7-Eleven Acquires San Antonio-based Tetco

7-Eleven (Reuters)

San Antonians will soon be able to order Slurpees and Big Gulps again from 7-Eleven convenience stores in just a few months.

7-Eleven Inc. has agreed to buy the retail and wholesale assets of San Antonio-based TETCO Inc.,bringing the Dallas-based retailer back to San Antonio, which it left in 1989.

Like Us on Facebook Follow @franchiseherald

The convenience store franchise said the takeover was larger than the 2011 acquisitions of the 188-store Wilson Farms in upstate New York and of 183 ExxonMobil stores in Florida, and its biggest deal in four years.

"The combination of TETCO's retail and wholesale operations will make this 7-Eleven's largest acquisition since the company accelerated its growth plan four years ago," said Stan Reynolds, 7-Eleven executive vice president and chief financial officer, in a statement. "The assets we are purchasing are quality sites that complement our existing store operation along the I-35 corridor."

Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close in November, were not disclosed. Most of the Tetco locations will be remodeled and rebranded after the deal closes, 7-Eleven said.

In addition, 7-Eleven expects to open at least 630 new locations in the United States and Canada in 2012. Last year, 7-Eleven bought 188 stores from Wilson Farms Inc. and bought 183 sites from ExxonMobil in Florida.

TETCO was formed by Tom E. Turner Sr., who left the grocery business in Fort Worth in 1937 and found work at a San Antonio filling station, which he took over six years later when his boss retired. He called it Sigmor, added a second store, then built a chain of about 20 in the San Antonio area during the 1950s, according to an online company history.