By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

The new AM/PM convenience store and Arco gas station at Glendale is now open for business. Photo by Vernon Robison.

The new AM/PM mini-mart store and ARCO gas station at Glendale opened quietly for business on Wednesday, November 9 after various complications and delays had kept the new facility shuttered for well over a year.

The approximately 2500 sq ft store started out with a soft opening because there were still plenty of details to iron out at the brand new facility, said store officials.

“We are still getting a lot of the kinks worked out and that has a little time,” said store manager John Russo. “There are some services that are still coming on line and a few product lines that we have to still get in. But we are up and running and serving the community.”

The historic Glendale cafe building was burned in a fire in April 2008. Since that time, Glendale owners have been struggling to rebuild and return to service. To help meet the needs of the community, the group installed a temporary structure to provide convenience store services. This modular building was only intended to be a stop gap during a speedy construction of a new facility. But it ended up becoming a longer term arrangement over the nearly three and a half years since the fire.

The new AM/PM convenience store and Arco gas station at Glendale is now open for business. Photo by Vernon Robison.

Now that the new store is open, the old modular building will be dismantled and removed from the property, Glendale officials said.

The new store, which is open 24 hours a day, employs 9-10 people, Russo said.

“We were fortunate in that most of our staffing was already here and in place,” Russo said. “They are familiar with the community and we kept much of that the same.”

Russo, a resident of Las Vegas and a veteran AM/PM store manager, said that he and his staff are determined to fill the unique needs of the Moapa community.

“We are willing to listen to our local customers on what products they would like to see stocked in the store,” Russo continued. “If there is something that they need here, we will work to get it for them.”

Russo said that the Glendale store is built slightly larger than most other AM/PM stores to accomodate the local community. The large freezer and cooler cases stocks milk, eggs, ice cream and the shelves contain bread and other staples for the convenience of local residents.

There is also an ample convenient food service in the store. Bakery items like donuts and pastries are baked fresh each day on site. The store also offers a variety of coffee products in different flavors including latte and cappuccino. Also prepared in an on-site kitchen are food items like hot dogs, hamburgers and other sandwich products.

Russo explained that a central feature of the facility is the Arco station and its low gasoline prices. “Our stations are known for having usually the lowest gas prices on the road,” Russo said. “We stay very competitive on gas.”

A larger grand opening event is being planned for the community in the next 4-6 weeks as things get settled in, Russo said.

In addition, other services are planned to be offered in the upcoming weeks in the new Glendale building.

The Glendale Cafe is expected to re-open around the end of the year, serving its traditional road-house fare as well as some new offerings; like fresh pizza. And an all new Broken Spoke Saloon is expected to come online shortly after that.