BURRILLVILLE/WOONSOCKET – An expanding New York-based propane business has acquired a property in Burrillville where a local fuel company has operated a storage facility for the past five years.
NRI NOW has learned that the sale was part of a larger acquisition of Consumers Propane by Paraco Gas.
This week, a deed recorded in Burrillville showed that the New York fuel business purchased a roughly 10 acre lot at 138 Clear River Drive from Woonsocket Consumers Coal Co., known locally as Consumers. A deed signed by Consumers President Kenneth Bousquet transferred the property to “138 Clear River, LLC,” a business just recently created in Rhode Island located at 800 Westchester Ave. Suite S-604 in Rye Brook, NY – the home of Paraco Gas Company.
It appears to be the New York-based business’s first land acquisition in Rhode Island. Paraco operates one location in Massachusetts, located in Depot Square in Uxbridge, with additional locations in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to the business’s website.
Paraco has purchased numerous smaller propane companies across the northeast over the years, boasting more than 60 successful acquisitions. A page on the Paraco website actively solicits inquiries from propane companies looking to sell their assets, noting the company has done more than 100 valuations.
The Burrillville property, purchased for $660,000, currently holds two 30,000-gallon propane fuel tanks and an office. Consumers purchased the previously vacant lot from former owner Roderic Timpany of Pascoag for $300,000 in 2018 with plans at the time to expand their local customer base. The land, zoned General Industrial, has since been used for wholesale business, and the storage of flammable material.
A century-old, family-owned fuel heating business that once sold coal to keep locals warm, Consumers was founded by Germaine Bousquet in 1918 for the delivery of what was then the country’s primary fossil fuel.
Until recently, the Woonsocket-based business still sold fuel including propane and oil, and also installed and operated burner and HVAC systems. A representative from Consumers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the asset sale.
But following initial publication of this story, a source close to the company who asked to remain anonymous said that the entire business, including such property assets, had been sold. The acquisition included all of the business’s divisions including Consumers Propane, Bousquet Oil, B&B and a gas station on Hamlet Avenue in Woonsocket.
NRI NOW confirmed the information Friday morning.
According to the source, staff was informed of the sale on Monday, Jan. 6. Employees have been told that they will have to apply for their jobs again and that their employment will not be guaranteed after 90 days.
You might like Discount Oil Brokers. Much cheaper. Parent’s neighbors have them, wonderful company. Deliver in a timely manner too. Nice office personnel.
And as for Consumers/Bousquet, money was everything. Driver damaged my parent’s driveway, sunk it, refused to fix it, and did not deliver the oil which cold weather snap then burst the pipes, aged parent found deceased in home by NS police dept. Yes, they do not care a wink about long-time consumers that always paid their bills for 46 years.
And the times they cleaned the furnace, yearly $300 fee, they missed replacing a part, poor cleaning, resulting soot issues. Probably very good time to find a better company!
I’ve long considered Consumers an outstanding and reliable company, often recommending them to friends and neighbors. Unfortunately my most recent experience with their propane maintenance service was terrible. I feel I was overcharged for poor service. I tried to reason with the office but was not successful. I paid the bill but I am now in the process of finding another Company after 32 years.