Photo by Deb Gau
Steve Traen, vice president of retail at Ag Plus Cooperative, talked about the different ethanol blends available at the updated gas pumps at the Marshall Main C-Store. Ag Plus held a grand re-opening for the C-Store on Friday.
MARSHALL — The Ag Plus C-Store on East Main Street has one of the best locations in Marshall, Steve Traen said. After weeks of construction, the C-Store now has features like new gas and diesel pumps to go along with that location.
The new fuel dispensers will give customers new options, said Traen, vice president of retail at Ag Plus Cooperative. Ag Plus added more diesel dispensers, and DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) will be available at the diesel pumps, he said. The gas pumps have a variety of options for ethanol blends.
“We wanted to do it to support the farming community,” Traen said.
Ag Plus Cooperative held a grand re-opening celebration for the Marshall Main C-Store on Friday. The area outside the store had been under construction for about the past seven weeks, while upgraded fuel tanks and dispensers, as well as fresh asphalt and concrete, were put in.
Around noon on Friday, there was a steady flow of cars and trucks pulling in at the C-Store and the new gas and diesel pumps. In addition to promotions and visits from local food trucks, Ag Plus representatives said they were also celebrating with Fuel for a Cause. In October, Ag Plus was donating a half-cent for every gallon of gas pumped to breast cancer research.
Construction outside the C-Store started in early September, and wrapped up this month, Traen said.
“This project is in two phases,” he said. Originally, Ag Plus had looked at updating both the convenience store and the fuel dispensers at the Marshall Main location. But the cooperative opted to split the project up. The first phase was installing new fuel tanks and dispensers at the location, Traen said.
Construction outside the C-Store started in early September, and wrapped up this month. Closing down the fuel pumps for construction was “a little scary,” because it would affect customers, Traen said.
“When you close something down, it’s always a question whether you’re going to maintain loyalty,” Traen said.
“We tried to accommodate everyone as best we could.” However, other Ag Plus C-Stores in the area helped pick up the slack, he said.
The process of updating the Marshall Main C-Store location included work by a local business. Action Company did the concrete work at the C-Store, Ag Plus representatives said.
The new fuel pumps will give customers more options, Traen said. DEF, a product that helps reduce emissions, is now available at the diesel pumps. Traen said straight #1 diesel, which does better in cold temperatures, and straight #2 diesel were also available.
Over at the gas pumps, the dispensers had options for ethanol blends, including E15, Traen said. Having ethanol blends at the pumps was something that helped support agriculture. Blended fuels were also doing well with customers at some of Ag Plus’ other C-Store locations, he said.
Traen said Ag Plus will also be able to update the new dispensers remotely.
“Dispensers are like any other computer. They need updating,” he said. “It’s nice to see the latest technology in them.”