The Town Pump Convenience Store and Lucky Lil’s Casino at 703 North Main Street in Boulder opened to the public Wednesday, two days after the store’s original opening date.
Braedon and Randy, a pair passing through Boulder, were two who came to visit. Braedon said he had never seen self-checkout lines in a gas station before, and thought it was “cool.”
Braedon and Randy were greeted at Town Pump Wednesday morning by a smiling face and the phrase “No gas, but you can go in the store!” Fortunately, however, workers completed the switch to new fuel tanks by early afternoon.
In addition to swapping fuel tanks, the new Town Pump building will provide drivers with fuel through Conoco rather than Exxon. Bill McGladdery, spokesman for the Town Pump Charitable Foundation, said there was no incentive to make the switch other than diversifying the fuel market in the area. According to McGladdery, most Town Pumps in the Butte area use Exxon mobile and switching to Conoco will help spread some of the brands across the state.
While the parking lot is still full of heavy machinery and all the shelves in the new store have yet to be stocked, the new 14.437 square-foot building opened at 8 a.m. “We’re … just pushing to get the new building open as summer traffic increases,” McGladdery said. “We just think the community is going to be wowed with our product offering and what we’re able to do.”
Inside the new store customers will find a wider product selection and the self-checkout lanes Braedon noted. McGladdery said implementing the self-checkout lanes is part of the brand’s beta testing to see how customers like them. Town Pump locations in the Bozeman area have used this feature for over a year now, he said.
The rush to open the store by Wednesday also stems from pressure caused by the demolition deadline for the former building, McGladdery said. On Monday morning, staff will begin removing equipment from the original Town Pump. On June 29, work to demolish the building will start.
“The process should only take a couple of days. It includes hauling debris to the dump,” McGladdery added.
Town Pump has yet to determine a date for the new store’s grand opening, but expects to do one in the next “week or so” to thank the customers.
