End of an Era: Huntsville’s Spencer Oil Sold to Mississippi-based Company
After nearly 100 years in Huntsville, an iconic business has been sold.
Spencer Oil, founded in 1923, was sold Monday to Mississippi-based Dutch Oil and Victory Marketing, the operators of the Sprint Mart convenience stores. The family-owned company has operated from the same building on Woodson Avenue for 98 years.
“We’ve had a good run and a lot of good employees,” said company President J Spencer. “We want to say a big ‘thank you’ to our 200-plus loyal employees who spend every day focused on taking care of our customers.
“We are especially honored to have supported the City of Huntsville and Huntsville Utilities for the past 15 years through many natural disasters and emergency situations.”
The acquisition includes Spencer’s 31 MinitMan stores across six counties (Madison, Morgan, Marshall, Limestone, DeKalb and Jefferson), several dealer locations, unmanned cardlock facilities, and fuel transportation assets.
Spencer said he had been approached several times over the last few years with offers before considering Dutch Oil. He also knew the company was close to the milestone century mark but the sale was market-driven.
“Everybody’s trying to buy into Huntsville, now,” he said. “It would be nice to wait a couple more years but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.
“Things are driven by the market and not by your schedule.”
The acquisition will bring Spencer’s 31 MinitMan stores to Sprint Mart’s 80.
“Sprint Mart’s mission is to be the best convenience and foodservice retailer in the markets we serve,” said Charles Morris, managing partner of Sprint Mart. “For the past few years, we have worked hard to create a unique and personal customer experience in our stores; building customer loyalty that strengthens our business and funds future growth. Adding MinitMan to the Sprint Mart family is a leap forward in achieving our vision of setting the standard by which other convenience stores are measured.”
Rex Gillis, president of Dutch Oil Company, pointed out the similarities between the MinitMan and Sprint Mart organizations.
“The Spencer family has done a tremendous job of building a business that operates with consistently high standards and values its customers and employees,” he said. “The cultural similarities between our companies cannot be ignored – both reflect a family heritage and strong ‘people culture’ – and should allow for an easy transition for employees and customers alike.
“This is an exciting time for Sprint Mart, and we are thrilled to welcome the MinitMan team into the Sprint Mart family.”
The third-generation president of Spencer Oil, Spencer said this is the end of an era.
“I grew up in the business; I worked in the ice company as a kid,” he said. “It’s going to be a very different thing to see we’re sold.”
