Having worked across several departments and seen Murphy USA transform into a public entity, Mindy West feels more than prepared to become the convenience retailer’s next CEO.
“I think I have a great background for this role,” West said during Murphy’s third-quarter earnings call on Thursday. “I grew up in this business, so I’m very familiar with our culture and the way that we do things and the way that we work.”
Murphy appointed West as the successor to Andrew Clyde on Wednesday. She’ll take over as CEO in January 2026.
West joined former parent company Murphy Oil in 1996 and helped spin off Murphy USA into its own company in 2013, after which she officially joined the newly formed organization. That experience helped prepare her to be at the head of a public company, she said on Thursday.
West became Murphy’s executive vice president, CFO and treasurer in 2017, and early last year became the convenience retailer’s first-ever chief operating officer. It wasn’t until then that West grew more familiar with Murphy’s fuel and c-store businesses — the driving force behind the company. She said she grew to understand not only Murphy’s customer base, but its employees and their needs.
“That experience really rounded me out, because now I understand absolutely the financial discipline side, the commercial aspect side, [and] that connection with the customer,” she said. “All three of those roles really did serve to round me out and prepare me in this journey to become CEO.”
West will have her work cut out for her as she assumes leadership of one of the largest c-store chains in the U.S. Murphy’s annual revenue has fallen for two years in a row, and Clyde notably called 2024 a disappointing year.
One reason behind Murphy’s difficulties has been the retailer’s new store program, which launched in late 2023. The sites are double the size of a traditional Murphy store and are built to improve traffic flow, create better queue areas and optimize food and beverage sales.
Murphy has made these stores the top priority in its retail business, and although the company has found some success with them, there have been hiccups along the way, including scheduling setbacks that hurt fuel and merchandise sales.
Financial challenges bled into the rest of the company this year, as Murphy laid off about 100 corporate team members last month as “part of a broader effort to strengthen operational effectiveness and position the company for long-term success,” a spokesperson said at the time. Earlier this month, the company’s chief financial officer resigned.
Despite these headwinds, Murphy is still all-in on its new store program. The company said on Wednesday that its board of directors “remains supportive of the ongoing commitment to continued growth” through new stores and reinvestment opportunities. The retailer said funding for some of these rebuilds will come from tax benefits associated with bonus depreciation from the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
Murphy opened eight NTIs and 11 raze-and-rebuilds during the quarter, bringing its year-to-date totals to 22 and 20, respectively, interim CFO Donnie Smith said during the retailer’s earnings call. The company said it expects to open at least 45 new stores, as well as 23 to 24 raze-and-rebuilds, through fiscal 2025.
Looking to next year, Murphy said it has 39 new stores and two raze-and-rebuilds under construction.
“All 2025 remaining raze-and-rebuild locations have commenced and additional refresh and light remodel efforts at other stores will be a focus of investment for the remainder of this year,” Clyde said in Murphy’s latest earnings report.
