Local Lyden Co. office will move to Brecksville

By DON SHILLING

shilling@vindy.com

The Lyden Co. said it is consolidating offices in Austintown, Cleveland and Toledo into a new headquarters in Brecksville.

The operator of Shell gasoline stations said it has bought 22 acres of land and will start construction of a new corporate office and transportation center this summer. It is to be completed in the summer of 2011.

Geoff Lyden, chief executive of the Toledo-based company, could not be reached to comment about the effect on the local office.

A worker in the company’s office on Leharps Road in Austintown said all comments would have to come from the corporate office.

The local office is part of Truenorth Energy, which is owned by Lyden and Shell Oil Products in a joint venture.

Lyden Co. had been based in Austintown, but the corporate office was moved to Toledo in the 1990s after the death of William G. Lyden Jr., who ran the company for 40 years.

Lyden Oil Co., which also is on Leharps Road, is a separate company from Lyden Co. Lyden Oil is a distributor of oil and fuel and is not part of the announcement by Lyden Co.

In addition to the new corporate headquarters, Truenorth is expanding. It has acquired 109 Shell stations in the Chicago area from its partner, Shell Oil Products.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

Before the deal, Truenorth operated or supplied 212 stations in Ohio and Michigan.