Uni-Mart

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Uni-Mart is Pennsylvania-based company that owns, operates and franchises hundreds of convenience stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

1 History
2 Sell-off
3 Owners lawsuit
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Henry D. Sahakian founded Uni-Mart in 1972, with the first store opening in State College, Pennsylvania. Over the next 15 years, Uni-Mart grew and became a successful convenience store brand. In December 1986 Uni-Mart became a publicly traded company on the American Stock Exchange. In July 2004, Uni-Mart reverted to private company status following the creation of Green Valley Acquisition Co., LLC.

Uni-Mart owns and operates 282 stores in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and Maryland. The number of privately-owned franchise locations is not clear.

According to local reputation in central Pennsylvania, the tricolor red-blue-orange motif used in Uni-Mart's logo and signage is a direct reference to the flag of Armenia, a tribute to the heritage of the company's founder.

[edit] Sell-off

Uni-Mart is following a growing industry trend, initiated by the major oil companies, where ownership of convenience stores and gas stations is put in the hands of individual dealers and operators who are able to set their own margins and purchase their own merchandise. Uni-Mart is also targeting minority populations.

The company was recently taken private in a transaction involving the company's founder Henry D. Sahakian and NRI Raj Vakharia, a former managing director of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

NRI (non-resident Indian) Raj Vakharia was born in Rajkot, Gujarat and came to the United States in 1976 to attend Long Island University, where he earned a master's degree in business administration. He also has a law degree from the University of Saurashtra. Vakharia, who lives in Colonia, N.J., has also served as New Jersey's assistant state treasurer for New Jersey in Governor James McGreevey’s administration for one and half year , has resigned from the position to return to his finance and investment-banking career on Wall Street. He was the first Asian-Indian to hold such a high treasury post.

Vakharia bought Uni-Mart in July, 2004. According to Vakharia, his plan going into his purchase of Uni-Mart was to sell stores to individual operators.

NRI Raj Vakharia will target its investment in high-growth markets throughout India including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune.

[edit] Owners lawsuit

Pennsylvania convenience store owners are suing Uni-Mart, LLC for fraud and breach of contract, claiming the company and its real estate and financial firms misled them about operating costs and profitability, in a lawsuit filed on January 2, 2007, in Luzerne County court.

In 2004, the owners were solicited through booklets and seminars to buy 225 convenience stores. The suit says information owners received "contained serious omissions and representations."

"In particular, the company allegedly misled owners about critical costs to operate the stores, misstating or neglecting to mention how much payroll, maintenance, taxes and insurance would be."

The company is also said to have overcharged owners for gasoline, in violation of agreements.