All locations of The Store to close in July

By Brandi Makuski

Stevens Point — After almost 50 years in operation, The Store gas stations will close.

Team Schierl Companies sold its mainstay brand to a Georgia company in 2022, with the Schierl brothers staying on as operating partners. But the company, Mountain Express Oil, declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy last September.

According to a news release from TSC on Tuesday, during the seven-month bankruptcy process, the land and buildings of The Store have been handed over to a property investment company — which will not extend the operational agreement between TSC and Mountain Express, the company learned on May 7.

“As it currently stands, The Store will be forced to end its convenience store operations as of July 31, 2024,” the news release said. “However, The Store is working to forge an agreement with the next operator to establish a transition for all associates to be hired in their current positions.”

TSC also operates Schierl Tire & Auto Service and various locations of Subway, which the company said will remain unaffected.

The Schierl brothers — Tim, Fritz, and Bill — have operated the company as Co-CEOs since the late 1980s. Their father, John “Butch” Schierl, founded Schierl Inc. as a fuel oil business in 1956 with the help of his father, Shorty Schierl, and began with a single truck. The brothers changed the company’s name to Team Schierl Companies and grew its footprint to 63 retail stores.

TSC kept its original location of The Store, 708 Division St., and has remodeled it into a new space intended for a new location of Subway. An opening date has not been announced.