BP to shed 700 U.S. convenience stores

BP America Inc. said Thursday that it would sell all of its more than 700 company-owned and -operated U.S. convenience stores over the next two years, eliminating nearly 10,000 jobs.

The company said most of the sites would be sold to franchise owners, while some would be sold to dealers and large distributors. The sites will continue to sell BP fuels in the eastern U.S. and Arco fuels in the western U.S., with the store brand now to be known as ampm nationwide.

About 95% of BP’s 13,000 U.S. retail sites currently are independently operated.

The sale of the 700-plus stores will eliminate 9,500 positions and 350 business support staff members. About 100 employees from BP’s pipelines and logistics unit will also be affected, the company said.

The U.S. Convenience Retail office in Naperville, Ill., 25 miles west of Chicago, also will close.

BP America said the action was linked to the reorganization announced by London-based parent BP last month in which the oil company said it would streamline its structure, shrink the number of business units and trim management in an effort to end a slump.

As part of that overhaul, the company is relocating some workers to its U.S. headquarters in Houston, shifting about 1,000 employees from the western Chicago suburbs to downtown and laying off others.

Specifics of those layoffs had not previously been disclosed.

Fiona MacLeod, president of BP U.S. Convenience Retail, said the company would be able to grow its business by building a strong franchise network of local station owners.

BP said it would support franchisees with a field-based staff and a small head office in La Palma.