Lex Brodie’s gets out of gas

After filling up the tanks of Oahu motorists for more than 50 years at the corner of Queen and Coral streets in Kaka­ako, Lex Brodie’s is exiting the gas business.

While its tire and auto repair business remains strong, selling gas has become unprofitable for the company due to shrinking margins between what it pays for fuel and what it is able sell it for, said Scott Williams, president of Lex Brodie’s Tire, Brake & Service Co.

"Over the past several gas supply contracts, our price margins continuously shrank to the point where we have lost over $20,000 in the last three months selling gas," Williams said.

"We did our very best to trim the gas operating costs but have concluded that we are simply unable to continue providing the gas service where we can do so profitably."

Monday is the last day gas will be sold at the pumps in the "semi-service" lanes at the Queen Street location. Gas at the self-serve lanes will be sold until April 13.

Lex Brodie’s discontinued gas sales at its Wai­pahu store Saturday. The company has five locations on Oahu but was selling gas only at the Queen Street and Wai­pahu stores.

The space now occupied by the gas pumps at the Queen Street store will be used as a parking area to accommodate the growing number of customers of the company’s tire and repair business, said Williams, who started his career at Lex Brodie’s pumping gas in 1986. Lex Brodie’s tire and repair business continues to grow, with sales hitting rec­ords in recent months, Williams said.

The company’s iconic sign at the corner of Queen and Coral streets featuring a caveman chiseling a stone wheel will stay in place, he added.

The company, named after longtime Hawaii businessman Lex Brodie, who died last year at the age of 98, earned a reputation for its competitively priced gas and friendly attendants. It was one of the last gas stations in Hawaii to keep pump attendants when other gas retailers switched to an exclusively self-serve model.

When Hawaii gas prices hit rec­ord highs in 2008, cars lined up around the block on Queen Street to fill up at Lex Brodie’s, which offered discounted prices for cash purchases.