Local gas station changing hands

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A local corner store will be changing hands Tuesday. Monday is the last day the Shell gas station on the corner of Third Street and Red Cross will be Tops Mart. Long-time managers threw a farewell party Saturday to say thank you and good-bye to their loyal locals.

“It’s just the people that I’ll miss. The customers are like family” said Manager Louise Tarlton.

“We all just gonna miss Tops and the people that have been here so many years,” said long-time customer Catherine Grantham.

New employee Paul Whitehouse said, “It’s terrible that the economy is such as it is, and all of us are gonna lose our jobs. There’s people that’s worked here over twenty years, and this is all they’ve done for the past twenty years, and they have no place to go.”

“I am sorry, and I’m glad for the other people, but I’ve been here 76 years.”

“They’re really really like family. It’s so laid back here. They come get their coffee in the morning, and it’s just the same thing every day, and it just feels so comfortable being here. This was our home away from home.”