BROWNSTOWN
A Seymour-based company plans to make an addition to its fueling station in Brownstown and later do a rehaul of the convenience store.
Premier Companies is in the process of purchasing 1.6 acres of property owned by Richard and Doris Shoemaker off of State Road 135 to add a diesel station with two pumps. The current station at 1300 W. Commerce St. only has one pump right off of U.S. 50.
Then in the fall, the existing CountryMark convenience store will be torn down and rebuilt.
“We’ve got a good presence there with our convenience store business and a lot of customer loyalty,” said Ben Hoene, vice president of new ventures for Premier Companies. “We’re mainly just trying to make it more user-friendly.”
A month ago, a public hearing was conducted during the Brownstown Plan Commission meeting to learn more about Premier Companies’ plans and also to discuss rezoning the land from agriculture to highway business. The plan commission gave favorable recommendation for the rezoning.
Hoene said by the end of this week, the company plans to have the land purchased. Then it will have to have survey and drainage studies done and share project specifications with the town before beginning construction. Hoene said the hope is to start the project in June.
The diesel pumps will be targeted for commercial vehicles, including semitrailers, buses and other large vehicles that use diesel fuel.
“I think it will be a lot easier to get in and out of,” Hoene said of the new diesel station.
The convenience store will have a total renovation.
“That will be geared toward what I call the consumer, just your everyday person driving by,” Hoene said.
The company decided it was time to update the store. When the company was known as Jackson-Jennings Co-Op, it operated Brownstown Car Care Center in the building. Hoene said people still occasionally pull up to ask about oil changes and tires since the back part of the building has garage bays.
“It still has that old tire shop look to it,” Hoene said. “For Premier, we’re in the fuel retail business, and we plan to stay in it. We’re trying to modernize our current offerings to everybody.”
He said in June, the company plans to renovate the CountryMark station along Community Drive in Seymour.
There also is a CountryMark station at the corner of Broadway and Second streets in Seymour, one along U.S. 31 north of Crothersville and two in Greensburg.
“We’re going to try to have minimal impact on the customers,” Hoene said of the projects planned this year.
As far as the cost of the work and who will be doing it, Hoene said that has not yet been determined.