Kwik Fill

Being from Long Island, it took me a solid 5 minutes waiting in my vehicle when I first moved up here to realize that they do not pump gas for you in WNY! Bummer. I immediately purchased, «Gas gloves» for the winter time and I’ve become used to the idea. I was very surprised as I was driving on Niagara Street, crossing my fingers that I don’t run out of gas in the middle of road, to see a Full Service Gas Station and for an exceptionally reasonable price. This station was 4 cents less than ones on Elmwood and Delaware. A gentleman immediately came out to assist me, it was hassle free and nice not to have to get out and pump it myself. There were no other cars at this station either so I didn’t have to wait long. Not too shabby!

One of the last full-​serve stations I know of in the city, this place is a godsend on freezing-​cold mornings when you just can’t bear to stand out in the cold. I do not envy the fellows whose job it is to stand out there in my stead – but they always seem cheerful and the service (even when lines are long) is reliably quick. When things aren’t too busy, they’ll usually clean – or scrap the ice off – your windows as well!

Okay, so it’s weird to LIKE a gas station when you are obsessed with recycling and trying super hard to be green, but as someone who finds the mass transit in Buffalo impractical (ridiculous waits, poor service, double or triple the travel time of a car, inconsistent arrivals, unsanitary, not practical for night hours, and frankly not much cheaper than owning my beater and paying gas/​insurance when I only live 5 miles from my job) I’m really lucky to have this place so close to home. It is so close I literally pass it almost every day on may to or from work, so zero time or gas is wasted going there. Why you ask, closeness aside, am I excited about this gas station?
a) They pump your gas for you, rain or shine, snow or extreme heat — obviously this provides a serious amount of creature comfort. It also means the station employs WAY more people from the community than a tiny office with self-​service pumps attached. In an area with limited employment and a lot of young folks, this is a great deal — they don’t care if employees have tattoos, piercings, what color, age or dress style you are, etc, only that you are friendly, professional and fast at the pumps (one bad experience, ever, out of like 100 times coming here). I’m generally not too worried about my ‘hood — Black Rock — as I’ve never had a problem out walking, even at night — but I know businesses can be dicey after dark as they attract criminals who know people will be getting in and out of cars with money (be it quicky marts, ATMs, the grocery store, etc). A 5’2″ woman like myself will get out with her credit card at 10pm, alone, in a semi-​darkened parking lot, as that is when I am usually getting gas due to my work schedule, but it’s pretty awesome when I don’t have to.
b) They are one of the cheapest stations in town, and THE cheapest within two miles of me. A quick check of
— a gas pricing website that will show you a station of your choice and its closest competitors — Kwik Fill was cheaper by 9 cents a gallon than its physically closest competitor and 3 cents a gallon cheaper than its closest-​priced competitor. Driving to the other side of town to get gas at Delta Sonic (which is insanely crowded, not American-​made gas and I have to pump it myself) mostly defeats the purpose of getting a cheaper rate (and the only thing less green than driving the car is driving it needlessly farther to get slightly cheaper gas).
c) Then there’s this little ditty from their site: «The Kwik Fill /​Red Apple convenience store chain is owned and operated by United Refining Company based in Warren, PA. URC uses no overseas crude oil to produce its petroleum products… only 100% North American crude oil… refined right here in Pennsylvania. When you buy URC gasoline at Kwik Fill, you can be assured that your money is not going overseas. This benefits 2300 Kwik Fill employees in NY, PA, and OH and the communities in which they, and you, live. By helping local businesses and economies, we keep jobs in America and keep America strong.» Okay, so drilling the US isn’t awesome, but it’s also not cool to say «I want cheap gas, but some other country can suffer with the environmental backlash of the drilling» especially when a lot of said countries will not have the worker protection and environmental standards the US does for drilling. Providing American jobs is super awesome, especially in the NY/​PA region. So, ultimately, points here.
d) They keep the lot absurdly clean — litter is a huge problem to me in B-​lo, in almost every ‘hood, rich or poor. You regularly see guys out walking, broom and dust-​pan-​on-​a-​stick in hand, just sweeping the lot and the buildings are kept up and clean inside.
So, let’s see. Provides more jobs to the community at the pump and more in the region at the production level. Cheaper than all competitors while still providing a quality product and service. Let’s me be lazy and comfortable. Check, check and check. They lose a star for the barren appearance of the lot — I would love to see something more Wegmans/​Allentown Trading-​esque with landscaping and lot usage. They could also implement a «no idling» program so that waiting cars have to shut off their engine, as I usually do.