Village Pantry moving HQ out of Indianapolis to North Carolina

Scott Olson, The IBJ

solson@ibj.com

Village Pantry's headquarters on the northeast side of Indianapolis is closing as a result of an office consolidation between the convenience store operator and another in North Carolina, both owned by Sun Capital Partners Inc.

The merger of accounting and administrative functions will take Village Pantry CEO Mick Parker and at least nine other executives to Wilmington, N.C., where Worsley Cos. is headquartered.

Worsley operates 210 Scotchman convenience stores in North Carolina and South Carolina. Village Pantry has 190 stores in Indiana and Ohio.

How many Village Pantry office workers will lose their jobs due to the closure is unclear. Jeff Turpin, chairman and CEO of Worsley, said he didn't have an exact count, but estimated the number to be higher than 10. A source told IBJ the number could be as high as 30.

Parker, who will become president and chief operating officer of the combined operations, didn't return repeated calls seeking comment.

"The retail environment is really tough right now," Turpin said. "In the best interest of our employees and customers, we have to be as efficient as possible."

The consolidation should be completed by the end of next month, Turpin said, and will have no effect on store operations.  

Village Pantry's headquarters are located at 6814 Hillsdale Court near interstates 465 and 69.

Florida-based Sun Capital acquired Village Pantry in 2006 as part of its acquisition of Fishers-based Marsh Supermarkets Inc.

Sun quickly separated Village Pantry from Marsh and embarked on a $15 million plan in 2007 to renovate the stores.

One of Sun's boldest moves was to hire Parker, a 20-year veteran of Circle K convenience store chain and a respected convenience-store expert, to serve as CEO. In his first five months on the job, he led the acquisition of 33 Next Door Store locations in Michigan and northern Indiana from Michigan-based Imperial Co. Inc.

He also launched a round of quick renovations that gave Village Pantry stores new high-end finishes, wider aisles and gourmet food and drink selections. The changes were aimed at luring back young people and women, who have been doing more convenience shopping at Walgreens and CVS.