Courtesy Red-Kap
Stewart’s Shops is announced it is expanding its fuel distribution business with the acquisition of Red-Kap, a locally owned, family run business.
Stewart’s officials said the company will acquire eight convenience stores, three car washes, a 75-plus dealer network and fuel distribution business.
Under the terms of the agreement, Stewart’s will maintain the branding of the Mobil, Citgo, and Sunoco stations and will convert a few of the Red-Kap locations into Stewart’s Shops.
“Stewart’s has always respected the business and our long personal relationship with the Kaplans and their team,” said Stewart’s Shops President Gary Dake. “Doing business with people who respect people is always a pleasure. Both organizations come from long local family histories that have helped form the communities where we live.
“The acquisition will add eight corporately run locations and a significant addition of gasoline supply and distribution to local stations. Stewart’s prides itself on vertical integration and support. In the age of COVID-19, with an ever-changing business climate, we look forward to extending this support to the distributor/dealer network.”
Red-Kap, based in Schenectady, owns eight convenience stores from Saratoga to Loudonville, Troy, East Greenbush, and as far west as the Syracuse suburb of Baldwinsville.
Red-Kap principal Jon Kaplan said, “From our humble beginnings in one gas station, Red-Kap has grown to be a multi-site convenience store and car wash operator as well as one of the largest gasoline suppliers in upstate New York. None of this would have been possible without the work and talent of our employees, customers and business partners along with the support of our families … Being acquired by Stewart’s is our final success. We have had a long and prosperous relationship with Stewart’s, during which we have grown to respect and trust them.”
He said employees and customers are “in good hands and able to face the challenges of the future with Stewart’s and the Dake family. Knowing that Stewart’s is a locally owned family business only adds to our contentment with this transaction.”
It will be the second wholesale fuel business acquisition for Stewart’s this year. In January, the family- and employee-owned company invested $6.6 million in January to purchase Polsinello Fuel’s fuel supply business at the Port of Albany.
Stewart’s currently operates 338 convenience stores in New York and Vermont.
According to its website, Red-Kap has more than 60 employees and sells more than 60 million gallons of gasoline and diesel annually.