Photos by Kim Leeson
Even though I’ve been driving past the Shell station with the famous ’55 Chevy since before, well, before I could legally drive, I did not expect I would get sentimental over the place’s closing.
But, after spending some time last summer with owner Darren Backus — learning about his family and their more than 50 years owning and operating the full-service station and auto repair shop — this column by Steve Blow of the Dallas Morning News made me a wee bit verklempt.
The Backus Shell Station at Ferndale and Northwest Highway was one of two remaining full-service stations in the Dallas area. Darren’s father opened the place in 1962 and Darren started working there when he was 10, in ’69. The shop closed over the weekend.
Last summer, Backus said this: “The question is: When do you give up?” he says. “I’m making a decent living, nothing like what my dad made, but the five guys working here have jobs and I can still pay the bills. We are able to keep doing what we do well. My dad always believed good customer service was important, and we deliver that. As long as I can do that, we’ll keep on.”
Read more about it, and see photos, here.
