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Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: ARIE KOTLER
CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ARKO, HENRICO COUNTY
Virginia Business //September 2, 2025//
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: ARIE KOTLER
CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ARKO, HENRICO COUNTY
Virginia Business //September 2, 2025//
An Israeli native, Kotler has led Arko, the nation’s sixth largest convenience store chain and parent company of GPM Investments, since 2020, when it merged with Haymaker Acquisition Corp. II to become a U.S.-listed public company. He founded GPM in 2003, sold the business in 2006 and reacquired it in 2011.
The company has been on an M&A journey in recent years, expanding from 200 convenience store sites in 2013 to approximately 3,600 company-operated stores as of March. It ranked No. 488 on the 2025 Fortune 500 list and has more than 11,000 employees. Arko brought in $20.8 million in net income in fiscal 2024, down from the nearly $35 million reported the previous year.
In September 2024, Reuters reported Arko was planning to divest its convenience store operations in a potentially $2 billion deal,
a reversal from its M&A growth strategy. However, in a March earnings call, Kotler denied the company is planning to sell its convenience stores.
This year, Arko is building new food- focused convenience stores, with a rollout of eight pilot stores in the Richmond area. The first opened in Ashland in late June.
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