Why Are There Two Different Types of Cumberland Farms Stores in Maine?

An odd thing has happened in recent years to Cumberland Farms, which first came to Maine in the 1970s. Have you ever noticed that there are two designs and two logos for these convenience stores?

According to cumberlandfarms.com, the stores trace their roots to 1939 in Cumberland, Rhode Island, not Cumberland, Maine, as you might think.

Founders Vasilios and Aphrodite Haseotes ran a dairy farm that gradually converted into a retail dairy store, and eventually into a full-blown convenience store named Cumberland Farms.

The different Cumberland Farms stores exist due to a combination of historical evolution, a focused rebranding strategy, and acquisition by a larger company.

For decades, the older "legacy" stores with a navy blue and orange color scheme and a basic convenience model existed alongside newer, "next-generation" stores. The older locations were often on smaller parcels and simply could not be updated with the larger footprint and expanded offerings of the new design. So they've become a bit like looking back in time.

In 2019, Cumberland Farms was acquired by the U.K.-based EG Group, which operates convenience store brands across the U.S.

I still have memories of when Cumberland Farms came to South Paris, Maine, where I grew up. I would ride my bike from Nichols Street to Main Street, not far from Ripley & Fletcher Ford.

In a small alcove near the front of the store, I discovered a new video game called Pac-Man and spent way too many quarters on that machine. It's rare today to see a video game in a Cumberland Farms.

Times have changed, and so has Cumberland Farms.