C-Store News

Friday, August 14, 2009

NRC Mart Opens 'Doors'

CHICAGO — NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC (NRC) has rolled out NRC Mart, a service for sellers of single or multiple convenience stores that capitalizes on NRC's extensive credentials in the sale of large portfolios. NRC Mart launched yesterday with an initial listing of approximately 20 c-stores with gasoline in Southern California, Arizona and Connecticut valued at $40 million, but is expected to have additional stores for sale in Chicago, Atlanta and other cities in the near future.

According to Evan Gladstone, executive managing director of NRC, the new venture is a natural outgrowth of the firm's divestiture work on behalf of companies like BP, Shell, Sunoco and White Hen Pantry over the past decade.

"We have developed vast buyer databases-more than 125,000 prospects and more than 35,000 e-mail subscribers-that have previously been available to benefit only our major clients, largely through our sealed-bid sale process," he said. "We believe we will be able to draw the largest number of qualified buyers for individual store sales in the same way we've been able to do it for larger portfolios of stores, leveraging on our past and ongoing advertising campaigns in the tens of millions of dollars, the working relationships we've developed with many industry professionals and individual operators, plus diligent mining of our prospect databases."

He added, "Traditional commercial and business brokers simply do not have the experience or relationships that NRC has in the c-store sector. NRC's professionals are expert in working through the challenges specific to closing c-store sales-from national exposure marketing to assembly of comprehensive due diligence packages through environmental issues, fuel supply, franchise assignment and assisting buyers through the financing and closing process which has become significantly more challenging in the recession and financial meltdown."

Sellers of individual c-stores-or small groups of stores-can work with NRC Mart in ways similar to dealing with a local real-estate broker, said the firm. Sellers can choose from a high-profile listing or a confidential listing. Most units will have an asking price, and NRC said it expects most listings to be of operating units, but assumes there may occasionally be nonoperating or out-of-industry units listed as well.

Potential buyers will also realize significant benefits from NRC Mart, the firm said. Based on a buyer's known market interests, NRC will e-mail or call when a site fitting those parameters is available. In addition, buyers will be able to check online at www.NRCMart.com to see a list of all properties as they become available. NRC Mart will not use NRC's sealed-bid sale process, but rather properties will be sold through the "bid now" online technology platform.
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Chicago-based NRC provides a variety of real estate and financial advisory services and specializes in the accelerated sale of commercial and residential real estate. NRC's breadth of experience includes portfolio evaluation and analysis; refinancing, recapitalization and sale-leaseback financing options; and merger and acquisition advisory services. Since its inception in 1989, NRC has sold more than 10,000 properties. That has included, since 2003 alone, more than 2,100 convenience stores and service stations for an amount in excess of $1.5 billion for clients. Clients include globally recognized companies in a variety of industries, including petroleum (BP, Shell and Sunoco), convenience stores (White Hen Pantry and Circle K), financial institutions (GE Capital, Fifth Third and Bank of America) and retail (Kmart).

© CSP Information Group, Inc. 2009