Murphy USA has named Mindy West as its first executive vice president and chief operating officer, according to a Wednesday press release. The change is one of three executive leadership shifts that will take effect on March 1.
West has been the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since 2013 and took responsibility for all fuel activities at Murphy USA in 2018. In her shift to COO, West will take responsibility for the company’s strategic initiatives, improve synergy across its brands and enhance the performance of the whole business.
“I am excited to take on this new role to harness the potential in front of us and position the Murphy USA and QuickChek brands to win in the future,” said West in the announcement.
Before the 2013 spin-off of Murphy USA from Murphy Oil Company, West also served as the parent company’s vice president and treasurer, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“Since our spin-off, Mindy has made her mark on the company’s outstanding track record of creating shareholder value as CFO and more recently leading our fuels organization to record profits,” said Andrew Clyde, president and CEO. “As we continue our trajectory and commitment to all stakeholders, she is uniquely positioned to lead and drive the next wave of advantaged growth for the business in this new and critical role.”
With West moving to COO, Murphy USA has hired Galagher Jeff to take over as executive vice president and CFO. Before taking this role, Jeff was senior vice president of finance and strategy and chief transformation officer for discount retailer Dollar Tree for a little under a year. He has also worked in a number of finance and merchandising roles for Walmart and Advance Auto Parts, including spending two years as CFO of Walmart’s e-commerce branch.
Murphy USA also elevated Chris Click from senior vice president of strategy and development to executive vice president of strategy, growth and innovation. He will take over responsibility for asset development and digital transformation.
These changes come as Murphy USA looks to rebound from what it considered a disappointing 2023 in terms of store growth. In its fourth-quarter earnings call, Clyde noted Murphy intends to add between 30 and 35 new convenience stores to its network this calendar year — a bump from the 28 it added in 2023. He also said the company plans to renovate 50 of its 2,800-square-foot locations to a new design based on data from QuickChek.
El Dorado, Arkansas-based Murphy USA operates more than 1,700 c-stores in 27 states, including 1,577 Murphy USA and Murphy Express locations and 156 QuickChek stores.
