Conoco Food Mart closes suddenly
Without
warning or fanfare last Friday, staff at the
Conoco Food Mart and Subway on the South Hill in
Bonners Ferry shut out the lights, strung yellow
tape in front of the gasoline pumps and locked
the doors in what appears to be an acrimonious
split.None of the parties involved have returned calls, but the reader board out front leaves little to the imagination. "Don't pay rent, get evicted," it read.
Rick Philbrook, owner of the property, turned over management of the business to Jay VanDenBerg, owner of the Dairy Depot in Sandpoint, in June, 2010, after starting up the business more than 10 years earlier.
In January, 2011, a civil suit was filed in Boundary County by Moore Oil Inc. versus Ripco, doing business as "Shell" Food Mart, and Rick Philbrook, seeking payment of $58,528.70 they claimed they were owed. Philbrook denied several points of that complaint, and the court ordered that the parties involved seek resolution through arbitration.
It is unknown when, or if, the Conoco Food Mart and Subway Restaurant will reopen.