primarily using Circle K branding.

McKnight owns the much larger Automated Petroleum and Energy Co., which purchases and leases convenience store locations all over the state. The company requires entrepreneurs looking to lease to attend a mandatory 12-day training class, according to the company’s website.

It’s not clear how McKnight will handle the new location, except that it will no longer be a 7-Eleven. McKnight has yet to return a request for comment from late Wednesday morning.

The sale by 7-Eleven was part of a national effort to cut ties with 75 7-Eleven stores.

“There are many nice sites in this package that simply do not fit 7-Eleven’s current business model,” company vice president Robbie Radant said in a release last May. “All of these stores have solid merchandise sales, and should provide good opportunities for the right buyers.”

The store and land sold for $750,000, compared to the $225,000 Southland paid for vacant land back in 1986. Back then, State Road 54 was just two lanes, and far less competition was nearby. Now, however, a RaceTrac is located on just the other side of Livingston.

7-Eleven selling Lutz location, 74 others

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Competition from a new RaceTrac location just next door may have sealed the fate of a long-time service station in Pasco Lutz. (Photo by Michael Hinman)
Competition from a new RaceTrac location just next door may have sealed the fate of a long-time service station in Pasco Lutz. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

The 7-Eleven store at 23434 State Road 54 in Lutz, is one of 75 stations across the country 7-Eleven Inc. is putting up for sale.

Robbie Radant, a vice president with the company, said 7-Eleven is cutting loose stores like the Lutz one not because it’s underperforming, but because it no longer fits with its overall goals.

“There are many nice sites in this package that simple do not fit 7-Eleven’s current business model,” Radant said in a release. “All of these stores have solid merchandise sales, and should provide good opportunities for the right buyers.”

However, it’s likely that last year’s opening of a competing RaceTrac just next door may have played a role in why the 7-Eleven is hitting the market, after decades of minimal competition on its stretch of State Road 54.

7-Eleven is looking to part ways with 31 stores in Florida, along with 14 in Virginia, six in Massachusetts and Illinois, three in Texas and two in New York, Delaware, New Jersey and Utah. The company is selling single stores in Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

The Lutz site will not include the 7-Eleven branding, but could include a fuel contract with SEI Fuels Inc., a subsidiary of 7-Eleven, the company said.

7-Eleven has brought in NRC Realty & Capital Advisors of Chicago to conduct the sale, which will accept sealed bids from groups looking to buy single or multiple locations. The bid deadline is July 29.

The Lutz 7-Eleven opened in 1987 with a 3,100-square-foot store along State Road 54 when it was still a two-lane road. It includes a 10-year fuel contract.

For information on the sale, visit NRC.com/1408, or call (800) 747-3342, ext. 1408.