The 76 gas station on state Route 169 and Kent-Kangley Road opened its renovated Circle K Store last week.
Construction on the store started on March 8, roughly a year after owner Ghirmai Abraha, 42, decided that the station’s auto repair shop wasn’t financially viable.
“It was not good business,” Abraha said. “It was really slow.”
He hopes that the renovations and the Circle K store will help draw customers.
“It’s bigger, cleaner, and has a nice image,” he said.
He said he chose to open a Circle K because he thought it has a good brand name and product.
The renovation work was done by AMR Environmental, a construction company based in Port Orchard, specializing in gas stations and stores.
“We took it all the way down to its structural points, and then built everything new around it,” said Alan Roberts, manager at AMR Environmental.
The exterior and interior both have molded rock facades. The coffee, froster and soda signs replicate those of the 20’s and 30’. The back wall has a blown up graphic of the first gas station built in Maple Valley by Standard Oil.
“They wanted the Taj Mahal and they got it,” Roberts said.
Abraha first bought the store in 2002. He is from East Africa and came to the U.S. in 1996 .
