Alimentation Couche-Tard, parent company of Circle K convenience stores, has named Tommy Rodwell as its head of asset management, according to a Monday LinkedIn announcement from Rodwell.
Rodwell, who has worked in Couche-Tard’s real estate department in North Carolina since 2015, leads a team focused on the “strategic optimization” of Circle K’s North American retail real estate portfolio, which includes nearly 10,000 sites, according to his LinkedIn bio. That team manages Couche-Tard’s lease negotiations, acquisitions and dispositions. It also oversees special projects and offers M&A support.
A spokesperson from Couche-Tard declined to share further details of Rodwell’s new position.
Rodwell spent the past four years as the company’s director of negotiations, according to his LinkedIn bio. In that position, Rodwell led the team that manages negotiations for Couche-Tard’s lease portfolio, which includes roughly 4,000 sites. He also oversaw dispositions, Couche-Tard’s acquisitions throughout North America and special projects around the globe.
From 2015 to 2019, Rodwell was a real estate manager with Couche-Tard, his LinkedIn bio notes. He joined the Canadian retailer after spending nearly two years with North Carolina-based Kangaroo Express, which Couche-Tard acquired in late 2014.
Rodwell’s climb up Couche-Tard’s real estate ladder comes amid the company’s unprecedented pursuit of growth. Last week, the retailer announced that it’s looking to acquire Seven & i Holdings, the parent company of 7-Eleven. It also revealed in the same hour that it agreed to acquire GetGo Café + Markets, the 270-location convenience store arm of supermarket chain Giant Eagle.
As of now, industry experts foresee the odds of Couche-Tard cementing a deal for 7-Eleven as slim, although not impossible. Combined, these two retail giants would bring a new, influential presence to the global c-store landscape, and create the most dominant company in the U.S. market by far.
Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard operates more than 7,100 c-stores in the U.S. and 16,700 locations globally.
