NORWICH — Sam Walton built his retail empire by focusing on rural areas where there was less competition. Decades later, the competition awoke to the fact that Walmart was the industry leader. Four generations of Mirabitos have used a similar strategy to build a thriving business in the energy field in upstate New York.

James Mirabito, an Italian immigrant, started a coal dealership known as James Mirabito Coal Dealer in Norwich in 1927. In 1940, his eldest son Thomas opened the second branch of the business in Sidney by purchasing H.M. Bloxham Coal and Feed Company on Clinton Street.

In 1943, the company signed an agreement with Atlantic Richfield to sell home heating oil in the Norwich–Sidney area. Subsequently, Mirabito pursued a policy of acquiring competitors and moved into related businesses such as asphalt products.

In 1952, James Mirabito’s four sons (Thomas, Rosario, Angelo, and Anthony) assumed ownership of the company and incorporated it as James Mirabito & Sons, Inc.

In 1982, the company purchased its first convenience store in Oxford and gave it the name Quickway Food Stores. The following year, Mirabito bought Savory Energy in Vestal, which included a Chevron Corp. terminal with direct access by pipeline to the New Jersey refinery. The Savory transaction boosted Mirabito’s wholesale oil growth and fueled the convenience-store expansion. 

In 1985, Mirabito built a new bulk oil plant in the Sidney Industrial Park, a new office complex on Grand Street in Sidney, and purchased Norwich Oil Co. A year later, the second generation of Mirabito owners sold the company to six members of the third generation of the family (aka, “The Pepsi Generation”). The company also purchased Mountain Oil in Oneonta. In 1988, Mirabito acquired Oneonta Oil & Fuel and Jiffy Stop convenience stores — an acquisition that doubled the number of convenience stores owned by the company.

Mirabito established the Propane Division of Mirabito Fuel Group in 1992 and purchased Onondaga Oil & Fuel in Syracuse.

In 1996, the company established Miragas, Inc. to sell natural gas and electricity. Mirabito also acquired Corse’s Oil in Susquehanna, Pa.

The holding company’s (Mirabito Holdings, Inc.) latest ventures include a partnership with Corning Natural Gas to create a natural-gas pipeline for distribution and sale to municipalities and large corporations. In May, Mirabito also established an ESCO (energy services co.), called Mirabito Natural Gas.

Mirabito has grown to “… a firm employing 710 — 295  in the energy division and 415 in the convenience-store/food-service business,” according to Lindsay Meehan, the director of marketing and a fourth-generation Mirabito. “The firm has expanded geographically into 15 counties in New York with 56 convenience stores and 11 home-energy locations … The wholesale energy operation ships trailer loads to gasoline and propane dealers and to other big customers throughout New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts … [Annual] sales today are more than $400 million,” Meehan adds.

Mirabito’s corporate headquarters are located at the Metro Center at 49 Court St. in Binghamton. The convenience-store division owns 81,000 square feet of space and leases another 49,000 square feet. The energy division owns 38,000 square feet and leases 39,000 square feet. The real-estate division owns another 23,000 square feet, for a total corporate footprint of 230,000 square feet.

Mirabito is associated with a number of recognized brands. The energy division includes Citgo, Mobil, Valero, Sunoco, and the family name. The convenience-store/food-service division includes Mirabito, Quickway, Convenience Express, Subway, Tim Hortons, Cold Stone Creamery, and Dunkin’ Donuts.

“Mirabito’s main competitors in the energy and food business vary by markets,” says Meehan. “In the energy business, we compete with Suburban and Paraco plus local competitors such as I.E. Blue Ox in the Norwich/Sidney area, Reinhart in the Oneonta market, Erhart in Ithaca, and Superior in the Syracuse market. In the convenience-food business, we compete with Nice N Easy in Syracuse and in Binghamton and other areas we compete with Manley’s and Hess.”

Five stockholders currently own Mirabito Holdings: Joe, John, Bill, Ross, and Rick Mirabito. They comprise the corporate board of directors along with one outside adviser, Phil Baratz. The management team includes Joe Mirabito, CEO (Lindsay Meehan’s father); Jerry Canny, president and CFO; Ross Mirabito, CIO; Rich Mirabito, COO; Jason Mirabito, wholesale and supply/sales manager; Meehan, director of marketing; Kelly Storm, vice president of human resources; and Terry Maliga, business-development manager.

According to Meehan, key vendors include “… Hinman Howard & Kittell, LLP, which handles much of the legal work;
ParenteBeard for auditing and accounting; and NBT, which leads a banking consortium for us… Mang (owned by NBT) holds our insurance policies.”

“Mirabito enjoys a long tradition of giving back to the communities it serves,” Meehan says. For example, “… the firm sponsors an annual golf tournament each year in June. This year, the event netted $100,000 for charities, including the MDA, Children’s Home, and the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation. Mirabito also gave $50,000 to Bassett [Healthcare] this year… Senior management is involved in the selection of charitable recipients.”

Mirabito is focused on growth, both organic and through acquisition. There isn’t a formal team structure to pursue mergers and acquisitions, but senior management is always evaluating opportunities. The company is optimistic about continued growth in the energy business with the goal of “becoming a total BTU supplier and distributor” and continues to look for opportunities to expand in the convenience-store business.

The company is also focused on the transition of management to the fourth generation. According to Meehan, there are already five Mirabitos (fourth generation) working in the business. She says that “… the board is working hard on the process of transition with outside advisers.”

Mirabito is celebrating its 85th corporate anniversary with plans both to remain a family business and to grow, based on a corporate strategy that has served the family well. Someday, the company’s competitors may realize that Mirabito, like Walmart, is an industry leader.

Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@cnybj.com