THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412160218
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GREG GOLDFARB, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Atlantic Avenue's only gasoline station is back in business.
``I just wanted to get back to the Beach,'' said Jim Helms, a Cape Henry Shores resident and owner of Jim's Atlantic Avenue Exxon. ``I have great friends here.''
Helms reopened the station Dec. 5 at Atlantic Avenue and 31st Street after the state took possession of it Aug. 3. Its previous owner, James A. Crocker Jr., allegedly failed to pay $5,369 in state business taxes.
Crocker, who operated the station for 15 years, could not be reached for comment. A state tax agent said that the state's case against him has not been resolved.
Helms owned Jim's Shell at Laskin Road and Baltic Avenue for 20 years before he ``traded'' it three years ago for Old Dominion Shell, near Old Dominion University on Hampton Boulevard. He has been in the service station business since 1970, he said.
The seaside station has four service bay areas, but they will be converted into a convenience store by May, Helms said.
Before reopening the station, Helms spent about $10,000 on improvements, he said, including landscaping, painting, new pump hoses and nozzles, and lighting. The station has four pumps, 24 fuel hoses and can refuel up to eight cars at a time.
The $1.2 million Exxon property, which is slightly less than a half-acre, is valued at $700,000, and the building is assessed at $226,540, according to Carolyn Moss, commercial supervisor in the city assessor's office.
Consumer gasoline prices will probably rise in the near future, Helms said, the result of declining profits over the past few years.
``They're (gasoline prices) on the move now. You'll see a rise in cost,'' the Missouri native said. ``It's been tough. Our profits are down half of what they were four years ago. But, it's getting better.'' by CNB