VanNatta, owner of the historic Hockinson Market, at 15814 N.E. 182nd Ave. in Brush Prairie, shut down his gas pumps May 4 because the store’s 1960s-era machines can’t register sales above $3.999 a gallon without an expensive upgrade.

VanNatta figured since he was already losing money on gas sales, he’d remove the pumps and tanks and put in flower planters and outdoor seating for the store’s deli.

Then he got an estimate for the tank removal: $20,000, more if there is ground contamination.

“There has been gas on this corner for more than 100 years,” VanNatta said. “It’s reasonable to assume there is going to be some pollution.”

The gas pump problem is an old one for VanNatta. Tokheim Manufacturing Co. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, built the pumps using gears, wheels and levers that could only read as high as $2.999 a gallon.

When gas topped $3 a gallon two years ago, VanNatta had two options: Pay $10,000 for new pumps or set the price at a half gallon. The half-gallon pricing was in effect for less than half a day when a Columbian reader told VanNatta about a $20 conversion kit.

The fix this time won’t be as cheap. VanNatta can get free parts to upgrade the pumps from his former gasoline supplier, Scott Brothers Oil Co., which stopped selling fuel in May.

Installation, however, is expensive, and the bottom line is VanNatta wants to stop selling gas. 

Inherited pumps

VanNatta inherited the gas pumps when he bought the market 13 years ago.

At first, gas sales accounted for half of the store’s daily revenue. Gas sales slid to 10 percent of a day’s receipts by the time the pumps closed in May, and VanNatta said by then he was losing money because the price at the pump couldn’t cover the cost of fuel and credit card processing fees.

The store sits on one corner of a four-way stop that is the de facto center of the Hockinson community. The first store at the location opened in 1898 and served for a time as a dairy cooperative.

The full-service market today occupies 2,000 square feet of a 5,000-square-foot building. 

Vans and pickups loaded with men in Carhartt clothes routinely filled the parking lot during the construction boom of a few years ago. Today, VanNatta said he might see one construction worker a week, and sales have suffered.

The summer crowd, which has always been critical to the store’s success, is returning, lured in by deli sandwiches and hard-packed ice cream. VanNatta believes customers have been happier since he stopped selling gas, but he concedes he has no proof to support the hunch.

The pumps, which are covered by cardboard now, can sit idle indefinitely, but VanNatta would still have to pay the insurance, licensing and other fees connected to the tanks.

One way or another, VanNatta is going to pay for the high price of gas.

“If I could magically have them go away, I would,” VanNatta said.

Jonathan Nelson can be reached at 360-735-4543 or via e-mail at jonathan.nelson@columbian.com.