Town celebrates opening of 2nd new Cumberland Farms

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“Another opening, another show ... on Killingly Street, the store’s ready, so here we go!”

That’s what Frederick “Rick” Lauder, a Johnston resident and regional manager for Cumberland Farms, was singing under last Thursday’s sparkling sun as he welcomed Mayor Joseph Polisena and other town officials to the convenience store chain’s newest location for the official grand opening and ribbon cutting.

“This place is absolutely beautiful,” Polisena said amid a host of customers who were treated to samples of the firm’s new pizza, buffalo chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks and macaroni and cheese as his colleagues admired the inner workings of Cumberland Farms at 609 Killingly St. “This store has without question enhanced the look of the neighborhood.”

After congratulating and thanking Cumberland Farms “for investing in our community” with its second state-of-the-art store in town, Polisena presented Lauder with the proclamation.

The mayor then performed the official ribbon cutting, which also served as a kick-off for Cumberland Farms’ second unique partnership with a Johnston-based organization.

For the next month, Cumberland Farms will partner with the Johnston Recreation Department on a rather interesting fundraising drive.

The store will donate 10 cents from all dispensed beverages directly to the recreation department.

“Our goal is to raise over $1,000 for the organization,” Lauder told Polisena, Town Council members, other elected officials and invited guests. “The fundraiser will run from [Sept. 18] until Oct. 16.”

The program was the second such grand opening Cumberland Farms has done in Johnston of late. The first was at the company’s new regional headquarters located at 26432 Hartford Ave.

“We were thrilled with how successful our first partnership went,” Lauder said, noting that Cumberland Farms teamed up with J-DAPA (Johnston Dance and Performing Arts), a highly-regarded community theater group directed by Donna Tellier that continues to raise money to make renovations inside its home, the auditorium at Johnston High School.

And that month-long program resulted in the sale of 19,652 cups of coffee and other dispensed beverages in Cumberland Farms’ unique Chill Zone, a donation of $1,965.20 was made to J-DAPA.

“Look at the tremendous amount of activity this new Cumberland Farms store has already created,” Polisena said as he stood in the parking lot in front of eight fueling stations and talked to many residents and patrons about the 4,700-square-foot facility. “Thank you, Cumberland Farms, for believing and investing in our town.”

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  • Broken02919

    I have been in there twice at night, nothing but hooligans and thugs hanging out in the parking lot. In my opinion Cumbies and the Shell station on Killingly St need to have a permanent police detail. I live near the Shell and I can not tell you how many times my house is shaking due to some idiot in the Shell station with his radio blaring.

    Funny how people living off welfare can have stereo systems worth several thousand dollars????

    Thursday, October 2, 2014 Report this