In coming months, the name of Town & Country Food Stores will be changed to Stripes following a purchase by Susser Holdings Corp., according to a news release on the Town & Country Food Stores Web site.

Susser purchased TCFS Holdings, the parent company of San Angelo, Texas-based Town & Country in a $359 million dollar deal, the release said.

The name Stripes was launched in 2006, replacing the moniker Circle K, the Web site said.

There are three Town & Country Food Store locations in Clovis, one in Portales, two in Muleshoe and one in Texico. There are 160 Town & Country locations in New Mexico and Texas.

The Town & Country sites are expected to be rebranded to Stripes beginning in the second half of 2008, officials said.

“We anticipate that the process of integrating the two companies will be very straightforward,” Sam L. Susser, president and chief executive officer of Susser Holdings, said in the release.

“This combination gives us greater scale, expands our footprint from South Texas and Oklahoma into West Texas and eastern New Mexico, giving us more geographic diversity, and it also provides additional fill-in growth opportunities in these new markets,” he said.

The acquisition makes the Corpus Christi, Texas-based Susser one of the largest convenience store operators in the southwest, boasting more than 500 stores, the release said.