Neighbors upset auto mechanic is losing space for bigger convenience store
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — “No convenience store!”
“Keep Ty’s auto service!”
Those are the signs in some yards around East 49th and North Pennsylvania streets.
That’s where you’ll find Ty’s Penn Shell Automotive. It’s a little two-bay automotive shop that’s been servicing vehicles in the area for years. But, it’s connected to a Circle K. The convenience-store chain owns the land and wants to end the lease with the mechanic’s shop so the store can expand into those bays.
Ever since neighbors learned the business lease would be up in August, they started putting signs out, telling Circle K and those driving by that Ty Tarr shouldn’t be going anywhere.
“I am ready to throw an absolute fit,” Jamie Pachciarz said. “We love Ty. We love taking care of local businesses. We love taking our cars here. We don’t want to go to a dealership in Carmel. We want to stay right here in the neighborhood.”
But it’s not just about Ty, neighbors say. This proposal could change the way their neighborhood functions and bring in new crowds.
“This is a nice corner,” Bill Brown said. “We don’t need it to be a midnight place for drunks to get beer and cause some trouble. Those kind of spots have a history of delinquency, shall we say. Sometimes worse than that.”
Tarr has known about the end of his lease for a couple of years now and, when he thinks about leaving the shop that belonged to his dad before him, he’s having a hard time coping.
“I hope they change their mind,” Tarr said. “It would be awesome. The neighbors are totally against it. I would love to stay, but time’s running out. I’ve got to make an alternate plan. I (have) got three guys working for me and families to count on, so I mean we’ll make it work wherever I go to.”
A lot of the people said that if Ty’s leaves, they’re putting down Circle K gas pumps for good.
“We have not bought any gas from that place for over two months now,” Nancy Showalter said. “My husband quit buying his lottery tickets up there. The neighbors are doing the same thing.”
While Circle K has not responded to requests for comment, the community has a message for Circle K.
“Circle K get out or leave Ty here!” Showalter said.
“We don’t care, this is a business decision. I believe they don’t even quite know what they’re doing,” Brown said.
Tarr said, “I hope the outcry helps. Maybe they’ll see it differently.”
For the next step in the process, Circle K is hosting a meeting on June 17 to show what it’s going to do with its convenience store.