Dive Brief:
- Alimentation Couche-Tard has sold two convenience stores in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to local real estate agency Nabut Brothers LLC, according to city documents and as confirmed by a Couche-Tard spokesperson.
- The deal became effective Aug. 11 and netted Couche-Tard over $2.8 million, city records show. Nabut, parent of the Birdies Food & Fuel c-store chain in Louisiana, is expanding its presence in Baton Rouge, where it currently only has one location, according to its website.
- Louisiana remains a large market for Couche-Tard, which has nearly 220 Circle K stores — including roughly 40 in Baton Rouge — across the state, according to its website.
Dive Insight:
The two stores are located on the north and south ends of Baton Rouge on Evangeline St. and Drusilla Lane, according to city documents.
The Evangeline store has been owned by several convenience retailers since it was built in the 1970s, city documents show. The Canadian convenience retailer most recently acquired the site back in 2019.
Meanwhile, the store on Drusilla Lane has only had three owners, including Nabut, since it was built in the late 1990s, city documents show. Circle K most recently acquired the site in 2006.
The Evangeline store is about 2,500 square feet, while the Drusilla location is roughly 882 square feet, according to Louisiana brokerage firm Elfin.
In a statement to C-Store Dive, Couche-Tard’s spokesperson said that these c-stores were sold as part of the Canadian retailer’s ongoing network optimization process. The spokesperson did not respond to a follow up asking to elaborate on that process.
Luling, Louisiana-based Birdies has about 20 convenience stores in Southeast Louisiana. The company was founded in 2005 to provide food for those in need in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and two decades later, its fried chicken has become the staple of its foodservice program, according to its website.
