Business Spotlight: Gas station continues 50-year service tradition

It's a hot summer day, and a customer has just pulled up to the gas pump at Sanders Amoco. A station attendant comes out and signals the driver to stay put and then starts pumping their gas.

"We still wait on everybody, even if they pull up to the self-service island," said Lynn Sanders.

Now in its 50th year of business, Sanders Amoco is one of the last full-service gas stations in Springfield.

Lynn Sanders runs the business, which was started by his father V. M. "Sandy" Sanders and his uncle Russell Stout.

When the station opened in 1946, it was near the heart of city. At the time, you could find more than 400 gas pumps in the city, according Sanders, and the competition was fierce. To attract more customers, Sanders Amoco stayed open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Stout ran the night shift. However, he soon realized that he didn't enjoy working nights, and in 1947, he sold his interest in the business to Sanders.

During the station's 50-year history, it hasn't moved from its location at the corner of Glenstone Avenue and St. Louis Street, but it has expanded. In 1996, a reckless driver drove into the building next to Sander's Amoco, and the building caught fire. Although the service station escaped relatively unscathed, the building next door was a total loss.

Rather than rebuild, Sanders approached the owner and asked if he could rent the space to expand the service station. The owner agreed and built several service bays, which allowed Sanders to take on simple car repair work.

One of Sanders' four full-time employees serves as the station's mechanic now. The remaining employees tend to the never-ending stream of customers who frequent the station.

"We have a low turnover rate here, which is unusual," Sanders said. "My father and I have always tried to treat everyone the same, and we believe in treating people with respect. When you do that, you hang on to good people. We had one employee, Alvin Sharp, who worked here for 45 years."

Sanders himself has been working at the service station since high school. During the 28 years he's been with the business, he's weathered some dramatic changes.

By the 1960s, it was no longer profitable for Sanders Amoco to stay open 24 hours a day seven days a week. Now, the station is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and is closed on Sundays.

During the 1970s, Sanders and his father struggled through the fuel crisis.

In the 1980s, they managed to keep things going through an economic recession, and in the 1990s, they worked hard to keep up with a slew of new environmental regulations that were handed down by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Now, Sanders is facing two major challenges. His father has suffered several strokes and now has only a minimal role in the business.

In addition, British Petroleum recently bought out Amoco. According to Sanders, British Petroleum may decide to drop small independent service stations such as Sanders Amoco, if the company decides they don't fit their corporate image.

Should that happen, Sanders would be forced to change the station's name and start using another gas supplier.

Still, Sanders said the good outweighs the bad. He truly enjoys his work, and every day, he gets to visit with customers. Some customers have been coming to the station even before he was born.

He also gets to meet people from other areas of the United States, as well as many European tourists, who are drawn to the station because it sits on historic Route 66.

"I talked to a German man once, and he told me that it's every German's dream to drive Route 66," Sanders said. "I think wanting to sightsee along Route 66 is more popular in Europe than it is here."