The locally owned Catalina Mart chain of Tucson convenience stores will be sold to Texas-based Western Refining, an oil refining and marketing company, an industry trade publication is reporting.
Robert Mahlstede, president of chain owner Loma Catalina Co., would not comment for this story, and a spokesman said Western Refining doesn't comment until transactions are final.
But Mahlstede previously told Convenience Store Petroleum Daily News that Western Refining will take over store operations beginning Monday.
Mahlstede told the magazine that the gas and convenience market was making it tough for the relatively small chain of 17 convenience stores to succeed against the likes of Circle K and QuikTrip. "It was increasingly difficult for us to remain competitive and compete," he was quoted.
Mahlstede told the magazine that most of the chain's operations staff will keep their jobs after Western Refining takes over and that the rest of Catalina Mart's employees have been placed elsewhere.