• Airport Parking Lots
• Audio/Visual Equipment
• Building Products
• Cable TV
• Financial Services
• Food
• Gas Station/Convenience Stores
• Heating Oil Distribution
• Hotels and Lodging
• Industrial Manufacturing
• Medical Products Distribution
• Medical Technology
• Professional Sports
• Real Estate Services
• Restaurants
• Software Distribution
• Specialty Retail
• Telecommunications Equipment
• Toys
• Transportation
• Truckstops

Griffith Consumers Company

Griffith Consumers Company is one of the largest full-service, independent distributors of petroleum products in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. The company’s retail distribution of heating oil and delivery service serves over 47,000 residential and commercial customers in Washington, D.C. and the four adjacent states and is the leading gas station and convenience store operator in the Delmarva peninsula with 89 company-operated locations and 97 independent dealers.

Chartwell invested in Griffith because the company was the premier business in its markets based on brand name, market share and profitability and because the retail distribution of heating oil is a fragmented business. Chartwell’s goal was to implement a number of efficiencies in the business in an effort to increase consolidation of the market and strengthen Griffith’s position and profitability.

Upon taking control of the company, management and Chartwell began re-evaluating the company’s operations and implemented the following changes: re-bid the insurance coverage which saved over $1 million annually, consolidated executive offices, sold the gasoline truck fleet to a common carrier under a long-term price contract, sold the low-margin, high-inventory lubricants business, developed strategies to double delivered motor fuel sales and made significant technology upgrades.

By the second year of Chartwell’s ownership, Griffith acquired the 49 location Shore Stop convenience store business, completed the acquisition of six heating oil companies and an additional six gas stations and convenience stores, and purchased an innovative weather hedging contract which protects the company in the event of unusually warm weather. Through these initiatives, Griffith grew significantly prior to management’s and Chartwell’s decision to sell the company.

Petro Stopping Centers

Petro Stopping Centers, L.P. is a leading operator of large, full-service truck stops with a nationwide network of facilities in 27 states. Through an investment banking firm, Petro’s founder and chairman, Jack Cardwell, Sr. contacted Chartwell. Cardwell wanted to replace his existing partner with someone who would work with him to enhance management and refinance the company for growth.

Together, Chartwell and Cardwell negotiated with Mobil Oil Corporation to make a strategic investment in Petro. Several important components of the alliance include branding fuel islands with the Mobil name, featuring Mobil’s Delvac brand lubricants as part of Petro’s Petro:Lube service, and recruiting several Mobil employees to join Petro’s management team.

From this alliance, Chartwell, Cardwell and Mobil identified a three-pronged approach to maximize profitability and cash flow which included: 

• capturing additional diesel fuel volume and leveraging the resulting traffic into  sales at the company’s higher- margin profit centers
• improving the operating performance with enhanced management information  systems, product offerings and operating efficiencies
• expanding the company’s national network of full- service facilities through acquisitions, franchising and evelopment of new centers 

During the first year of the partnership, several key projects were undertaken including: optimizing travel and convenience store layouts and merchandising, creation of a new card-based fuel island point-of-sale system, refinement of financial reporting systems, improvements in food quality, service and restaurant purchasing, implementation of a new insurance package and development of a consolidated Petro and Mobil billing statement for truck fleets. Profits rose nearly 60% in three years prior to Chartwell selling its interest.

SunPark

SunPark operates off-site airport parking facilities throughout the U.S. offering storage, transportation and car care services to airline passengers at locations around the U.S. Working with the Snyder family who own SunPark, Chartwell conducted an extensive analysis of the industry to verify the opportunity, and then recapitalized the business and positioned it for growth.

In partnership with SunPark’s management, Chartwell worked to achieve three objectives:

• build the company’s infrastructure to position it to capitalize on the opportunity to consolidate the off-site airport parking industry
• improve the company’s existing operations
• grow the company through acquisition and development

During Chartwell’s ownership, we successfully recruited additional management, initiated a number of new systems including an integrated management information system, developed marketing initiatives including a corporate sales program, added locations which increased the company’s parking capacity by 85%, and improved profitability at existing locations through strategic pricing initiatives.

As a result of these actions, SunPark became the second largest company in the off-airport parking industry at which point management and Chartwell decided to sell their interests.