The Pantry CEO Terrance Marks is leaving the Cary convenience store chain to take the same position with Hooters of America, the restaurant chain known for its Hooter Girls waitresses.

The Pantry announced Monday that Marks would depart within 60 days. Monday's release said Marks was returning to Atlanta to be closer to his family but did not disclose his new job.

In today's release put out by Hooters, Marks said the opportunity to contribute to a great brand like Hooters "is extremely energizing to me." Take that Kangaroo Express.

Hooters is the franchisor and operator of 435 restaurants in 44 states and 28 foreign countries.

Terrance M. Marks, The Pantry CEO whose has led the convenience-store chain’s aggressive turnaround strategy in recent years, is resigning to take a position in Atlanta.

The Cary-based company said in a release that Marks will depart within the next 60 days and be replaced on an interim basis by Edwin Holman, chairman of The Pantry’s Board of Directors.

Since taking over as CEO in September 2009, Marks had gotten generally high marks for his efforts to remodel some of The Pantry’s stores and add more fresh foods to its product offerings.

It will be important for The Pantry to find a replacement who can maintain that momentum, said Ben Brownlow, an analyst with Morgan Keegan.

“I think it does create some uncertainty,” Brownlow said. “Departing now isn’t the ideal time.”

Pantry officials declined to comment today beyond what was in the release.

The Pantry reported a second quarter net loss this morning, but the company did see merchandise sales and its profit from gas rise during the quarter.

The Cary-based chain of 1,659 convenience stores mostly under the Kangaroo Express banner reported that its net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 was $269,000, or 1 cent per share. However, sales of in-store merchandise -- which have been the focus of an ongoing remodeling campaign by the company -- rose by 2 percent in stores open at least a year.

The company also benefitted from rising fuel profit margins. In the second quarter, the amount the Pantry made on gasoline rose by 22 percent compared with the first quarter of this year and 5.4 percent conpared with the second quarter of 2010. However, with Americans watching their money and driving less, the company sold fewer gallons this quarter -- roughly 4 percent less than the second quarter last year.

"Our improving execution contributed to expanded gross margins, higher productivity, and ultimately Adjusted EBITDA growth, despite persistently rising fuel prices," said CEO Terrance Marks in a statement released this morning. "Of equal importance, we continued to make progress against our core strategic initiatives of foodservice expansion and productivity growth."

Cary-based convenience store chain The Pantry managed to increase sales and profit during its fiscal third quarter, despite weaker demand for gasoline.

The company reported that revenue rose to $1.9 billion during the period that ended June 24, up about 16 percent from a year earlier. The Pantry sold more snacks, soda, cigarettes and other products inside its more than 1,600 stores in 11 states.

Net income rose to $18 million, or 80 cents a share, beating Wall Street estimates and reversing a loss last year. The company had bigger profit on fuel but has seen drivers buy less gas during the economic slump.

The Pantry reported a net loss during its latest quarter, as profit fell on gasoline, cigarettes and other products sold at the Cary company's more than 1,600 convenience stores.

The net loss for the fiscal first quarter that ended Dec. 24 was $26.1 million, or $1.17 per share. That compared to net income of $38.5 million, or $1.73 per share, during the same quarter a year earlier.

Total revenue rose about 6 percent to $1.74 billion.

The company is the largest convenience-store chain in the Southeast, with stores mostly under the Kangaroo Express name. Officials are looking to boost sales of groceries and fast food as a way to bolster profit in 2010.

While reporting a strong finish for its 2009 fiscal year, Pantry executives made it clear Wednesday that they are already looking well ahead into 2010.

On the Sanford-based company's quarterly earnings conference call with analysts and investors, new CEO Terrance Marks outlined an aggressive strategy that focuses on meeting customer needs for the company's next fiscal year.

"Convenience retail has evolved," he said. "The common denominator is the fact that the shopper can get in and get out in a convenient and fast fashion. The need for speed is not going to revers itself."

The Pantry, which operates more than 1,650 convenience stores throughout the Southeast, will take a three-pronged approach to increasing in-store performance, Marks said.

The Pantry reported strong fourth quarter earnings this morning, completing another profitable fiscal year for the Cary-based operator of more than 1,600 Southeastern convenience stores.

Fourth quarter net income for the chain was $13.3 million, or 60 cents per share.

Though that was below the company's results for the final quarter of 2008, in which it earned $22.9 million, or $1.03 per share, chief financial officer Frank Paci said the fluctuation was due to an "abnormally favorable gasoline market in the fourth quarter of last year."

"While we faced significant headwinds from a soft economic environment and increased tobacco taxes, an above-average gas margin and continued tight expense controls enabled us to report sharply higher earnings for the year," Paci said.

For the entire year, The Pantry's net income was $59.1 million, or $2.65 per share, an increase of 86 percent over 2008.

The Pantry got a new CEO that's a bit cheaper than the old one.

The Cary-based convenience store chain on Thursday named former Coca-Cola bottling executive Terrance M. Marks as its new CEO. He replaces Peter J. Sodini, who was CEO since 1996.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this afternoon, the Pantry disclosed that it will pay Marks an initial annual salary of $750,000 plus restricted stock, a bonus and other perks.

That base salary is less than the $800,000 Sodini made last year, according to an earlier SEC filing. Sodini's total compensation was about $2.3 million.

Marks, 49, is a former executive with Coca-Cola Enterprises, the Atlanta-based company that is the world's largest soft-drink distributor.

Marks will start as CEO on Sept. 15. Sodini will resign as CEO on Sept. 24.

SANFORD — The Pantry Inc. has named Terrance M. Marks to replace Peter Sodini as president and CEO.

Sodini, 68, took the helm of the company in 1996. He announced in April that he would retire at the end of his contract in September.

The Pantry is the Southeast's biggest independent convenience-store chain and one of the
Triangle's largest publicly traded companies. It now has almost 1,700 stores in 11
states under several banners, including the Kangaroo gas station chain.

Marks, 49, previously served as executive vice president of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. and president of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. North America Group. His appointment is effective Sept. 25.