Some B.C. owners of Esso stations say they’re frustrated and disappointed in the midst of a sale that’s forcing them out of their positions.
The sale was announced back in March, when Imperial Oil said it reached agreements with five fuel distributors to sell off nearly 500 company-owned Esso stations.
Nine of those stations in Greater Victoria have sold to 7-Eleven, and owners there say they’re being sidelined with little compensation.
“It’s actually quite upsetting. Esso is not offering us any assistance, they’re not offering us any help with any of our liabilities,” said Melinda Waitzner, who has owned and operated a station on Craigflower Road for 15 years. “They’ve just basically given us our termination contracts and they’re not saying so much as a thank you.”
Other store operators say 7-Eleven has offered owners positions to manage their new locations, but at roughly half of their current pay.
Owners say another new policy being introduced is that employees will no longer be allowed to supervise other family members working at the same store, throwing a wrench into businesses that are family-run.
“So I can’t have my granddaughter who’s going to graduate come work for grandpa anymore,” said owner Tom Martin.
A spokesperson for Imperial Oil said the company continues to uphold its contractual obligations to retailers in the branded network, but didn’t weigh in on owners’ concerns because the terms of agreement are “proprietary and confidential.”
The company will buy owners’ existing inventories, but little else, Martin said.
“Well, we’ll get our inventory money out of it, but we’re not getting our good will out of it or nothing like that,” he said. “That’s the part that’s bothering us.”
The move riled up some CFAX 1070 listeners during a morning show Tuesday, with one caller pledging to boycott the company.
“You don’t do this to one of our own. I will never go and buy Esso gasoline. I will remember this, and I don’t think it’s right,” he said. “These people have put in a lot of time, they’ve made them a lot of money…I will remember it and I will never go into either one of these stations again.”
The sales of the Esso stations are expected to close by the end of the year pending regulatory approval, at an estimated price tag of about $2.8-billion.
