Cumberland Farms Review: Is This A Legit Company?
When it comes to the retail industry and the rise of convenience stores in the USA, Cumberland Farms had one of the biggest impacts of all time. A pretty old convenience store chain and dealer of gas, they have become pretty popular nationally over 80+ years of business.
Learn more about the company by giving this post a read till the end.
What Is Cumberland Farms?
Cumberland Farms was established in 1938 when Vasilios Haseotes and Aphrodite Haseotes bought a cow farm in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Soon, this farm developed and expanded to become the largest cow and dairy farm in Southern New England.
After their expansion, they opened their first dairy products store in 1958 in Bellingham, Massachusets. Soon afterward, they also opened their first chain of convenience stores in 1962. These stores were opened in several locations in the northeastern states of the USA.
As their business flourished more, the siblings soon turned their eyes toward the oiling businesses. This led to the establishment of the Gulf Oil company in 1993. Here, Cumberland Farms gas prices own two-thirds of this partnership business. This happened soon after they received the rights to sell Gulf oil in the USA. However, the company sold all its stock of Gulf Oil in 2016.
However, the great recession of 2008 soon rocked the business. By 2010, the company had to sell off almost 90 stores across 61 locations. The company’s management reported that they had to close off these stores to retain some capital and gain some funding. This was done to push these funds towards the creation iof newer stores and empower already established ones. These shutdowns mostly targeted stores in Florida to build new ones on the East Coast.
Ads With “The Hoff” And “Nature Boy”
The sales and revenues of Cumberland Farms were mostly credited to their well-planned advertising programs.
In the 1960s, the company launched its most successful ad campaign. These ads had a very catchy jingle created by guitarist Brad Delph. This led to Brad becoming popular as well, leading to the creation of one of the greatest rock bands – Boston.
In the 1990s, they used famous Hollywood star – “The Hoff” – David Hasselhoff in their ads. His involvement in these ads boosted the popularity of the firm, leading to higher footfall in their stores.
In 2018. The company started using famous WWE wrestler – the “Nature Boy” – Ric Flair, in their ad TV campaigns. This also proved to be a good decision to increase football and the sales of the firm.
Buyout By EG Group
In July 2019, Cumberland Farms declared that British retail company EG Group had entered into a binding agreement. This agreement was made to take over the firm. By the end of the year, the purchase was legalized, and Cumberland Farms became officially owned by EG Groups. However, all the stores of the firm have still retained the Cumberland Farm name.
Cumberland Farms Corporate Image
Cumberland Farms has had two distinct corporate and branding phases till now.
When the company first started rising, its logo had Navy blue and Orange colors. Here, the company was branded as having legacy stores all over the USA. The stores were old and reeked of an aura of heritage and of the days gone.
However, in 2009, the company went through a phase of rebranding itself. This was deemed necessary at the time to keep up with modern marketing standards and other rising convenience store chains.
In 2009, the logo was changed to now incorporate navy blue and green colors (the orange color was completely removed). This signified their change towards a more modern approach with new AIM stores.
Products And Services Offered By Cumberland Farms
Cumberland Farms offer various food products and an assortment of other products in their convenience stores.
They offer fresh food like sandwiches, pizza, roller grills, and subway burgers. In addition, they also offer a number of processed and packaged food like snacks, candies, and various chilled drinks. These fall under the category of “Chill Zone” food items.
When it comes to branded food items, the company sells varieties of coffee, pastries, chips, and candies.
Cumberland Farms SmartPay Rewards
Cumberland Farms teamed up with SmartPay Rewards to allow members iof the latter to avail discounts at the former’s stores. However, this is only available at the firm’s gas stations.
With Cumberland Farms SmartPay App, you can get various facilities like curbside and pump side pickups. This will allow gas stations to deliver fuel to your doorstep or any convenient place you earn the fuel to be delivered to you.
In addition, you can also pay directly using the SmartPay app. Therefore, you can easily skip payment lines and pin pads!
However, this has its limitations. You are limited to 7 daily transactions upto $150 per day. On a weekly basis, this gets extended to 35 transactions upto $500.
Cumberland Farm Reviews
A Store Manager of Cumberland Farms gave a 3-star review. Here’s what he said:
“As a store manager, you’re responsible for every aspect of the store’s operations. They allow you to have shift leaders, but they don’t give you an adequate amount of time to actually train them (6hrs for training on shift with at least eight things to train on?). Hours to train employees are given a lot, however, extra duties such as opening and closing are considered to be trained after the fact, and you don’t get extra hours for that training. You’re required to work at least 48hrs but can work upwards of 70-80hrs without compensation after the first 48.”
A General Services Head of Cumberland Farms gave a 2-star review. Here’s what he said:
“This company wasn’t terrible to work for before EG America bought them out. Since then, we’ve lost at least 80 payroll hours which severely limits what we can do, while adding more work for us to do. The overall quality of the products we serve has been drastically reduced too.”
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):
People interested in learning more about Cumberland Farms asked various questions on the internet. The answers to some of their questions are:
➥ As of November 2022, there are 586 Cumberland Farm stores all over the USA. However, the federal state of Massachusetts has the highest number of stores. They have a total of 214 stores.
➥ As of November 2022, there are approximately 50 Cumberland Farms stores in Florida. However, four more are set to open in Brevard County, central Florida.
➥ Since there are 586 Cumberland Farm stores in the US, most of them have the Smartpay Check-Link application. You simply have to ask the receptionists at the counter whether you can use SmartPay there or not.
➥ No, the company is not an American-owned firm. It’s owned by British-based EG Group. However, it was initially an American company till 2019 before being bought by EG Groups.
Conclusion
Cumberland Farms have helped explain to Americans the “way of the convenience store.” With more than 580 convenience stores all across the USA and many gas stations, they have created their own legacy in the USA. This also included famous superstars like The Hoff and The Nature Boy appearing in their ads as well! However, the company is now owned by EG Groups.
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