DATE: Thursday, July 3, 1997                TAG: 9707030685

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT 

                                            LENGTH:   32 lines

UNI-MARTS MAY CLOSE UP TO 100 OF ITS STORES ABOUT 15 LOCATIONS IN HAMPTON ROADS COULD BE SHUT DOWN.

Uni-Marts Inc. might close up to 100 convenience stores in Virginia and Pennsylvania, including about 15 locations in Hampton Roads, by the year's end, the company's president said Wednesday.

The State College, Pa.-based company has blamed increased competition and smaller profit margins on gasoline sales for a $1 million loss in the second quarter.

``We've been looking at what we could do to consolidate our operations,'' said Uni-Marts President Charles Markham.

Markham also announced that a dozen employees at the company's Pennsylvania headquarters have been laid off.

Markham said the fate of the 100 stores will depend on whether the company can renew a contract with gasoline supplier Getty Petroleum that expires Dec. 31.

If not, he said, Uni-Marts will close all of its 50 stores in Virginia - mainly in Roanoke, Richmond and Hampton Roads - and another 50 in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Store managers in Hampton Roads said they have not received notice from Uni-Mart about possible closings.

The company, which operates stand-alone convenience stores and others with gas stations, had sales of $333.8 million in sales for the 1996 fiscal year. MEMO: Compiled from Associated Press and staff reports.

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