Green Roof Gas Bar: Creating Community
The Shell station known as the Green Roof Gas Bar (because of the distinct green roofs of the on-site restaurant and self-serve car wash bays), might, at first glance, seem like any gas station one might pass when traveling through Port Stanley, Ont., nestled on the north shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of Kettle Creek.
However, if one takes a moment to stop, fuel up and pop in for a bite to eat, one will not only find the usual Canadian fare, but also freshly prepared Indian foods—butter chicken, chana masala, butter naan and samosas—that have made the restaurant and convenience-gas operation a favourite with the locals.
When cousins Harjit Singh Sandhu and Gil Paramjit took over the site in 2009, the idea of offering freshly made Indian cuisine, might have seemed something of a stretch. Paramjit worried people might not take to the food, as there was not a large Indian community in the area.
However, they were delighted by how quickly the community welcomed them and their new food offerings. Sandhu says it is now common for locals to visit the restaurant for the Indian cuisine and Indian food nights, which garner near-five-star reviews on social media. As well, customers from as far away as London and St. Thomas make it a point to travel to the restaurant.
That word-of-mouth support has made their gas bar and convenience store a destination, helping turnaround a once sleepy operation, which now sells nearly some 4 million litres annually of fuel and earns high praise for customer service and friendliness.
As one customer wrote in an online review: “This station is the best Shell I have been in. They are friendly, polite, and respectful. I feel like they are appreciative of my business.”
Laying the groundwork
Sandhu grew up in the Punjab region of Northern India, supporting his family while earning a bachelor’s degree in business and political science from Punjab University.
In 1996, at age 25, he followed in the footsteps of his sister and moved to Canada. For a while, Sandhu worked a variety of jobs and pursued several new ventures, first working for a shipping company and then co-founding, with Paramjit, Suneha, a newspaper for the local Punjabi-Indian community across Greater Montreal.
In 2007, Sandhu secured a lease to operate a Chevron gas operation in Alabama in the United States. Two years later, his cousin Paramjit reached out about Green Roof Gas Bar, an unbranded gasoline station in Port Stanley. The station at the time was underperforming, yet the cousins saw untapped potential.
“Because I already had some two years of experience operating in the gas business in the United States, and even operating a restaurant there as well, we went about Port Stanley and found a community that was growing and changing,” Sandhu says. “We both realized that this was a good time to invest in the community and in the business.”
Partnering for success
A chance meeting with Doug Granger, owner, and vice-president of Granger Fuels, helped take the business to the next level.
Granger says was familiar with Green Roof Gas Bar from when a previous owner operated it. While traveling through Port Stanley to attend a minor league hockey tournament with his son, he stopped in for gas.
“When I went in to pay for my fuel, there were the unfamiliar gentlemen behind the counter,” says Granger, who struck up a conversation and asked the cousins if they had entertained the possibility of operating the business under the Shell banner. When both said yes, he went back to his car and gave them his business card.
Granger says things moved quickly from there and in only a few months, in 2011, they were operating under the Shell banner with Granger being their fuel supplier.
Upgrading the site proved easier than the cousin’s expected. As luck would have it, the owner before the one they purchased the business from had operated the site as a Shell station and had plans in place to update the site. In fact, concrete was poured for new canopy supports and islands, says Granger: “The goal at that time was to turn the canopy, put in a couple of new columns and turn the canopy to be perpendicular to the building rather than parallel to the building.”
While that plan never came to fruition, the groundwork was in place. “Nobody knew the canopy bases were there but me,” says Granger. “And it was only because I was involved in the original planning, and it was there just under the gravel. I said to them ‘Let me show you something’, and we dug the gravel out and there are these canopy bolts and bases with everything else. So, I said ‘Let’s take the old canopy off, put in two new columns, use some of the existing columns and spin the canopy about.’”
Soon after that, Sandhu and Paramjit upgraded the old pumps for four new Wayne Ovation pumps, a new diesel pump, and replaced the old fuel tanks.
“The tanks needed to be upgraded,” Granger adds. “They were small, single-walled tanks. Now they are larger, double-walled tanks.”
They also upgraded their three-bay wand car wash bays with new equipment. Then expanded and updated the convenience store, improving their food and snack offerings (based on feedback they received from their customers), resulting in a much-needed place for locals to pick up a freshly brewed coffee and a breakfast on their way to work.
Being part of Shell also meant that Sandhu and Paramjit could now use Shell's Radiant POS for both in-store and fuel sales transactions. The Radiant POS system allows for faster transaction speeds and comes with an integrated credit card processor, scanner and high-speed printer—it also helps in automating the daily data backup process.
In addition, Sandhu and Paramjit take advantage of Shell’s various training and support services. For instance, with Shell’s ‘Mystery Shopper’ program, someone comes and reviews the site and customer service, then provides feedback and guidance on how to improve to increase customer satisfaction and retention.
Putting the customer first
“We built up the business one customer at a time,” Sandhu says. “When I started, we may have had only 10 to 15 customers each day. Now, we have 500 customers each day.”
In addition to updating equipment and expanding operations, the cousins also put a lot of effort into improving customer relations, from simple things such as greeting everyone with a smile or not turning down business if someone doesn’t have exact change.
“We never say to a customer that if they have purchased something that is $20.25, but only have $20, we won’t do business with them. If they don’t have that quarter, I tell them, ‘It’s all right, give me the $20 and give me the rest when you come back.’ I want to help them, and you know they always come back,” Sandhu says. “If they have a small kid, I give the kid some candy. We always put the customer first. I’m a ‘people person’ so I like to help people and people see that and they like that and they come back.”
In fact, their commitment to being there for the customer has earned the operations high accolades. Feedback left by customers using Shell’s ‘Voice of the Customer’ feedback system had them ranked number one in Canada, according to Granger. “And in the second quarter of 2023 they finished 20th in Canada,” he says. “Now, in my entire career with Shell, I have rarely had anyone in the Top 20, and I’ve never had anyone at number one. And in the first quarter of 2024, they are 14th in Canada!”
The cousins are heavily involved in the local community as well. During the pandemic, they provided meals for front-line workers and Sandhu works with the St. Thomas/Elgin General Hospital on fundraising drives.
Sandhu has come to know many customers by name and when he calls out to wish them a good morning or ask how they are, he sees how much they appreciate that familiarity. The gas bar is also an active participant with Air Miles and CAA loyalty programs. During the summer months, when there is a higher number of people driving through to vacation, the Green Roof Gas Bar stay opens longer to accommodate those looking for a place to fill up and to get something to eat.
The investments in the updates and their every-present focus on the customer, along with keeping everything neat and presentable, have paid off in another way. When Sandhu and his cousin purchased the location in 2009, its site volumes were only 1.2 meg. By 2010, it had risen to 2.0 meg and by 2011, after becoming a Shell banner and working with the Granger team, it rose to 2.8 meg. Today, it’s consistently well over 3.0 meg.
“Before, you had people driving by and not stopping,” Granger adds. “Now, they are stopping. They have regular customers. They know everyone and everyone in town knows them and like them. They are engaged with the community and they community has responded to them in kind by supporting them.”
