Mass. gas station owner opts to stop selling fuel after nearly five decades for customers’ sake

(Video: Fox News)

A Massachusetts gas station owner has opted to stop selling fuel citing the exorbitant prices he refuses to pass on to his customers.

Reynold Gladu, the owner of Ren’s Mobil Service, has been providing gas to the Amherst community for almost 50 years, but he appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to say the business is no longer sustainable.

“The reason why I’m ready to close is because of the high prices of gas that I refuse to pass on to my consumers,” Gladu told Fox News’s Tucker Carlson on Tuesday. “More than half are senior citizens that have been with me for 48 or some odd years.” he explained

Carlson turned to Gladu’s son, Jeff, who grew up around his dad’s business and now runs the operation.

“Jeff, you’ve obviously grown up around this business and now you’re in it. You talk to people who buy gas for $5 a gallon. There are a lot of people on fixed incomes in your part of Massachusetts. What does it mean to them?” he asked.

“It’s gut-wrenching. Honestly, it is. Like my dad said, I started working for my dad when I was 10 years old, just tagging along on Saturdays and on holidays and weekends and that was the highlight of my life; being side-by-side with him and being out here,”b he recounted.

He related a recent exchange he had with a customer who was widowed some years back, saying, “Most of those customers back in the late 70s, early ’80s were in their 40s and 50s and now as we’ve all moved on in our lives, now we are getting them in the twilights of their lives.”

He continued, “We had a lady come in here the other day absolutely crying because her husband died years ago. She’s never put gas in her car. She was like, ‘how do I put gas in my car?’ My dad and I, along with my son Ty have offered to take any senior citizen in our area that’s one of our customers to an additional station – one of our competitors, no doubt – to fill up their tanks because we love our customers so much.”

Jeff Gladu and his father have tried to get out of their contract with their fuel supplier, the final settlement of which remains unclear. In the meantime, they say the repair side of the business as well as their used car business will remain operational.

“It’s heartbreaking,” the younger Gladu expressed. “But we are closing the gas portion of it. Repair-wise and the used car business, we will try to keep aboard as long as we can. But the bread-and-butter for us is gas. We’ve been in a bad contract with our supplier for the last five years. We’ve asked them to get out of the contract and they are holding it above us to not let us out.”

“Now Mobil is leaning on them because of all the negative publicity that’s come from this,” he continued. “So they sent up their territory manager as well as the vice president of operations the other day to ask us how they could fix this. ‘How can we make this stop?’ My dad said ”let us out of our contract’ and they said ‘we can’t do that.’ ‘Let us give you gas a little bit cheaper than what you’re paying for it now. Maybe extend the terms of your payment for the gas, and give you some new gas pumps. How would you feel about that?’ My dad said, ‘We’re done That’s it.'”

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2 thoughts on “Mass. gas station owner opts to stop selling fuel after nearly five decades for customers’ sake

  1. Sorry, Tucker. But I call BS on this story! There has never been BIG profits in just selling gas. But (as we ALL know) there IS BIG money in car repair and used cars AND a ‘convenience store’. ALL OF WHICH HE IS KEEPING! He’s just doing the smart thing.
    He also didn’t mention how many employees he’s got besides his son. So I’m sure saving $15+ an hour per employee that he doesn’t have to pay now was also a BIG factor.
    He’s NOT some Martyr who’s looking out for the ‘old’ people. He’s just cutting a less profitable side of his business. That’s all.

    1. Here are a couple questions for you Morons that downvoted me. HowTF is him not wanting to pass along price increases, helping ‘old’ people? Never asked. Never answered. Him saying he’ll personally drive ‘old’ customers to competing gas stations, is helping them how? Never asked. Never answered. If they don’t know where/can’t find a gas station on their own… WhyTF should they be driving in the first place?
      And BTW… His story about the little old lady not knowing how to use a gas pump YEARS after her husband died… THAT sounds BS too. She was still using the same tank of gas from when her husband filled it the YEARS ago? C’mon man! Only sanctimonious Kool-Aid drinkers believe this NARRATIVE. I’m almost embarrassed for this guy to tell his little martyrdom story on national TV. But at least 4 of you believe him. That says a lot.

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