By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — Alexis Traylor drove past a gas station on Riverside Boulevard selling fuel for $4.88 cents per gallon Tuesday in hopes of finding a place where she could save just a few cents more.
She lucked into a much better deal.
Just a few hundred yards down the road, the Loves Park Shell was rolling back its prices in celebration of its grand opening at 6480 E. Riverside Blvd. Its price was $4.24 per gallon, or $4.19 if you pay with cash.
“Anytime I find anything that’s a little cheaper it makes me very happy now,” she said of handling this summer’s high gas prices. “It really has been adding up.”
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It was a great deal for Traylor, but if she had arrived just a few minutes later she would’ve found prices even cheaper. Just before 1 p.m. Tuesday, the station rolled back its fuel prices to $3.99 per gallon with cash or $4.04 with credit. But the deal only lasts until 4 p.m.
“One lady said, ‘Is this for real?’ I go, ‘Only from 10 to 4,'” said Barb Nolan, sales marketing and operations specialist for Parent Petroleum, Shell’s wholesale fuel supplier. “You will not see that every day.”
The average price of gasoline in Rockford hasn’t been below $4 per gallon since late February, according to GasBuddy data. The average stood at $4.84 per gallon on Monday.
The station has been open for roughly six months after the site was vacant for approximately four years. The cheap prices were a means to attract new customers and reward those who have been purchasing gas there the past six months.
Shell is also giving away hot dogs, pizza and brats, and there are entries for other prizes. The station will eventually add video gambling machines and “they want to expand their food offerings,” Nolan said.
“This gas station will be an ideal place to shop for general merchandise and gas with competitive prices in the area” Loves Park Shell Owner Jills Mathai said. “Our motive is to get the customer satisfaction to a new level where everyone will be 100% happy with the services we are providing.”
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City and county officials joined with the Parks Chamber of Commerce around noon on Tuesday to mark the grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“This location has been vacant for a long time and I’m really happy that this organization was able to step up and fill this up,” Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury said. “I’m sure it will do really well. It’s one of the busier streets in the area, and the Shell team will do great. The city’s excited about it.”
Illinois Department of Transportation daily traffic estimates show roughly 23,000 vehicles pass by the station each day.
Michael Johnson said he didn’t notice the cheap prices when he pulled into Shell on Tuesday. He was there because the station rests smack-dab in the middle of his commute.
“This is my go-to gas station,” he said. “They were closed for awhile. They reopened. So now I’m back.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas
