When Bill Stephan opened a Bonner Springs service station in 1959, he received a simple piece of advice that has served him well.
“A sales rep told me to take care of everyone that comes in and treat them well, and they will keep coming in,” said Stephan, 84.
And come they did, for nearly six decades.
On Saturday, dozens of friends, former employees and family members gathered one more time for a customer appreciation event to celebrate the station’s last day. Before Stephan’s Service closed its doors for good at 7 p.m., the owners thanked guests with free hot dogs and soft drinks. Later they raised bottles of beer in a toast to the Stephan family.
Some of those gathered said Stephan’s Service — a BP station at 601 E. Front St. — was more than a place to get fuel. It was a place where they would always see someone they knew and where they could pick up local news. It was a place that still had that small-town Main Street feel.
But with increasing competition from one-stop food and gas station chains, family-owned, full-service spots like Stephan’s Service are a dying breed.
“I’m going to miss this little place,” said Kristie King of Bonner Springs, who had been a customer for four decades. “They even let me write a check. They know everyone in town.”
For years the station was open daily — except during the 1979 oil crisis, when it closed on Sundays.
Founder Bill Stephan would arrive at 5:30 a.m. and work until dinnertime, when he would head home. The 10-member Stephan family would gather at a picnic table in the dining room for a meal. After a quick nap, Stephan would return to close the station for the day.
Once when a car with faulty brakes pinned him against the wall and broke his leg, he took off just long enough for a doctor to patch him up. He was back at work the same day.
“This place did everything I wanted it to do,” Bill Stephan said. “It paid for my house. I raised eight children, sent them to Sacred Heart in Bonner Springs for eight years, and four years of high school. Many went on to KU or Pittsburg State, and they graduated with no debt.”
Most of the Stephan children — three boys and five girls — worked in the station at one time or another. From the time they could drive, they were expected to work. They stopped in during off hours to run errands, even hand-delivering statements to commercial accounts.
Craig Stephan made it his career, taking over the business in 1998 and then purchasing the building and grounds in 2002.
His father still came in each day to turn on the lights, make coffee and take care of the first customers. Bill’s wife, Lois Ann, would stop in for free coffee and a quick chat on her way to work.
When they converted three of the pumps to self-service in the mid-1970s, employees found it hard to stop offering full service at all the pumps.
But the industry is changing, the Stephans said, with consumers opting for food and gas operations like QuikTrip. Road construction also diverted traffic for nearly a year, and some customers got in the habit of stopping at other stations and never returned.
“More BP stations also opened up nearby, so that was more competition,” Craig Stephan said. “We used to sell 110,000 to 120,000 gallons a month. Now it is about 35,000 and the margin is only about 2 percent.”
To keep up with technology, the station would have needed a new cash register — at a cost of about $7,800 — and new pumps with chip card terminals — at a cost of about $50,000.
If they just kept operating the garage, they still would have had to take out the pumps and tanks because of government regulations.
Craig Stephan reminded customers he’s moving just a few miles west to Kling Auto & Diesel Repair at 16463 Linwood Road. A fuel company has purchased Stephan’s building and another gas station is expected to open in the spot.
“You knew it had to come along someday, so you prepare along the way,” Bill Stephan said. “You just have to accept it and go on. It’s going to be sad, not seeing all the people. You will still see a lot of them, but not every day like here.”
Joyce Smith: 816-234-4692, @JoyceKC
This story was originally published March 26, 2016 6:50 PM.