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Forever Young K&Y Chevron dealer Frank Young, who never backed down in his fight against major oil companies' high gasoline prices in Hawaii, went out of business yesterday the only way he knew how.
The Chevron dealer cut prices to
$1.40 on his last days of operationBy Dave Segal
dsegal@starbulletin.comHe had a blowout gas sale.
Young, who said he wanted to go out with a bang, slashed prices of all grades of gas to $1.40 a gallon to mark his final two days at the Kakaako station his family had operated since 1953.
The outspoken Young, who had frequently accused oil companies of overcharging Hawaii customers, agreed in September to vacate his station as part of a confidential settlement of two lawsuits.
To mark this week's occasion, Young brought in 18,000 gallons in preparation and sold 12,000 gallons Monday as traffic began to back up outside the station.
A sign, made by one of the station employees, was placed outside the cashier's office to commemorate the Young era.
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Counting gas that already existed in the tanks, he ended up selling 20,000 gallons over the two-day period and ran dry about 4:30 p.m. yesterday."I'm going to have a bottle of bubbly with my family before I pass the keys over to Chevron," he said late yesterday afternoon.
Young, who plans to operate a Napa auto care center nearby in Kakaako, said his gasoline days are over.
"It feels good," he said. "I'm going to go on to uncharted waters. There's nothing like a new adventure."
In 1999, the company sued to evict Young from the Chevron dealership, claiming that he had failed to operate the station during proper hours. Young countersued, saying Chevron was retaliating against him for criticizing the company publicly.
Star-Bulletin staff writer Tim Ruel contributed to this story.