Debi Boffa, who was appointed as TravelCenters of America’s CEO-designate in May, begins her tenure on Sept. 1. She succeeds Jonathan Pertchik, who has held the CEO position since 2019.
“Debi brings a wealth of experience in the retail convenience space with a proven ability to integrate businesses while driving growth,” said Greg Franks, senior vice president of mobility and convenience Americas at bp. “TA has a national footprint that provides fuel and services for both professional drivers and passenger car guests while on the road. This network will be critical as we adapt to meet customer’s evolving needs for electric vehicles, biofuels and hydrogen. Debi is a trusted leader, and I look forward to her leading TA into the future as part of bp.”
Debi has more than 25 years of experience with bp, which purchased TA in May. She has worked across many sectors, including engineering, retail, sales, marketing and operations. Most recently, Debi served as president of both bp’s Retail Operating Organization and Thorntons LLC, leading the integration of bp’s ampm business with Thorntons while concurrently overseeing the operations of more than 1,200 convenience stores nationwide.
In 2021, bp named Boffa vice president of convenience for the Americas, to lead the Thorntons convenience-store network. Prior to that, Boffa was managing director for bp New Zealand, among other positions, and in managerial roles at bp Australia.
Then in May, BP Products North America Inc. completed its $1.3 billion acquisition of Westlake, Ohio-based TravelCenters of America Inc.
“I am excited to lead TA through its next chapter as a new member of the bp family of brands,” said Boffa. “We have strong growth opportunities and I look forward to working with our team members to provide guests with the fuel, food, truck maintenance and other expert services they are accustomed to, while adapting to their changing needs and supporting them at every stage of their decarbonization journey.”
And as bp assigns new leadership for TravelCenters of America (TA), a new structure for the company is beginning to take shape.
Franks told CSP in an exclusive interview that bp America will maintain TA as a “fourth business engine,” with the other three being U.S. Mobility—the jobber and dealer branded business—Mexico Mobility and U.S. Convenience, which includes the ampm and Thorntons convenience-store chains.
- bp is No. 7 and TravelCenters of America is No. 29 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by company-owned store count.
TA, a publicly traded, full-service travel center network, has 281 locations in 44 states and Canada, principally under the TA, Petro Stopping Centers and TA Express brands. Offerings include diesel and gasoline fuel, truck maintenance and repair, full-service and quick-service restaurants, travel stores, car and truck parking and other services. The company operates more than 600 full-service and quick-service restaurants and nine proprietary brands.