EAST SUNBURY, N.C. -- Since Liberty Petroleum introduced itself to the public in November 2000, the public has had two reactions to the red, white and blue image. Liberty president Howard “Blackie” Bowen says, “People either like it or love it.”
“By distributors, for distributors,” is how Bowen describes Liberty. “It was formed out of necessity, no other reason.” The driving concept of Liberty has from its inception been collective buying. “It is our objective to get to our jobbers the best possible, cheapest price. No frills,” he said, adding that jobbers retain their traditional independence.
It is an alternative to add to a jobber’s brand portfolio. Bowen does not advocate forgoing major oil altogether.
Bowen’s own company, Ewing Oil Co., Hagerstown, Md., has not given up any of its brand relationships. Ewing Oil simply could not beat aggressive gasoline competitors on price. A multi-branded jobber, Ewing sought, but received little support from its national brand partners, he said. “We were dying a slow financial death as a result. We could not compete on price.”
Bowen said the “light” came on with the realization that competitors--Sheetz and Wawa--viewed their gasoline offering as a branded, not unbranded. He also learned that consumers were more than comfortable with those gasoline brands, even though they were not major oil brands.
After setting out to create his own gasoline brand, Bowen realized that Ewing lacked the bandwidth. Instead, Bowen hooked up with two other jobbers--William Holtzman of Holtzman Oil Corp., Mt. Jackson, Va., and Frayser White of Virginia Oil Co., Charlottesville, to form a limited liability company--Liberty Petroleum. Energy Merchants became the company’s fuel supplier. Supply is guaranteed at OPIS low plus half a cent per gallon. Additional suppliers will support expansion across the country.
Bowen is optimistic about the power of jobbers collaborating. Eventually, “buying below OPIS low may be achievable.”
