
DATE: Monday, August 18, 1997               TAG: 9708170046

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  136 lines

SERVICE STATIONS ARE IN A FIX CHANGING CORPORATE PLANS AND GROWING COMPETITION ARE PUTTING SQUEEZE ON ONE-STOP REPAIR SHOPS.

The rear-view mirror in her van had broken and Jane Tucker wanted a quick fix.

So she took her Ford to the Thalia Exxon, one of two places in Virginia Beach where she knows the mechanics do speedy repair work at reasonable prices.

Her husband attended high school with the owner of that station and another one at Newtown and Baker roads. Over the years, her family and the owner have developed a solid relationship.

``It's hard to find a place that you can trust,'' Tucker said. ``We take all of our cars here.''

In about 30 minutes, her mirror would be restored, and she would be on her way.

The Thalia Exxon has bustled at a healthy clip of late, although the mechanics inside the garage warn of darker days ahead. The ranks of one-stop service stations, seemingly already thinned, continue to dwindle.

Exxon Co., U.S.A. - like some of its competitors - has been closing its company-owned gas station service bays and replacing them with combination convenience stores and fast-food counters. Taco Bell tacos, Subway subs and Wendy's burgers are a few of the items motorists can find at an increasing number of roadside locations nationwide.

All the while, stations such as the Thalia Exxon, built in 1965, remain as they have for years. They survive, sometimes tenuously, because they are privately owned under the brand name.

That has meant two things: Mechanics from the closing corporate shops seek jobs at the privately operated ones, and more new customers stop in because their old service stations closed.

``It helps, and it hurts,'' said Joe Loan, Thalia's service manager.``It brings me more business, but it takes me longer to help people. We used to have more same-day service. Now, we sometimes take two to three days to turn around some.''

Changes in Exxon stations abound this summer in Hampton Roads.

The company plans to reopen three area outlets by the fall - one in Norfolk and two in Virginia Beach. All three stations are being converted into varieties of the company's Tiger Mart/Tiger Express stores.

Two of the locations will include car washes. All three will have fast-food service and expanded fueling stations.

Gone will be the service bays, where mechanics did everything from oil changes to major engine work.

While change has been painful for mechanics who cut their teeth on fixing Chevys and Fords while pumping gas in between, consumers have benefitted with the emergence of speciality tune-up shops that carry expensive diagnostic equipment crucial to repairing modern cars.

It's unclear what will happen to any displaced mechanics whose expertise may have been limited to basic repairs, tire rotation and a spark plug change.

``We have nothing to say on that one at this time,'' said C.B. Bunkley, a company spokesman in Houston.

He also wouldn't reveal the fast-food partners, or explain what goes into making such a decision. A written statement from the company talks only of ``site-specific'' needs.

One possible motive behind Exxon's changes: A 1994 Virginia Department of Transportation study - the most recent available - showed traffic levels on some stretches of Virginia Beach Boulevard between 56,000 and 60,000 automobiles per day.

Other area stations have already made the changes Exxon plans.

Norfolk-based Miller Oil has found success through joint ventures with Rally's, Burger King, Subway and Arby's. In fact, the company led the state in matching gas stations with with convenience stores and fast-food providers.

Miller has 42 stores, seven of which feature fast-food counters: one in Suffolk, one in Chesapeake, one in Virginia Beach, two in Newport News, one in Hampton and one in Waverly.

An eighth outlet with a Zero's on Virginia Beach Boulevard closed after failing to meet expectations, said John Walker, the company's marketing director.

``For the most part,'' he said, ``they've been a success.''

Despite some thriving competitors, don't expect all service stations to disappear in favor of combination shops.

Places such as the Thalia Exxon, the Newtown-Baker companion station and the Resort Shell, at 409 Laskin Road, have thrived by nurturing relationships with repeat customers.

The Shell's owner, Roland Scott, says he hopes he can keep his service bays open well into the next millennium - an ambitious goal for a man who has seen plenty of changes during a quarter-century in the business.

His gas stations used to be more full-service: pumping about 35 percent of gas for customers. Now, that figure is 5 percent or lower. At the same time, mechanics previously didn't have to understand much about computers to fix broken systems.

Customers don't want to pay more to have someone else pump their gas unless the weather is bad. And his mechanics, at least the lead technicians, must keep up with their training.

Some cars have more than a dozen computers, Scott said. His shop already turns away some customers because the dealers' service departments are the only places with the know-how to make certain repairs.

So Scott does what he can. He has his mechanics pick up cars at a customer's home, for instance. They bring it in for service and return it. Customers don't have to leave home.

``But that's fading away,'' Scott said.

He blames both the parent oil companies and big-volume auto parts houses, such as Merchant's Tire and Auto Centers, which can sell products and offer services at lower rates.

The oil companies squeeze local operators by raising rents, he said. Some of his competitors pay $10,000 to $12,000 in rent per month.

To pay the bills, many of them end up sharing space with fast-food outlets.

So far, Shell has kept Scott's rent around $6,000 per month. But he doesn't know how long he'll be able to hold on.

For now, like the dwindling number of like-minded local operators, he gets by on solid determination.

``As long as I'm here,'' he said, ``they won't close the bays. I hope to be here another 20 years. At least 15.'' ILLUSTRATION: DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH

The Virginian-Pilot

[Color Photos]

Thalia Exxon...

Dean Wessing...

Joe Loan, Chip Dove...

Joe Loan...

STELLAR SERVICE

The Reckling family - father Bob and son Bobby - own two Virginia

Beach Exxon stations: one at Newtown and Baker roads, the other,

Thalia Exxon, off Virginia Beach Boulevard.

Each station has surpassed nearly every competitor the past two

years in Exxon Co., U.S.A.-sponsored competitions.