![\"Kelly's](\"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/KELLY_3.jpg\")
<\/a>Kelly’s Sea-Bay Service Station, Lavallette, N.J. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n
“There were two in Normandy Beach, myself, a bunch in Seaside Heights and a couple in Seaside Park,” he said, eight total. “Through the years, the properties were sold for developments, condominiums, and some decided to just get out of the business.”<\/p>\n
Recently, Kelly learned that the Lukoil station in Seaside Park would be giving up its fuel business to focus on the service station and towing business along, leaving his Sunoco the last station standing between Island Beach State Park and Point Pleasant Beach.<\/p>\n
The business has had its ups-and-downs over the years, but for Kelly, it has always been a goal to make the station a success.<\/p>\n
“I had years here when I was ready to give up,” he said. “I kind of lost a little bit of my 25-to-35 youth because all I did was work. It got the point where I didn\u2019t feel healthy because I was just working and going home.”<\/p>\n
Once the business began running more smoothly, Kelly brought on staff members who have taken it to another level.<\/p>\n
“What I love now is that my staff is wonderful, we work as a team, we\u2019re on the same page and we have no drama,” said Kelly, whose sons, both attending Monmouth University, come home to work at the station each summer. “I never wanted to just get rich quick. I wanted to be here for the long haul, and now I\u2019m servicing cars for my customers\u2019 children who they came in with a baby carriage 35 years ago.”<\/p>\n
In a few years, Kelly will face what has caused his former colleagues to quit the business: state environmental requirements that new tanks be installed, regardless of whether the current tanks are safe. Kelly said he and his wife weighed their options: using the land to start a different business or selling to a developer, but felt the Sunoco story had not yet been fully written.<\/p>\n
“We have a great piece of property, so we could turn it into any kind of business, and we came back thinking we\u2019d be the only one here now, and more importantly, it would really be a disservice to the island if we shut down because people would have nowhere to go,” Kelly said.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the business has sentimental value \u2013 it brought Paul and his wife, Laurie, together during those early years.<\/p>\n
“She was from Kearny and she went to a Sunoco station up there,” he said. “So when she moved here, one of the main reasons I met her was that she liked the product. Someone told her to go to Sunoco, and that’s how I met her.”<\/p>\n
Kelly said Sunoco has been a stellar partner, providing both financial and technical support, even when it comes to big-ticket investment like the impending tank replacement. He’s had offers to switch to BP, Mobil, Shell, Liberty and others, but has always turned them down.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, Kelly takes pride in the trust he’s been able to build with the island’s residents and visitors over the years.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s not the easiest industry to be in,” Kelly admits. “People aren\u2019t happy to come in and buy gas, or be faced with a $1,000 car repair bill. So you need to make it as pleasurable as possible.”<\/p>\n
There’s no hard-sell \u2013 no car dealership gimmicks like free oil changes that turn into wasteful repairs, he said \u2013 and his staff is always friendly and helpful to customers most in need.<\/p>\n