‘Shiny and new’
After fire, Mobil re-opens



EAST BERNE — Ten months after Countryside Mobil caught fire on a cold, windy day, the local gas station and convenience store is opening its doors.

Following the January fire, the station was leveled, and a new building was erected.

David Vincent, the store’s owner, said the Mobil station, tentatively scheduled to open Monday, won’t be dramatically different.
"It’ll be about the same crew," Vincent said. "We hope it’s busier."

A convenience store owner for 32 years, Vincent owns stores at five locations — three in Schoharie County, two in Schenectady County. He leases the East Berne station from Red-Kap, a Mobil wholesaler located in Schenectady County.

Following the fire, claims adjusters for Albany County, Red-Kap, and Vincent’s insurance company were in agreement that the cause of the fire was a 6-year-old exhaust fan, located in the store’s unisex bathroom, Vincent said.

The fire didn’t change Vincent’s outlook as a business owner or result in adding precautions.
"I’ve always been careful," he said. "In 32 years, this is the first fire."

Re-building allowed for expansion.
"We’ve expanded in size, and everything is shiny and new," Vincent said of the new store. Vincent added that, wherever there was an opportunity to make an expansion, he went ahead and did it.

The building, he said, is a few hundred square feet larger.
The products, he said, are essentially the same as before the fire. "We’re not adding new product lines," he said.

Countryside Mobil, he said, has a full deli, and serves pizza and other hot menu items, as well as roasters from the Massachusetts-based New England Coffee Company.
Vincent plans on opening the store Monday, Nov. 13, pending the receipt of a certificate of occupancy. "We won’t be fully operational," he said of the opening of the store, "but we’ll have gas."

Vincent also said that he is awaiting the arrival of some merchandizing displays and food products.
"We still have some fixtures coming in and some shelving," he said.

The beer license and food-processing license, required for all convenience store owners, that he operated on prior to the fire are still valid, he said.

A tough industry
"The town has been anxious for the store to open," he said. "People kept asking me, ‘When are you going to open the store"’"

Since the fire, he said, people have learned to understand the importance of convenience.

The other two convenience stores closest to the hamlet of East Berne, he said, are five to six miles away.

Vincent pointed to a nearby attraction, Warner’s Lake, and said that the lake brings many to the area in the summer months.

The gas industry, Vincent said, has been difficult, with soaring gas prices resulting in a highly competitive market.
"I had to cut my margins, and sometimes we would actually lose money on credit card sales," he said. "It’s a tough time for the industry."

The store, Vincent said, will be open seven days a week from 5 or 5:30 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m.