Cumberland Farms, Gulf Open New HQ
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Cumberland Farms and Gulf Oil LP have announced the opening of their new business support campus in Framingham, Mass. This move will enable the corporate parent, its retail convenience stores, real-estate operations and Gulf Oil subsidiary to take better advantage of opportunities in the marketplace."The advantages of an efficient corporate integration combined with a more focused and coordinated business development strategy makes this move compelling" said Cumberland Farms CEO Joseph Petrowski. "This move helps our leaders best execute the Cumberland Farms and Gulf vision at becoming the premier brand of choice for the driving public."
This is the latest in a series of developments by the companies. Last month, Cumberland Farms opened a new, flagship store, focused on fresh food and hot coffee and leveraging the company's farm-family heritage. In addition, Gulf Oil has several new programs in 2009 to further its branding and customer loyalty programs.
You can read more from Convenience Store/Petroleum here
Cumberland Farms and Gulf: A marriage of convenience
When Joe Petrowski got the opportunity to serve as Gulf Oil’s president and CEO in 2005, he jumped at the chance. Not only was he fascinated by the energy industry, but the job allowed him to return to his native Boston area.
Petrowski grew up in Brockton and attended Harvard, where he wrote his thesis on the gasoline business. After graduation, he went to work in the energy industry.
In 2005, he came to Gulf, a wholesale petroleum distributor then headquartered in Chelsea. Since October, he has been CEO of Gulf Oil and Cumberland Farms (Gulf is a subsidiary of Cumberland). Ron Sabia is now the president and COO of Gulf, and Ari Haseotes is the president of Cumberland Farms.
Like Petrowski, 54, Cumberland Farms has local roots. It was started as a farm in Cumberland, R.I. With 600 stores from Maine to Delaware, and as far west as Pennsylvania, it is now the seventh largest convenience store operator in the U.S. There are about 2,500 Gulf stations in that same area.
In May, Cumberland Farms will move out of its Canton headquarters and Gulf will move out of its Newton offices. The two companies’ 400 corporate employees will be housed in the same office in Framingham.
Read the entire article by Julie Onufrak here
$1 per Gallon Gas? Cumberland Farms CEO Says It May Be
"The oil market is a manic-depressive market. It tends to over shoot," said Petrowski told WCVB-TV in Boston. "The market overshot last summer on the high side. Oil should never should have gone to $147, but it did and it can."
Now Petrowski believes the slide in oil prices will continue and overshoot on the low side. "There is a better than 25-percent probability that we'll see oil go as low as $1 a gallon sometime after the first of the year," he said.
Dramatically lower gas prices would essentially be similar to a rebate check for consumers, he said. The drop may even help ease the country out of the recession.
What will you do with the money saved at the pump?