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CST Brands plans to create employee stock plan

By , Staff WriterUpdated
Corner Store employees from stores from all over San Antonio gathered for the unveiling of a new new store format last month. CST Brands, owner of the chain, will be giving employees a chance to buy its stock in an effort to boost customer service.
Corner Store employees from stores from all over San Antonio gathered for the unveiling of a new new store format last month. CST Brands, owner of the chain, will be giving employees a chance to buy its stock in an effort to boost customer service.Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News

CST Brands, owner of the fast-growing Corner Store chain of convenience stores, soon will give employees a chance to buy its stock in an effort to boost customer service.

Starting on Jan. 1, the chain’s U.S. employees will have the option of setting aside part of their salaries to buy discounted stock. Employees must be with the company for six months to participate.

Every six months, CST employees will have the choice to join the stock purchase plan. The price of the stock they buy will be set to 85 percent of the price on either the first or last day of the six-month enrollment period, whichever is cheaper.

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CEO and President Kim Lubel said she’s been considering offering stock to employees since CST spun off from Valero in 2013.

“As we set up as a new public company, one of the opportunities I could see was to give employees a chance to get in as an owner,” she said. “From a retail perspective, having your employees … become owners of the company certainly takes you to the next level of customer loyalty.”

The plan, commonly referred to as an employee stock purchase plan, was approved by CST’s board in September, according to SEC filings posted Monday afternoon. It will be up for a vote by shareholders in June, officials said Tuesday. If shareholders vote it down, employees will be reimbursed for what was withheld from their paychecks to buy stock.

News of CST’s stock plan comes a month after H-E-B announced a plan to award 55,000 employees a stock grant that will build up to a 15 percent stake in the company.

For more on the stock plan, go to ExpressNews.com later today or check out Wednesday’s print edition.

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rwebner@express-news.net

@rwebner

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Business Freelancer

Richard Webner is a freelance business writer and former real estate reporter for the Express-News. He earned a graduate degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and an undergraduate degree in History from Northwestern University.

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