Worcester Business Journal

16 Worcester Business Journal • February 1, 2016 www.wbjournal.com T he past 10 years have been a time of remarkable growth for Gulf Oil LP, according to the company's chief strategy officer Ron Sabia. But, he says, under new ownership, it has the potential for even greater things. Gulf Oil, which had been united with Framingham-based Cumberland Farms since 1986, was acquired by a division of Boston private equity firm ArcLight Capital Partners in late December. Sabia said ArcLight's specific focus on energy invest- ments is important for Gulf Oil. "Through our ownership previously, we had lots of projects on both sides of the com- pany, the retail side of Cumberland Farms and the Gulf side," he said. "There was not enough capital to do everything we wanted to do on both sides of the company. I think with access to capital and a focus on energy investments, we're going to have a lot more growth opportunities." Gulf Oil will be moving to a new leased headquarters in Wellesley in March with 125 employees who now work out of the Cumberland office in Framingham. Cumberland: Focus on convenience Meanwhile, the split in the company could also be a boon to Cumberland Farms opera- tions, according to retail analyst Leon Nicholas, a senior vice president of Kantar Retail. Cumberland Farms declined to com- ment for this story, but Nicholas said it seems clear that being able to focus more closely on the convenience store side of the business may be beneficial. "In an environment where fuel prices are volatile and unpredict- able, they're getting out of that business and into the more profit- able business of conve- nience store opera- tions," Nicholas said. "That makes a lot of sense." The influx of funds from the Gulf Oil sale – whose price was not disclosed but was rumored to be around $1 billion – means more opportunities in the convenience store industry, Nicholas said. Cumberland opened 27 new stores in 2015 and rebuilt or remodeled 18. Nicholas said the company has done well by revamp- ing its stores, transforming them from gas stations that also sell cigarettes into neigh- borhood markets with fresh sandwiches, groceries and good coffee. With low gas prices leaving customers WORCESTER ART MUSEUM / 55 SALISBURY STREET / WORCESTER, MA 01609 / 508.799.4406 / W O R C E S T E R A RT. O R G THANK YOU Business Partners SPONSORS $20,000+ Unum $10,000+ AbbVie Fallon Health People's United Bank Saint-Gobain Skinner Auctioneers The TJX Foundation, Inc. United Bank Foundation Massachusetts $5,000+ Bowditch and Dewey, LLP Cole Contracting, Inc. Fletcher Tilton PC FLEXcon Company, Inc. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Imperial Distributors, Inc. Interstate Specialty Products, Inc. National Grid Reliant Medical Group Tufts Health Plan Medicare Preferred UniBank Worcester Business Journal DONORS $2,500+ J.J. Bafaro, Inc. Herbert E. Berg Florist, Inc. CCR Wealth Management, LLC Christie's Commerce Bank Country Bank Foley Incorporated Revelation Productions, Inc. Rotmans Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. Waters Corporation Webster Five WorkCentral MEMBERS $1,000+ AAFCPAs Applied Rubber and Plastics, Inc. Avidia Bank Bartholomew & Company, Inc. Bay State Savings Bank The Berry Group of Wells Fargo Advisors Central One Federal Credit Union Columbia Tech Data Source, Inc. Davis Publications, Inc. Fiduciary Investment Advisors, LLC Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C. Idea Agency (previously smith&jones) Mercier Electric Company, Inc. Merril l Lynch / The O'Brien Group Miles Press, Inc. Mirick O'Connell Russell Morin Fine Catering J.S. Mortimer, Inc. New England Disposal Technologies, Inc. PENTA Communications, Inc. Pepper's Fine Catering Perfect Focus Eyecare Carol Seager Associates, Inc. Seder and Chandler, LLP SpencerBANK Sullivan Benefits Virtusa Corporation Thomas J. Woods Insurance Agency, Inc. Worcester County Memorial Park FRIENDS $500+ Burr Insurance Agency, Inc. Butler-Dearden Checkerboard Ltd. Coghlin Electrical Contractors, Inc. Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. Cutler Capital Management, LLC George's Coney Island Leadership Transitions F.W. Madigan Company, Inc. Marr Oil Heat Co., Inc. Marsh Law, LLC MSW Financial Partners NAI Glickman, Kovago & Jacobs Northwood Insurance Agency, Inc. The Protector Group, a Marsh & McLennan Agency Company Quaker Special Risk Joffrey Smith Financial Group Sotheby's Struck Catering Sullivan, Garrity & Donnelly Insurance Agency, Inc. Sunshine Sign Company, Inc. Wings Over Worcester As of January 22, 2016 < Yuan Dynasty (13-14th century), detail, Chinese, Head of a Guanyin, 1260-1368, wood, polychrome and gold leaf, 1932.15 WAM B U S I N E S S PA R T N E R Together we make a difference for Worcester. WORCESTER ART MUSEUM THANK YOU BUSINESS PARTNERS D O N O R S $2,500+ J.J. Bafaro, Inc. Herbert E. Berg Florist, Inc. CCR Wealth Management, LLC Christie's Commerce Bank Country Bank Foley Incorporated Revelation Productions, Inc. Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. Waters Corporation Webster Five WorkCentral M E M B E R S $1,000+ AAFCPAs Avidia Bank Bartholomew & Company, Inc. Bay State Savings Bank BenefitsLab - Health Insurance Solutions The Berry Group of Wells Fargo Advisors Central One Federal Credit Union Columbia Tech Data Source, Inc. Davis Publications, Inc. Fiduciary Investment Advisors, LLC Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C. Idea Agency (previously smith&jones) Mercier Electric Company, Inc. Merrill Lynch / The O'Brien Group Miles Press, Inc. Mirick O'Connell Russell Morin Fine Catering J.S. Mortimer, Inc. New England Disposal Technologies, Inc. PENTA Communications, Inc. Pepper's Fine Catering Perfect Focus Eyecare Carol Seager Associates, Inc. Seder and Chandler, LLP SpencerBANK Sullivan Benefits Thomas J. Woods Insurance Agency, Inc. Worcester County Memorial Park F R I E N D S $500+ Burr Insurance Agency, Inc. Butler-Dearden Checkerboard Ltd. Coghlin Electrical Contractors, Inc. Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. Cutler Capital Management, LLC George's Coney Island Leadership Transitions F.W. Madigan Company, Inc. Marr Oil Heat Co., Inc. Marsh Law, LLC MSW Financial Partners Northwood Insurance Agency, Inc. The Protector Group, a Marsh & McLennan Agency Company Quaker Special Risk Joffrey Smith Financial Group Sotheby's Struck Catering Sullivan, Garrity & Donnelly Insurance Agency, Inc. Sunshine Sign Company, Inc. Wings Over Worcester As of October 16, 2015 Together we make a difference for Worcester. Join us! Contact Karmen Bogdesic: 508.793.4326 / karmenbogdesic@worcesterart.org / worcesterart.org/business-partners WORCESTER ART MUSEUM / 55 Salisbury Street / Worcester, MA 01609 / 508.799.4406 $20,000+ Unum $10,000+ AbbVie Fallon Health People's United Bank Saint-Gobain Skinner Auctioneers The TJX Foundation, Inc. United Bank Foundation Massachusetts S P O N S O R S $5,000+ Bowditch and Dewey, LLP Cole Contracting, Inc. Fletcher Tilton PC FLEXcon Company, Inc. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Imperial Distributors, Inc. Interstate Specialty Products, Inc. National Grid Reliant Medical Group Tufts Health Plan Medicare Preferred UniBank Worcester Business Journal Left: Hassan Hajjaj, Mr Toliver (detail), 2010, Metallic lambda print on 3mm white dibond, 53 1/2h x 39 5/8w in, 136h x 100.5w cm, Courtesy of the Newark Museum WORCESTER ART MUSEUM WBJ-BPad-JAN2016_Layout 1 1/25/16 4:23 PM Page 1 No longer united, Cumberland and Gulf eye revenue growth BY LIVIA GERSHON Special to the Worcester Business Journal B A N K I N G & F I N A N C E << Ron Sabia, chief strategy officer, Gulf Oil LP

• Cover