Gas station chain expands with at least 4 North Las Vegas locations
October 12, 2016 - 5:08 pm
A Fortune 500 company is expanding to Nevada, with at least four locations in North Las Vegas.
For 20 years, Arkansas-based gasoline station chain Murphy USA had a partnership with Wal-Mart to build stations near its stores. The brand will continue to manage nearly 1,100 existing gas stations near Wal-Mart stores and some under development, but in January the retail giant announced it would take over the gas pumps at future locations.
While most of its locations are located near Wal-Mart stores, Murphy USA also has about 220 standalone stores under the Murphy Express brand.
“We are scheduled to have two Murphy Express locations open and operating in Nevada by the end of the year along with two other locations under construction,” said Jerianne Thomas, a spokeswoman for Murphy USA, in an email.
Thomas added that the locations would create approximately 40 jobs in North Las Vegas.
“Gas station operators have seen very strong fuel margins for the last couple of years,” said Les Eisinga, a broker with Northcap commercial.
Eisinga, who has worked on gas station deals for 15 years, said more companies are looking to expand in response.
“Gas stations have been making pretty good money. Because of that nobody is looking to sell,” said Eisinga.
The broker said he was aware of at least 31 valley gas stations under construction or in development stages.
Eisinga added that the valley was fairly densely populated with gas stations compared to other parts of the country, but that the added income of gaming allows stations to sell less gasoline and still thrive.
Nevada ranks near the top in terms of gasoline cost. As of Wednesday, the average price of gasoline in Nevada was $2.50, compared to the national average of $2.25, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge report.
The lowest price for gasoline in the valley Wednesday was at an Arco in southwest Las Vegas, where the price for regular fuel was $2.23 a gallon, according to GasBuddy, a Boston-based tech company that operates apps to find the lowest gasoline prices.
Murphy USA is based in El Dorado, Arkansas, and has more than 1,300 gas stations across 24 states.
Founded as a spinoff of Murphy Oil in 2013, the company has nearly 10,000 employees. The company ranks 258 on the Fortune 500 list, compiled annually by Fortune magazine.
Contact Alexander S. Corey at acorey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Find @acoreynews on Twitter.