FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- A group of convenience stores in several Northeast states are among the retail sites that Cumberland Farms Inc. is divesting because the locations no longer meet the company's needs.
"While these are sites that don't fit our current strategic plans," said Joseph Petrowski, chief executive officer of The Cumberland Gulf Group, "they have served us well over the years and will be excellent locations for the right buyers."
As reported yesterday in a Raymond James/CSP Daily News Flash, the 20 properties--18 operating and closed c-stores and two retail development sites--are located in a variety of urban and suburban markets in eight states--six properties each in Massachusetts and New York, two in Rhode Island and Maine and one each in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
Sixteen of the sites are convenience stores with gasoline, two are convenience stores without gasoline and two are land-only development sites. The buildings average 2,150 square feet and the average lot size is approximately 28,000 square feet.
All are fee properties and the sale includes the underlying real estate.
The company has retained NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC, Chicago, to handle the sale. Bidders will be afforded the opportunity to bid on operating and closed c-stores with or without fuel supply.
"We are excited to have the opportunity to work with Cumberland Farms and its management team," said Dennis L. Ruben, executive managing director of NRC. "This sale provides great opportunities for qualified buyers. Anyone currently operating in or interested in these markets should take a serious look at the portfolio. Some of the sites should also be of interest to buyers outside the retail petroleum and c-store sectors."
The properties will be sold using NRC's "buy one, some or all" sealed-bid sale process. It anticipates that it will formally launch the sale on May 15, when additional details about all properties will be available on the NRC website. Property-specific packages (PSP) will be available the first week of June, with a bid deadline of July 12, 2012. Interested parties may view a complete site list and register online for sale updates at www.NRC.com/1203.
NRC provides an array of real-estate and financial advisory services to the c-store and petroleum industries, and specializes in the accelerated sale of commercial and residential real estate. Its experience includes portfolio evaluation and analysis; refinancing, recapitalization and sale-leaseback financing options; and merger and acquisition advisory services. Since its inception in 1989, NRC has sold more than 10,000 properties. Clients include globally recognized companies in a variety of industries, including petroleum (BP, Shell and Sunoco), c-stores (The Pantry and Circle K) and financial institutions (GE Capital and StanCorp) among others.
In other company news, during the month of May, Cumberland Farms will be raising funds to benefit Children's Hospital Boston through the retailer's Pediatric Care Campaign. Participating stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will donate five cents per cup from its iced coffee sales to benefit the medical center. An event to mark the kickoff to the fundraiser will take place on May 4 at a Cumberland Farms store in Bridgewater, Mass.
Framingham, Mass.-based Cumberland Farms. is the fifteenth largest independent convenience store operator in the United States with 589 convenience store locations. The company has a market-leading position throughout the Northeast as well as a significant presence in the Mid-Atlantic region and Florida. Cumberland Farms is parent company to Gulf Oil LP, one of the largest wholesalers of refined petroleum products in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The Cumberland Gulf Group is a strategic amalgamation of Cumberland Farms and Gulf Oil. It is a privately held, family-owned and managed company that includes real estate and mid-stream gasoline operations. The Cumberland Gulf Group serves approximately 3,300 stations within its geographic area. These stations sell more than 2.8 billion gallons of motor fuels annually. In 2011, The Cumberland Gulf Group generated approximately $13 billion of sales.
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