Daren Beaudo, a Houston-based spokesperson for BP, confirmed for CSP Daily News that the rebranding was necessitated because the company decided to stop providing its product from the Scott City, Mo., terminal recently. The Scott City terminal is owned by Houston-based TEPPCO Partners L.P.
"Those who own stations [image-nocss] that carry our gasoline brand had the choice to rebrand or pull our product from St. Louis," Beaudo, told the newspaper. Cape Girardeau is about 120 miles south of St. Louis. "It was purely a business decision on our part."
Laura Younghouse, owner of Midwest Energy Inc., a Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based company with numerous Amerimart stations and stores in the area, told the paper that her company decided to stop providing the BP-branded product because it was not a viable option for them. The locations that offered the BP brand have now switched to the Phillips 66 brand offered by ConocoPhillips, she said.
One of the stores was razed in July after an ice storm destroyed its gasoline canopy, the paper said in July. It was slated to be rebuilt and reopened in November with the BP brand of fuel.
Midwest Energy has been in business since 1980. Younghouse purchased the company in 1993. It has 11 Amerimarts under the Sinclair and BP brands. Earlier this year, the company also acquired a store in Advance, Mo., that was being remodeled. "We're looking for growth but at a steady pace," Younghouse told The Southeast Missourian in July. "But nothing crazy. If we see an opportunity, we'll take a look at it."
With BP's Scott City terminal cutoff, other stations have decided to change from BP to the ZX proprietary brand owned by wholesaler JD Streett & Co. Inc., Maryland Heights, Mo., said the report. Streett offers ConocoPhillips, Shell and BP brands. ZX takes it name from Zephyr Express, a brand known in the area.
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