RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — The seven PDQ convenience stores in Russellville and Dover have been sold to a North Carolina company, and a newly filed city permit indicates at least part of the longtime local chain is preparing to switch its fuel branding from Phillips 66 to Valero.
Frank Griffin Oil Co. sold six PDQ locations in Russellville and one in Dover to D2 Management, a company out of Durham, N.C. The completed transaction Sept. 17.
The sale ends generations of local ownership for the PDQ convenience store operation.
Now, signs of the transition are beginning to show locally.
Sign permit applications filed Wednesday, Sept. 23, with the City of Russellville call for replacing Phillips 66 branding with Valero signage at Russellville PDQ locations.
The applications describe the project as “Changing Phillips 66 gas stations to Valero” and call for changes to canopy signs and the station’s price sign.
When the sale was announced last week, the companies said additional information about branding changes and local employment impacts would be released as D2 worked through the transition.
D2 Management is led by President Don Draughon, a longtime convenience-store industry executive.
Draughon said following the acquisition that the PDQ locations are established stores with strong histories and loyal customers and that D2 intends to build on what Frank Griffin Oil created while continuing to serve the Russellville and Dover communities.
The transaction marks a major change for a business with roots stretching back more than a century in Russellville.
Frank Griffin Oil was founded in 1921 by William Frank Griffin as a petroleum wholesaler. The company later became a Phillips 66 marketer, opened Russellville’s first self-service gas station in 1976 and launched its first PDQ Super Convenience Store in 1981. The PDQ operation expanded across the area during the decades that followed.
The Shirron family, which operated Frank Griffin Oil, said following the sale that it had been an honor to serve customers in Russellville and Dover for generations and expressed confidence in D2’s ability to continue operating the stores.
The sale involves Frank Griffin Oil’s seven PDQ retail locations. The company’s other holdings and related corporate entities were not included in the transaction, according to the announcement.
The purchase price has not been publicly disclosed.
