The Kahala Shell gas station on Waialae Avenue is changing ownership on Thursday and will no longer offer auto repairs.
Madeleine Snow, owner of the long-standing Kahala Shell Auto Care Inc. across from Kahala Mall, said the gas station and car wash will continue to operate under new management.
The service station’s 35 employees can reapply with the new operator or look for work elsewhere, she said.
Snow has worked at Kahala Shell for more than 34 years and decided to exit at the end of her lease term because landowner Kamehameha Schools has plans to redevelop the block, she said.
"The land lease for this whole block is short and we’re at a crucial point," she said. "They have future plans and it will no longer support a service station. It will only support a gas station."
Aloha Petroleum, which operates or franchises the Shell brand in Hawaii, plans to continue operating the station under the Shell brand until the station is forced to close, Aloha said in a news release. Once rebuilt, Aloha Petroleum will operate the gas-only portion with the Shell brand and a new facility.
Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said: "We have no plans for condos or residential development at that site. In fact we don’t have any firm redevelopment plans at all. We’re just going through the study phase to see what uses might be feasible as the leases set to expire in that area."
A master development plan for the area is scheduled for mid-2016.
"The cost of doing business is just exorbitant," Snow said, adding that the expense to run a service station business, including the cost of new equipment, doesn’t pencil out. "There are lots of expenditures just running a business like this. It’s not cost-effective to spend that kind of capital when you don’t have enough time on the lease (to break even). Overhead exceeds profitability."
Bill Green, currently an employee of the service station, started Kahala Shell Auto Care in 1980. In 2000, Spencer Fernandez and Snow transitioned from managers to co-owners.
"Madeleine has been affiliated with this location for 34 years, including 14 years as co-owner and we’re very sorry to see her go," Aloha Petroleum said. "A number of circumstances factored into her decision to not renew her lease with us; the largest of which are the ever-increasing expenses, rents and utilities that affect small, medium and large entrepreneurs today."
