Best of Both Worlds

By Mehgan Belanger

During a phone conversation last summer with Cumberland Farms CFO Stephen Winslow, Joe Petrowski, then-CEO of the retail chain's sister company, Gulf Oil, discovered Cumberland Farms hadn't borrowed money on its revolving line of credit, and its interest costs year-over-year had gone down. Meanwhile, Petrowski was "bemoaning" Gulf's rising interest costs and contemplating what to do if oil were to reach $200 per barrel.

"It starts to dawn on you as chief executive that in the future, if we can have more coordination between the two companies from a financial perspective, it would be a good thing," Petrowski said.

That phone call gave birth to the idea for Gulf and Cumberland Farms to streamline management and collaborate on operations.

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