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2009-11-07

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2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Wednesday, June 03, 2009 12:06 PM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

A sign hangs Tuesday on the door of Ottawa’s Phillips 66 station, 226 W. 23rd St. The sign advises would-be customers to call a phone number, if they have any questions about the station’s recent closing. Joy Cronin, former co-owner of the store, said she was notified Monday that the gas station, owned by Crescent Oil, would be one of six stores closed in the area.

Former owners of closed Phillips 66 station praise customers’ loyalty

By JENALEA MYERS, Herald Staff Writer

Ottawa’s Phillips 66 had many loyal customers, its former owners said.

“We appreciate the loyalty and patronage of the people that were regular customers,” Joy Cronin, former co-owner of the store at 226 W. 23rd St., said. “The local people in Ottawa were very supportive.”

Cronin said she was notified Monday that the store, owned by Crescent Oil, would be one of six stores closed in the area.

“We waited until the warmer season,” Mike West, Crescent Oil regional manager, said of closing the Ottawa store. “We saw the store wasn’t going to make it and had to make a decision.”

The company and its subsidiaries, based in Independence, Kan., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February.

Cronin and her husband, Tim, became owners of the store last June but opted to sell it back to Crescent in late January, just weeks before the company’s bankruptcy protection filing.

“It just wasn’t profitable for us,” Cronin said.

The store had seven employees, she said. Cronin served as a full-time manager for the store after selling it back to Crescent.

West said the six stores chosen were the least profitable.

“If you can’t make money, you can’t stay there,” he said.

Since Crescent’s bankruptcy, the local Phillips 66 had experienced times in which it did not have gasoline, Cronin said.

“We’re just really disappointed that it didn’t work out the way we planned,” she said.

Crescent is a wholesale supplier of Conoco-Phillips, Shell, Valero and British Petroleum gasoline.

Established in 1987, Crescent Oil was bought in October by Richardson, Texas,-based Titan Global Holdings Inc.

Cronin said she and her husband are grateful for the Ottawa store’s patrons.

“We do appreciate the people who stuck in there with us and were loyal supporters,” she said.

Jenalea Myers can be e-mailed at jmyers@ottawaherald.com.

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Former owners of closed Phillips 66 station praise customers’ loyalty

By JENALEA MYERS, Herald Staff Writer

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.