WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — EG Group has completed the first conversions of Tom Thumb convenience stores to the Cumberland Farms brand on the Gulf Coast. It has opened three rebranded stores and projects that it will open more than 50 rebranded locations by the end of 2022 and 50 more in 2023.
- EG America is No. 4 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.
Westborough, Mass.-based EG America, which announced the conversions in February, opened the first Tom Thumb location converted to Cumberland Farms in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The retailer will convert existing Tom Thumb stores in Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama into the company’s Northeast-based brand, in addition to developing new locations. Each new location will feature Cumberland Farms’ latest design features, updated equipment and menu items, including a menu of hot-and-ready items and Farmhouse Blend coffee.
This rebranding decision came after extensive research on market and consumer trends that projected a tremendous growth opportunity by bringing Cumberland Farms to Gulf Coast communities, the company said. In addition to the Northeast, Cumberland Farms currently operates more than 50 stores on the East Coast of Florida.
“We couldn’t be more excited to expand to a new area of the country and serve brand new guests as well as New England transplants familiar with an old favorite.” said George Fournier, president of EG America. “We have been serving guests in the east coast of Florida for many years and are looking forward to doing the same in the Gulf Coast region.”
Founded in 2001 by the Issa Family, Blackburn, U.K.-based EG Group is a gasoline forecourt and retail convenience operator with more than 6,200 sites across the United Kingdom and Ireland, Europe, the United States and Australia. In 2018, EG Group established itself in the United States as EG America by acquiring Kroger’s 762-site c-store network, which included the Turkey Hill, Loaf 'N Jug, Kwik Shop, Tom Thumb and Quik Stop banners. It acquired TravelCenters of America’s Minit Mart convenience-store business for approximately $330.8 million in 2018. The portfolio included 225 c-stores. And in 2019, among other acquisitions, EG Group acquired Cumberland Farms and its nearly 660 c-stores in the Northeast and Florida.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.