Judith Moll has been going to Jonesy’s Service Center for nearly a decade, but after dropping her car off on Monday, she might never be back.

“I always come here for service,” Moll said, listing personal treatment, trustworthiness and reliability as reasons she has kept coming. “They go above and beyond to find problems and find solutions.”

As early as September, the 60-year-old Cape Elizabeth service station may no longer be operating, as Jonesy’s goes under renovation to convert to a convenience store. Owner Gregg Jones was scheduled to go before the town’s planning board for a site plan review Tuesday, after The Current’s deadline.

“I’m doing this out of necessity,” Jones said. “Doing nothing is not an option.”

Jones, 48, has worked at the gas station and service center since he was in high school, when his father, George, was the owner.

“It’s all I’ve known,” Jones said.

And many Cape Elizabeth residents could say the same in terms of having their cars repaired. Jones said many of his customers have been coming to the shop for most of the six decades it’s been open, and the children of those loyal customers have become the next generation of regulars.

“Jonesy’s is an institution in Cape Elizabeth,” said Town Manager Mike McGovern, who is also a customer.

According to McGovern, until the road was straightened in the 1960s, Jonesy’s used to sit in what is now the middle of Route 77. Still, according to Jones, the coming conversion will be “the biggest fundamental change” that the business has seen.

Changes in the industry have left Jones struggling, he said. He can no longer make money off gas when competing with other businesses that are also quick stops for groceries.

“Speed and convenience is what it’s all about,” he said.

On top of the decrease in gas sales, Jones has had a hard time finding quality mechanics to work at his shop. Together, these two factors left Jones with few choices. When he first realized he would have to make a change in order to keep the business alive, he had no interest in converting to a convenience store, but the only other option was even less appealing.

“I didn’t want to sell out to Irving,” Jones said. “I’m frustrated that it’s come to this, but I have to look out for the longevity of the business.”

Even after the $700,000 project has been completed, success is not guaranteed. Jones will still have to worry about competition from “the stores you see on every corner that I’m about to become” – including the Cumberland Farms right across the street. Jones said he hopes to offer something a little different, like freshly made sandwiches and large, clean bathrooms, in order to convince residents of Cape Elizabeth to come to his store.

The 3,600-square-foot store will be a franchise of On the Run, the line of convenience stores run by Exxon Mobil. Jones, however, said he’ll still keep his father’s nickname – Jonesy – as part of the store’s name.

“I want to keep it going as long as I can,” he said. “It’s my dad’s legacy.”

Though Jones has three children of his own – Steven, 27, Matthew, 25, and Rachel, 21 – he’s not counting on any of them to take over the business. Both sons work for Tyler Technologies in Falmouth and his daughter, who has one year left at Providence College, plans on teaching high school chemistry.

“It may be the last generation, but we’ll see,” he said.

For now, Jones is just trying to make it to his own retirement. Unlike the larger chains with several locations, all of Jones’ income comes from the store.

“The loyalty of those people is just regrettably not enough now,” he said of his regular customers. Though Jones is sorry to disappoint the people who have kept coming back, he said he will be happy to refer them to other service stations in the area and give them advice based on the kind of car they have.

Though Moll does not buy her gas at Jonesy’s, she said she will be keeping tabs on the service employees to see if they get jobs elsewhere.

“If they do, I’ll follow them,” she said. “I really like dealing with people you can know and trust and have a longstanding relationship with.”

Nancy Hancock, who has been using Jonesy’s as a service station for two decades, also comes to fill up her gas tank – like she did on Monday – and will continue to.

“Whenever we had a problem, somebody from Jonsey’s would get us out of it,” she said of when she first moved to Cape Elizabeth and had an older, unreliable car.

“I feel great loyalty to them,” Hancock said.

Switching gears, Jonesey’s converts to quick-stop store Switching gears, Jonesey’s converts to quick-stop store

Copy the Story Link