Mom and pop gas stations? Well that would be a rare thing at least one that didn’t have some corporate backing. My dad owned a station in the 70s and 80s and gave it up when he no longer had a sponsor just out of financial fear. The tanks are a massive liability as if they leak in most states the cost of cleanup is insane but expected. It could ruin them without deep pockets.
I would also add he was running a station during the 70s gas crisis. People would say he was raking it in but it was just hell. Even back then there wasn’t a huge margin for gas and on top of that the problem was not having gas to sell and needing to ration it so it was just more angry people and logistics. In the late 80s he just stopped selling gas but the tanks were just a ticking bomb ready to just degrade so was happy to just be done with the place.
My only good memories of the place is he had an old fashioned coke machine with the bottles you would pull out. When I went there I would get a free bottle of coke and that was always kinda awesome. (He was normally a stingy bastard normally so any generosity was welcome)
