Taco Bell Closed

#1
Coug

Coug

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#1
Probably been for several weeks but I just noticed Taco Bell on Cedar Bluff is permanently closed. It was the one in with Pilot so I assume it has something to Casey's taking over the gas station?
 
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#3
#3
Coug said:
Probably been for several weeks but I just noticed Taco Bell on Cedar Bluff is permanently closed. It was the one in with Pilot so I assume it has something to Casey's taking over the gas station?
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Yes, because the family sold their stores to Casey’s. And I don’t know if the Wendy’s inside of the Lovell Road truck stop is still there, but Mr. Haslam had some sort of waiver allowing it since there is a Wendy’s not far from there on Kingston Pike.
 
#4
#4
PEPPERJAX said:
Now you will be forced to go to a real Mexican restaurant and that is a good thing imo.
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I eat real Mexican all the time more so than I ever went to Taco Bell. I just noticed it the other day because I swung by to grab a Mtn Dew.
 
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#5
#5
I was at Taco Bell a few weeks ago. They weren’t accepting cash and the drive-thru was closed down. You were required to make purchases through their app. They said it was because they couldn’t find enough staff to hire to run the restaurant.
 
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#6
#6
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Yes, because the family sold their stores to Casey’s. And I don’t know if the Wendy’s inside of the Lovell Road truck stop is still there, but Mr. Haslam had some sort of waiver allowing it since there is a Wendy’s not far from there on Kingston Pike.
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From what I heard the truck stops/travel centers will remain Pilot.
 
#7
#7
Coug said:
From what I heard the truck stops/travel centers will remain Pilot.
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Yes. The truck stops gave been controlled by Berkshire-Hathaway for several years and Warren Buffett leaves operations and branding decisions with the existing management. The Pilot stations and convenience stores were a separate entity that the Haslam’s did not sell to Berkshire. They recently sold those locations to Casey’s.
 
#10
#10
Cedar Bluff Wendy's/Pilot is still there and not a Casey's. McD stayed open at Walker Springs when it switched.

I would imagine the TB on cedar Bluff was just nasty and needed major work. And probably not worth it but that's a guess.
 
#11
#11
DrRosenRosen said:
Cedar Bluff Wendy's/Pilot is still there and not a Casey's. McD stayed open at Walker Springs when it switched.

I would imagine the TB on cedar Bluff was just nasty and needed major work. And probably not worth it but that's a guess.
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Casey’s owns the store on Cedar Bluff at Sherrill Blvd. If there’s still a Pilot sign up they just haven’t gotten around to rebranding it yet.

They Wendy’s on Cedar Bluff is a stand alone Wendy’s and isn’t associated with Casey’s or Pilot.

The Wendy’s in the Pilot truck stop on Lovell Road is part of Pilot Travel Centers (controlled by Berkshire-Hathaway) and is not at all affiliated with Casey’s. B-H is taking ownership of the Pilot Travel Centers (national truck stops) while Casey’s is taking/has taken ownership of the Pilot convenience stores that were still totally owned by the Haslams after they sold equity in the truck stops to B-H. There are/were 2 separate “Pilot” companies. The two companies shared management/administrative operations from the Lonas Road headquarters.
 
#13
#13
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Casey’s owns the store on Cedar Bluff at Sherrill Blvd. If there’s still a Pilot sign up they just haven’t gotten around to rebranding it yet.
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Shoot, I meant Lovell, not Cedar Bluff. Was just pointing out it was a truck stop and not changing hands. All good.

I'm rarely in their stores, but I keep hearing people complain about the change in ownership and the store quality/prices.
 
#15
#15
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Casey’s owns the store on Cedar Bluff at Sherrill Blvd. If there’s still a Pilot sign up they just haven’t gotten around to rebranding it yet.

They Wendy’s on Cedar Bluff is a stand alone Wendy’s and isn’t associated with Casey’s or Pilot.

The Wendy’s in the Pilot truck stop on Lovell Road is part of Pilot Travel Centers (controlled by Berkshire-Hathaway) and is not at all affiliated with Casey’s. B-H is taking ownership of the Pilot Travel Centers (national truck stops) while Casey’s is taking/has taken ownership of the Pilot convenience stores that were still totally owned by the Haslams after they sold equity in the truck stops to B-H. There are/were 2 separate “Pilot” companies. The two companies shared management/administrative operations from the Lonas Road headquarters.
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There are a bunch of Pilot entities but I’m guessing you’re talking about Pilot Corp and Pilot Travel Centers.
 
#16
#16
hUTch2002 said:
There are a bunch of Pilot entities but I’m guessing you’re talking about Pilot Corp and Pilot Travel Centers.
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There are (were) 2 primary Pilot businesses. The truck stops/travel centers are nationwide and are controlled by Warren Buffet and Berkshire-Hathaway. The Pilot convenience stores were mostly around Knoxville and were still owned by the Haslam family after B-H took an equity stake in the truck stops. They’ve completed the sale of the C-stores to Casey’s. The Pilot/Haslam corporate headquarters on Lonas Drive continued to handle administration for Casey’s for a few months after the sale. Now those Pilot C-stores have completely been decoupled from the Pilot brand and Lonas Drive no longer provides back office support for those locations in and around Knoxville.

The Haslams are multi-billionaires. They don’t have a simple organizational structure. The Lonas HQ buildings were/are owned by Sigma Land Partnership, Pilot Corporation, and Pilot Travel Centers LLC. The Schaad family might own Sigma. The other 2 should be parts of B-H although the family could (?) still own a piece of the RE equity.

The name Pilot could be on multiple entities, but there were 2 primary businesses that used the Pilot red/yellow signage. One of those (the convenience stores) have replaced the Pilot branding with Casey’s.

Pilot Flying J is the truck stop entity. B-H has ownership control. The Haslam’s are minority equity holders and continue to be the local management as Buffet typically handles their acquisitions (like they do with Clayton Homes). Flying J Corporation is giving up their equity.
 
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#17
#17
Thunder Good-Oil said:
There are (were) 2 primary Pilot businesses. The truck stops/travel centers are nationwide and are controlled by Warren Buffet and Berkshire-Hathaway. The Pilot convenience stores were mostly around Knoxville and were still owned by the Haslam family after B-H took an equity stake in the truck stops. They’ve completed the sale of the C-stores to Casey’s. The Pilot/Haslam corporate headquarters on Lonas Drive continued to handle administration for Casey’s for a few months after the sale. Now those Pilot C-stores have completely been decoupled from the Pilot brand and Lonas Drive no longer provides back office support for those locations in and around Knoxville.

The Haslams are multi-billionaires. They don’t have a simple organizational structure. The Lonas HQ buildings were/are owned by Sigma Land Partnership, Pilot Corporation, and Pilot Travel Centers LLC. The Schaad family might own Sigma. The other 2 should be parts of B-H although the family could (?) still own a piece of the RE equity.

The name Pilot could be on multiple entities, but there were 2 primary businesses that used the Pilot red/yellow signage. One of those (the convenience stores) have replaced the Pilot branding with Casey’s.

Pilot Flying J is the truck stop entity. B-H has ownership control. The Haslam’s are minority equity holders and continue to be the local management as Buffet typically handles their acquisitions (like they do with Clayton Homes). Flying J Corporation is giving up their equity.
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Ah yes, PFJ. You’re right that it’s complex. I think there’s about 30 business names if I recall correctly. I was thinking about Maxum but you’re talking about the difference between PTC and PFJ. I’m with you now. There’s Pilot Corp too but I think the rest of the entities actually didn’t use Pilot in the name.
 
#20
#20
Real Mexican restaurant, meh. Taco Bell is a great American story, to the tune of $1.9 billion/year. There’s a lot to learn from them.
 
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