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March 29, 2024 7:02 am
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Wesley’s Changes Hands Overnight

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

Regional corporation, Green Valley Grocery took over ownership of Wesley’s Chevron in Logandale on Wednesday last week. Photo by Vernon Robison

Early morning commuters got a surprise on Wednesday last week when they made their routine stops at Wesley’s Convenience Store in Logandale and found it closed. In fact, the iconic local business was shuttered most of the day while it underwent a change in ownership.

Green Valley Grocery, a regional corporation owning a chain of convenience stores in southern Nevada, took over the reigns at the location at 12:00 am on January 10.

“They came to me and made a great offer,” said Logandale resident Weston Adams whose family owned Wesley’s. “I met with the family and we discussed it. We made sure that they would take care of the employees there. It seemed like the move would be good for the valley and good for us. So we went ahead.”

The new owners needed to be closed most of the day Wednesday to make the transition, according to Green Valley Grocery President David Crawford. Company crews worked through the night and most of the next day installing a new computer system, putting in new cash registers, posting new signage and bringing in other necessary equipment needed by the company, Crawford said.

The store reopened as Green Valley Grocery at around 3:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon. From then on it will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The change came suddenly, and without prior notice, for a reason, Crawford said. “We try to keep these things low key until they happen because, in situations like that, the employees and staff tend to worry,” he said. “So we try to keep the impact on people’s lives to a minimum. We hate to cause them unneeded stress.”

Crawford said that he has offered to keep all of the existing staff working at the store and hopes that they will stay on. “We need residents of the community to be there and help us in the store,” he said.

Crawford is excited for the company to be operating in the Moapa Valley community now. “We are eager to pick up where the Adamses left off in serving the community out there,” he said.

Though a much larger corporation, at its heart Green Valley Grocery is a family-owned business, Crawford said. The company was begun by Richard Crawford, David’s father, in 1978. It began with just one location at Green Valley Pkwy and Sunset. Over the forty years since then, it has grown to more than 50 stores in the Las Vegas valley plus two locations in Mesquite and one in Pahrump. The Logandale store is numbered as Store #58 in the chain.

Crawford said that the company has plans to make some improvements to the Logandale store. Already, the fuel distributorship has gone from Chevron to Shell. Green Valley is a Shell wholesaler. With a larger corporation taking over at the location, the economies of scale may tip in favor of local consumers, said Crawford.

“I think that people will find that our prices on a lot of things will be a little more attractive than before,” Crawford said.

The company will be installing new gas pumps at the location. In addition, there are plans to put in an entirely new car wash facility. Some light renovations are also planned for the inside of the store.

“As we make improvements and renovations in the next few months, we might have some down time here and there where we might have to close,” Crawford said. “But we will try to stay open as much as possible. Other than those few times, we are going to be here 24/7 and that includes Sundays.”

Crawford said that the excellent condition of the business is a true tribute to the Adams family. “They ran a great local business here,” he said. “That shows in how the employees have stuck around for so long and in the positive feelings of the community towards the store.”

The Adams family have owned Wesley’s for about five years now. They snatched the former Logandale Chevron business out of bankruptcy, kept it open and worked to turn it around.
“When we bought it they were going to just walk out and close the doors the very next day,” Weston Adams said. “There was a lot of deferred maintenance needed to bring the level of service up to what it needed to be.”

Adams immediately went to work on improvements including upgrading the asphalt in the parking lots, repairing the roof of the store, upgrading the fountain drink equipment, bringing in equipment for offering sandwiches, updating the pizza oven and more.

Adams was especially proud of the high quality of fountain drinks served at Wesley’s. “I had people tell me that they compared the quality of fountain drinks they got everywhere else against Wesley’s fountain drinks,” Adams said. “They thought we had the best fountain drinks anywhere.”

Adams added that it was always important to him and his family that the facility properly support the community in its needs. The business has been supportive of local youth programs, school teams and other activities. The store even provided a free drink refill program to local law enforcement officers.

Adams emphasized that it was important to him, in selling the business, that the employees be well taken care of. “We didn’t want to just leave them hanging; so that was definitely part of our discussions,” he said.

This consideration was bourne out last week by store manager Terry Cameron who expressed deep appreciation to the Adams family for their support over the years.

“A lot of people don’t realize how much they have done for the community,” Cameron said of the Adams family. “The store was falling apart when they took it over and was about to just be closed down. That would have been a big loss to the Valley. They kept it going and kept us all working here. They have been very good to us and I just can’t say enough of how much we appreciate them for what they have done.”

Adams also expressed appreciation for the community’s loyal support of the store. “We would like to thank our friends and family for the support and love over the years at Wesley’s,” he said. “We had amazing customers and even better employees”

“Green Valley Grocery are a family owned company and will be great stewards for the property,” Adams added. “We hope the community will support them as they did us. And again, thank you!”

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