It was years in the making and took a legal round in court to pave the way, but one of the newest additions to West Windsor’s business community is now open — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The 7-Eleven convenience store is open on Alexander Road at Princeton-Hightstown Road, adjacent to the newly rebuilt Valero gas station and across from the old Acme Supermarket. Although the 7-Eleven is new to West Windsor, its owners, the Gill family, are not — they have lived in West Windsor since 1984.
The 7-Eleven is owned by brothers Amar, Bhajan, and Jasbir Gill, as is the next-door Valero station, as well as the Valero station at 401 Princeton-Hightstown Road, across from the McCaffrey’s Shopping Center, which is poised to begin its own renovation and expansion. In fact, the Gill brothers own 37 gas stations and supply petroleum products to another 10 stations in six New Jersey counties. All of these stations are part of the umbrella corporation known as APCO Petroleum Corp., which was started by the Gill brothers in 1981.
According to Preet Gill, the son of Amar and the chief operating officer of APCO Petroleum, his father and uncles “started the company in 1981 because they were looking for businesses to supplement their income. Now APCO is their primary business.” He explained that his family originally lived in Paramus, but moved to West Windsor in 1984 to be closer to the majority of their stations and have lived here ever since.
“My uncles live in West Windsor as well, and my cousin Mohan Gill, who also works in the company, graduated from High School South,” says Preet Gill, who graduated from WW-P High School in 1990 and then went to Rider College, where he graduated in 1995 with a bachelor of science degree in finance and accounting. As APCO’s COO, he is involved in the company’s operations and strategic planning functions. Gill’s background also led him to serve on West Windsor Township’s Planning Board in the 1990s.
The Gills’ West Windsor Valero stations were originally Mobil gas stations, but when the Exxon company bought Mobil, it was required to divest itself of Mobil assets in certain geographic areas, including West Windsor. APCO, which had been dealers for Mobil, entered into a distribution agreement with Valero.
Gill explains that partnering with Valero was important to them, “because Valero is the largest supplier of petroleum products in North America. Valero is a 100 percent American company that is based in San Antonio, Texas.”
Gill says that “working with the largest North American supplier is very important, because it means we have no issue with petroleum supply. Hurricane Sandy is an example — we had no issue with our supply. We always had gas, unlike some of the other stations in the area. The only problems we had were related power-related, not supply-related. Our distribution agreement with Valero has been very beneficial.” In fact, he added, the majority of the company’s 37 stations are Valero stations; the others are either Exxon or British Petroleum.
APCO Petroleum decided two or three years ago to open up a 7-Eleven next to the Valero station on Alexander Road, as well as refurbish the original gas station, which had become, in Gill’s own words, “an eyesore.” Litigation delayed the opening of the convenience store, as well as — to a lesser extent — the renovation of the gas station. “The lawsuit was only one reason for the delay in renovating the station; more so were issues of strategic planning and decisions about what exactly we were going to do there,” says Gill.
The company prevailed over the opposition in its lawsuit. The opposition was based, according to Gill, “on two issues: that some people in town didn’t want a convenience store to open, and some were concerned about the store being open 24/7.” Once the lawsuit was resolved, the company was able to begin the construction phase of the project.
In order to alleviate residents’ concerns the company installed lighting that points downward, to minimize light pollution. The company also installed A-roof canopies so that, from a distance, they look more like residential structures and less like commercial structures. “You would not see this being done on gas stations on Route 1 and other more commercialized areas,” Gill says. They have also planted trees and shrubs to offset the lighting and to make the site more attractive.
In addition, Gill explained that APCO “talked to the police department throughout the development. The police made recommendations and we have followed their recommendations. They have visited the site and have been happy. We have had no safety problems at all.”
The 7-Eleven has been fully operational since late November. But, Gill says, “we wanted to wait to hold a ‘grand opening’ until certain things were finalized and worked out. Now everything is ready for a grand opening, which will be held in January or February.”
In the meantime the convenience store is up and running 24/7. “We have 20 employees between the Valero station and the 7-Eleven, and nine are residents of West Windsor,” Gill says.
An additional six to seven people are employed at the Valero station on Princeton-Hightstown Road, at the corner of Southfield Road, where the company hopes to open another convenience store and a car wash. Gill says they are currently before the West Windsor Zoning Board, as part of the “normal process” for construction projects, and that this time the “process is much smoother.” The Zoning Board will hear the application Thursday, January 17, at 7:30 p.m.
The Gill family is active in the Central Jersey Sikh Association in Windsor, and attend Sunday temple services there, as his family is originally from the Punjab region of India. Gill believes that being Sikh and living in West Windsor has had a positive impact on the success of APCO Petroleum, because “people in this community are so accepting of different cultures and different people.”
The family hopes to give back to the community as well. Through the company, they currently donate money to the YMCA in Hamilton, and Gill has been in contact with high school student organizations such as the Post Prom Committee that are looking for sponsors and donors for activities. He adds that he plans to reach out to the “high schools, the school district, the police and fire departments, and the township to see in what ways we can reach out and help the community.”
Gill will not speculate as to what APCO projects might be coming in the future, but is emphatic about the family’s personal plans to remain as residents in West Windsor. “We are long-time residents of West Windsor, and the fact that we have stayed here so long speaks volumes. We love being here, love the area, and the fact that the community is so involved; that the residents are so interested in what is happening in the town. Also, we are very excited about where the township is going in the next 10, 15, to 20 years.”
Correspondent Sue Roy is president of the Village School PTA, a den leader for Cub Scout Pack 66, a member of the Mayor’s Economic Advisory Group, and sits on the board of assessors for the Heatherfield Development.
