Redwood Oil Company has sold its convenience retail assets to Jacksons Food Stores. Matrix Capital Markets Group advised on the sale. Headquartered in Rohnert Park, California, Redwood is a leading convenience retailer that operates 24 high-performing convenience stores throughout Northern California that offer their exceptionally successful Aztec Grill proprietary food offering.
After beginning his career at Standard Oil, Peter Van Alyea founded Redwood Oil Company in the early 1970s when he opened his first gas station in Marin County, California. The initial store’s immediate success paved the way for Peter to add two more stores later that year. In 1979, Peter partnered with Barbieri & Son, a wholesale distributor, to acquire HR Gantner’s Beacon-branded stores and two Chevron jobberships, marking the beginning of the Company’s long-lasting relationship with Chevron.
In 1997, Redwood launched Aztec Grill, an in-house, authentic Mexican food offering providing fresh made-to-order options for customers, which now operates within 17 of the stores. Peter’s partner retired in the early 2000s and the wholesale business was divested, leaving Redwood as a retail-focused chain. Julie Van Alyea, Peter’s daughter and Redwood’s current CEO, joined the Company in 2004 and spearheaded efforts to modernize the Redwood and Aztec brands, embrace new technology, and expand Redwood’s retail offerings to make the Company one of the West Coast’s most successful convenience retailers…