The owner of a longtime full-service gas station and auto shop on Main Street said he is moving away from pumping gasoline to focus on a growing repair and maintenance business that more closely aligns with his customers’ needs.
Steve Gaeta of C&H Auto on a recent afternoon. Credit: Michael Dinan
C&H Auto Owner Steve Gaeta said he’s proud to have continued the tradition of a full service station for the 26 years he’s owned the shop, and will miss the regular interaction with this customers—“That’s my time to get face time with them, I have enjoyed those times and I’m sad they’re gone”—yet newer generations of motorists are less interested in that type of service.
“We are a small station and honestly, in trying to figure this out, we thought a great deal about replacing the gas pumps or taking them away, and at the end of the day it didn’t add up,” Gaeta said. “We decided to focus on what we do best, which is the service.”
Maintenance, repair and “concierge” services offered at the shop also will be expanded under C&H’s new direction, Gaeta said.
Customers can expect to come in for oil and tune-ups as well as tire and air-conditioning service, alignment and front-end work, and the three-bay shop also plans to “handle the needs of customers with respect to buying and selling cars, transporting cars and storage of cars,” he said.
“There are situations where people don’t have the feelers to hook up with the correct service to transport a car to Florida if they’re going away for the summer or winter, so let us take care of the car in the meantime, make sure it’s charged and the tires are ready for when you roll in the door. Or if you want to buy a car for a 16-year-old kid who is just learning to drive, we can go out and help locate the right one.”
A career firefighter in New Canaan, Gaeta earlier this year bid farewell to a popular gas attendant, Leo Lopez, who had been working for him at 185 Main St. for most of the years that Gaeta has owned C&H Auto.
There are very practical reasons for moving away from the gasoline service, Gaeta said: Maintaining the tanks and pumps as a small business is cost-prohibitive and infeasible. Gaeta said he has to get the tanks out of the ground every 30 years and that date is coming up, so he gathered as much information as he could and looked hard at the cost of re-installing with new technologies and regulations attached, and decided that the business cannot absorb them.
Part of what C&H is moving toward is servicing the increasing number of hybrid vehicles on the road, Gaeta said, and that will involve getting the shop’s technicians trained and more proficient in that specialized work. The shop also will look into growing the towing portion of its business, insofar as it supports maintenance and repair, Gaeta said.
Though the prospect of focusing on the auto maintenance and repair business is exciting, Gaeta underscored that it was a “very difficult decision” to move away from the gas.
“I want to be that one-stop shop for our customers, and it was very hard to sever a 30-plus year legacy as one of New Canaan’s gasoline stations,” Gaeta said.
“Being a full-service station all those years, there was more work involved but that was our choice, so the decision was tough,” he said. “We value our customers and we will miss not seeing them as regularly. I hope they can still find their way in here when they need a quick repair.”
Steve’s expertise, experience, and commitment to excellence will continue to serve him well. I always thought that the gas pumps just took up valuable parking space for the best vehicles he worked on. When Steve worked on one of my cars or trucks I knew I was getting a good job and not being over charged. I remember him hiking across a recently cleared property on a cold January day to help me get a disabled tractor started. If you have never had the pleasure of dealing with him, you have a good experience in your future.
I wish Steve the best in his new business model. Most people don’t realize that stations don’t make much profit in the sales of gas. I will, however, miss the drive up service. Steve’s service and kindness is an asset to our great town!
C&H Auto is such a great business! The most honest, reliable, kind, caring providers that a customer could want. Gas is always too expensive in New Canaan anyway. And, now that Leo is not there to pump it, it is as good a time as any to bid that business farewell. Best of luck to C&H. Glad to hear that you are ramping up the hybrid tuning. When my free Toyota tuneups expire this fall, I’m coming back to you!
Steve and his entire crew have always taken great care of our cars. We are extremely thankful for the excellent service – with a smile – that they always provide. We are fortunate to have C and H Automotive in New Canaan. We wish Steve continued success with his business!
We love our friends at C&H – so happy to have them just up the street to help us. Whether it’s a scheduled oil change or a panicky phone call from New Jersey, we can always count on them to take good care of us.
Steve,
Any chance you could put in a single E85 pump? Almost all the Chevy’s in town can run it and us guys running modified turbos can’t get enough of the added performance! Maybe just a small 500 gallon tank on the side? 😉
Best regards,
Andy Kerchoff
Good luck Steve
Good luck Steve!!! I’ve used C&H for repairs on my vehicles for many years. There are not many shops around that offer work like they do.
I am glad I will be able to continue doing business with that place.
Best of luck with your new venture!
Steve & the Entire C&H Crew-
You have always been an excellent crew to my family!
We will continue to use you as repairs and we will keep sending them over! Good luck and I am sure we will see you!
Maria
New Canaan Mobil
Steve, I was worried that your shop was closing! I had to look online and see what was going on. You guys are always so dependable, and you pick me up and give me a ride to your shop when my old weary bones can’t make it up the hill. That’s always appreciated! Stopping for gas in the evening wasn’t the same without Leo there! When you talk to him, tell him that we said hi!