The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

RUBIS plans to “ramp up” its brand promotion in the next two to three weeks, as it gets set to re-name 31 Texaco locations beginning this August.

“We’re starting some promotions. We want to get the RUBIS brand out there before we begin our re-branding, which starts in August,” said RUBIS retail and sales executive, Lamont Ellis.

“What we are going to be doing is going around to various stations every Friday from 4 pm to 6 pm, on different radio stations, just promoting the RUBIS brand and all of the different things we intend to bring to the station.”

Mr Ellis said the company plans to introduce a ‘pay at the pump’ system and its Total Lubricants brand.

He added: “During our promotion we are going to have some giveaways as well. We will be giving away a $25 gasoline coupon. With the purchase of $25 or more in fuel, random customers would receive a $25 gas coupon.

“We are going to run the promotion up to the middle of August. We will be coming out in the print ads and television commercials. We had a soft launch but we are definitely going to ramp it up in the next two to three weeks.”

Mr Ellis said RUBIS plans to re-brand 31 locations this year, beginning in August. “We have 16 stations in Nassau, 20 in total, including Abaco and Eleuthera, and we have about 10 marinas we are going to re-brand as well,” he added.

“There are going to be 31 locations we are going to re-brand this year, and there are going to be more locations for next year. The 31 locations are slated to be completed by September 22. We will be in the peak of the hurricane season, so give or take four weeks after that.”

Since taking over from Chevron last May, RUBIS has been focused on replacing existing equipment and rebuilding the strained relationship with many of its retailers.

Back in May 2012r, Chevron concluded the sale of its fuels marketing and aviation businesses in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Turks & Caicos to Vitogaz, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RUBIS. With its takeover from Chevron, the French multinational energy company gained ownership of 39 retail stations, eight aviation facilities, six fuel terminals and one joint operation at the Nassau airport terminal, plus a commercial and industrial fuels business.

These disposals are in addition to Texaco’s previously announced sale of assets in the Caribbean and parts of Central America to RUBIS in July 201l. That deal consisted of 174 service stations operating under the Texaco brand, an equity interest in an associated refinery operation, proprietary and joint-venture terminals and aviation facilities, and Chevron’s commercial and industrial fuels business.