Patience rewarded for buyers of BHI's wholesale units

The virtue of patience was rewarded when Nella Oil Co. purchased the wholesale petroleum operations, terminal and cardlock businesses of Reno's Berry-Hinckley Industries.

Executives of Nella, a family-owned company based at Auburn, Calif., first approached Paul Morabito about sale of the petroleum operations shortly after a group led by Morabito purchased Berry-Hinckley in 2005.

Morabito wasn't interested in breaking up the company, Nella's Walt Dwelle recalled last week, but members of the Dwelle family kept in touch.

When Morabito decided recently that it was time to sell off the petroleum businesses to focus on the company's retail operations 38 Winner's Corner convenience stores, 16 Jiffy Lube franchises, and three carwashes in northern Nevada the Nella team was ready to move quickly.

Terms of the transaction between the two privately held companies weren't disclosed.

In fact, Dwelle said, his family had known Art Hinckley and his family the founders of Berry-Hinckley for three decades.

"The cultures of our companies are complementary," he said. "We are family businesses that try to do the right thing for our customers as well as our employees."

About 100 employees made the move when Nella bought the wholesale and cardlock operations. They'll work for Western Energetix LLC, the company that Nella created to own the northern Nevada operations.

The wholesale business covers a large footprint in northern Nevada serving customers on the Interstate 80 corridor as far east as Wells.

Nella's existing bulk petroleum business, which operates as Gulf Transportation, operates out of nine terminals from Fresno to Redding in northern California.

The company also has a big presence in the cardlock business. It's the largest member of Commercial Fueling Network, a nationwide system of cardlock locations.

Founded in 1931 as Beacon Oil Co., Nella Oil today is controlled by four members of the Dwelle family Tom, Walt, Steve and David who are grandsons of founder Walter B. Allen.