New Management

My name is Joe Giacobbi and I am the new operator of the Irving Gas station at 3302 East Main Road. My family and I built the gas station four years ago and since then there has been much uncertainty surrounding the property in the eyes of residents of the town. The property itself has been in our family for over 50 years. Ownership began with my grandmother and she leased it to my father when he graduated from college in 1974. At that time, the property consisted of a 2-bay service station with 4 fueling positions for gasoline. My father, mother, and brother lived in a mobile home behind the station that he ran for 12 years before deciding to work for a different part of the fuel industry. Once he left, my grandmother began leasing it to other independent operators until her death in 2005. As part of her estate settlement, my family chose to purchase the property from my father's remaining siblings. It was a very big eye sore for the town and as a result, we developed the property into how you see it today. We put a lot of hard work and effort into its construction and the new venture opened in June of 2010 for business. At the time, I was studying finance at Providence College and my father chose to run the business as well as continue to perform his duty as a territory sales representative for New England's largest fuel distributor. He ran the business for a year and during that time, the building was home to tenants such as Honey Dew Donuts, Bossman Burgers, and a few deli/sandwich shops. After a year, juggling two full time jobs became too overwhelming for him and we decided to begin leasing the gas station and convenience store portion of the building to other independent operators. We built the business up to a very good starting point for someone else to take over and as a result, we have regretfully watched the past 2 tenants diminish the value of the business. The interior and exterior were not maintained for cleanliness, fuel prices were too high, and there was a shortage of stock on the shelves for customers. By diminishing the business as they did, Honey Dew Donuts, Bossman Burgers, and both delis decided to vacate the property. After all the hard work and effort we put into the project, my family and I were very disappointed in the direction it was going. Now, at age 24, with the support of my father, mother, and brother, I have decided to enter the business and take control of the entire operation. We have cleaned the interior and exterior from top to bottom and plan to maintain that level of cleanliness. We have completely renovated the inside with a newly redesigned convenience store with much more to offer consumers. We now offer coffee, fountain soda, frozen slush, milkshakes, hot dogs, pizza, and more. We plan to keep fuel prices consistently low for the town and to further stabilize the location to attract other retail ventures to enter into business with us as we have 2 open retail spots we plan to lease. Leasing out the property after my father ran it so well is a decision we deeply regret, however, I am certain that I will restore the property to where it once was. My family and I currently reside in the town and have been residents our whole lives. As there have already been so many changes within the past month, there are several more to come that will greatly benefit the residents of the town. With that being said, I appreciate your time and hope to see many of you at the store!