Comings and Goings: Family Ends 41 Years at Shell Station

8 thoughts on “Comings and Goings: Family Ends 41 Years at Shell Station”

1. sorry to see this, the guys there were great, very family/service oriented , rare in a gas station, good luck in the future, we appreciated your years here

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2. They were also the only emission testing site in Westport.

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3. This is sad news, both for the proprietors and for Westport. We are losing our independent repair shops. Hopefully someone else will pick up where they have left off, but again a landlord raising rents (and yes that’s free market) is changing the face of our town and our lives.

   If you remember the P&Z;hearings and the issue involving Christy’s and the change of use, the lack of service stations in Westport is a problem both in terms of cost and convenience. No new property will become a gas station, not with the environmental issues involved, but keeping one is imperative.

   Let’s keep our eyes on what will happen. If one of our boards or commissions, by law, becomes involved let’s weigh in and secure this continued use.

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4. All of this is so true.  And it’s actually TIM Purcell who owns Christy’s Garage on Cross Highway.  When we moved back to Westport, my husband was so happy to discover Klaus at Christy’s, and Tim was his protege and took over when Klaus retired to Florida.  If any former customers of Greens Farms Shell want an honest, incredibly savvy, very reasonably priced mechanic (the mechanics at Christy’s kept our Honda going for 278,000 miles), make an appointment to meet Tim at Christy’s!

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5. This is one of the saddest day of my life the closing of Greens Farms Shell. I stood on that corner for almost 42 years. Almost as long as my oldest daughter is alive. She used to call it DaDa’s Shell.

   I am very grateful for the many years and the many wonderful and interesting people we served. I should have written a book.

   I made a decision to move my customer files and my son Jonathan to Christie’s Service on Cross Hill in Westport.

   Tim came to work at Greens Farms Shell when he was 15 years old cleaning the work benches.  I believe he operates his business with the same philosophy I and my former partners Bob Small and Charlie Pancoast did. Hmm I wonder how he learned that?  I think the combination of Tim and Jonathan will serve Westport residents well.

   Everyone who did business with GFS should know that all your work records are with Jon at Christies. Any repairs that are still under our warranty will be honored by Christie’s.

   I think that would be a great incentive to continue with Jon and Tim.

   I would enjoy reading others comments and we will be following up on this story.

   Stan DiGuiseppi Sr

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6. Not a bit of doubt that Tim Purcell learned how to operate an ethical, excellent, customer-service-centered business from the owners of Greens Farms Shell, and he must be so thrilled to have Jon working with him now!  I am so sorry that Mr. DiGuiseppi decided to close but it’s great that everyone can find Jon and that warranties will be honored.  Again, what an ethical business GFS ran!

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7. Thank you Linda

   But for the record we did not decide to close station. We were evicted because we were not selling gas.

   We stopped selling gas because our cost to purchase was as high at the retail price by our competition.

   It cost approx 9,000 dollars in expenses for the employees, insurances and utilities just to pump gas. Add the cost of credit card fees of 2 percent another 2 to 4 k a month. Our gross profit on fuel was about 12 cents.
   Lets filter in the 12,000 dollar rent.

   Well … you do the math.

   We would have loved to stay. But the economics were unchangeable by the other parties involved.

   42 years was a Great Run though!!!!!

   Stan Sr

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8. GF Shell was one of the top auto service providers in town. The DiGuiseppi’s and staff were customer-oriented, extremely helpful, honest, and fair……top notch!

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