MECHANICSVILLE, Va. -- The holding company of Petro Group Ltd., the parent company of GPM Investments, is in talks to sell Petro Group to an Australian gas station operator, according to David McComas, CEO of GPM, which owns and operates the Fas Mart and Shore Stop convenience store chains.

"This would be the fourth or fifth time holding ownership of the company has changed hands since 2003," McComas told CSP Daily News, stressing that with each ownership change there has been no change to Fas Mart's operations.

[Editor's Note: This is the second in a three-part series highlighting Pacific Convenience & Fuels, San Ramon, Calif., the one-year-old c-store giant that purchased nearly 600 stores from ConocoPhillips in 2008.]

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- With more than 120 ProWash car washes across six western states, Pacific Convenience & Fuels has truly embraced the business. The retailer operates self-service washes at more than half of its 235 company-operated stores, as well as a half-dozen full-service locations.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees, which represents the owners of 4,583 franchised 7-Eleven stores across the country, recently elected Bruce Maples as its new chairman. Maples, who most recently served as a vice chairman of the national group, assumed the new post January 1.

Maples has been a 7-Eleven franchisee since 1988, with one store in Tucson, Ariz., and an active national coalition board member since 1989.