The former Shell/Stuckey’s in Verbena is now the Sunoco and Quality Petroleum convenience store and will celebrate a grand opening on Oct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with free food, ice cream and drinks at the Dairy Queen.

Sunoco account manager Debbie Ballenger said the convenience store, located at 38 County Road 438 (Interstate 65 exit 200), went through several months of renovations and is now ready for residents of Chilton County.

“Sunoco purchased the building at the end of May and we started on the outside tearing everything down,” Ballenger said. “The Dairy Queen portion has been remodeled, the restrooms have been redone and it looks like a convenience store now instead of a novelty store.”

Sunoco Inc. announced in June 2011 there would be 18 new Sunoco-branded sites added to its growing network of more than 4,900 retail locations selling transportation fuels and convenience items. The nine original sites are located in the Birmingham metro market and result from agreements reached with Quality Petroleum of Alabama distributors of petroleum products. The first Quality Petroleum location was opened at 4809 McAdory School Road in McCalla.

The 11 Alabama sites complement more than 250 new retail locations that have been added to Sunoco’s network since the beginning of 2010.

Sunoco’s senior vice president of marketing Bob Owens said in a release he was thrilled that Sunoco fuel can now be purchased in Alabama near the historic Talladega Superspeedway.

“Our recent success in winning over new distributors has helped Sunoco enter new markets such as Alabama and expand our presence along the I-95 corridor, and in the Midwest and other Southeastern states,” Owens said. “We remain focused on building the brand’s reputation in all of our market.”

Sunoco has made significant progress in growing its presence in the Southeast in recent years with large expansions in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia and Alabama.

“We are excited about the opportunity to sell Sunoco’s quality fuel in the state of Alabama. Sunoco’s NASCAR connection is generating tremendous interest,” Quality Petroleum of Alabama’s vice president David Melton said in a release.

Quality Petroleum operates retail fuel stations through BP, QP and Sunoco brands. Quality Petroleum also provides commercial fleet fueling for business and governmental fleets nationwide and is an independent franchise of Pacific Pride/ Wright Express Commercial Fueling network.

“We are really excited about the grand opening,” Ballenger said. “We completed the renovations at the end of last month and we are just now getting it up and running. We just really want to get the neighborhood back in touch with the store and I think they will be impressed with the changes.”