After more than a year of construction in a project that has been planned for almost four years, the second-oldest Mobil gas station in the America reopened in America’s oldest seaport on Essex Avenue this week.
In October 2022, the gas station and convenience store was fenced off so it could be demolished and the site redeveloped.
On Tuesday, the new Haffner’s Gloucester gas station and convenience store reopened at 71 Essex Ave.
The site features a much larger Mobil gas station and a two-story building with a Haffner’s “It Kicks” convenience store on the ground floor and a separate tenant of a cannabis dispensary business, Reverie 73, planned for the second floor.
Jeff Black, CEO of the family-owned Energy North Inc./Haffner’s said the project has been ongoing for more than three-and-half years. It was always the company’s desire to raze and rebuild the gas station and convenience store.
A business at a major entrance to Gloucester should be attractive, he said, and the old station did not represent the city well. Signs on Route 128 direct visitors to Gloucester Harbor via Route 133, Essex Avenue, which ends at the sea.
Due to its proximity to the Annisquam River and flooding issues, planning and permitting for the project took a long time.
While the gas station itself was relocated from Main and Washington streets across from Tally’s Corner, it’s always been a Mobil and is the second-oldest in the nation, Black said.
In 2011, Energy North, one of the largest wholesale fuel distributors in New England and upstate New York, bought the property from the Taliadoros family, he said.
Energy North offers major brands such as Exxon, Mobil, Sunoco, Gulf and Citgo, according to its website, while growing its Haffner’s and Tradewinds gas station and car wash brands. The company operates more than 70 gas stations, convenience stores, car washes and foodservice locations.
The company went through the permitting process with the city boards, the city wanted to keep the station a Mobil as it was proud of this heritage, Black said.
The new Gloucester station is similar to a prototype flagship Haffner’s opened at 425 Merrimack St. in Lawrence, he said. According to a press release and a visit to the location on Thursday, the location features a convenience store with self-checkout stations, Sal’s Pizza, a Crack’d Coffee Bar, and a state-of-the-art Beer Cave.
For those looking to pick up a loaf of the “bread of the fishermen” on the way home, the convenience store also features a display filled with fresh bread and pizza and pasta sauces from Gloucester’s Main Street mainstay, Virgilio’s Italian Bakery, Deli and Groceria.
Black is also the owner of a separate company that will be a tenant on the second floor of the convenience store, the Reverie 73 cannabis dispensary. The dispensary has already obtained a special permit to operate from the city. It is scheduled to open in late February or early March as long as things go according to plan, he said.
The first Reverie 73 opened in Lowell in 2022 and Black plans to open a third cannabis dispensary in Beverly on Rantoul Street in the second quarter of 2024.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@gloucestertimes.com.
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2023-12-21 23:11:00Z
CBMilQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5nbG91Y2VzdGVydGltZXMuY29tL25ld3MvcmVvcGVuaW5nLW9mLW1vYmlsLXN0YXRpb24taGFmZm5lcnMtY29udmVuaWVuY2Utc3RvcmUtaXQta2lja3MvYXJ0aWNsZV80MmM5YjIzMi1hMDU2LTExZWUtODNhYy0xNzZiZDc2MTFmZTEuaHRtbNIBAA
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