Lafayette, Indiana, January 29, 2025 – A trip to the gas station isn’t quite what it used to be. In 2025, it’s become a destination of sorts.
Few things have changed about gassing up, unless you’re looking all the way back to 1973, when Indiana legalized self-service fuel stations. But the business around gas stations has sure changed.
Tiffany Cring, director of marketing for Leo’s Market and Eatery, said that for the Greenfield, Ind.-based gas and eatery chain, the opportunity to fill up your car is just an added convenience to fueling your body.
“It’s a one-stop shop,” Cring said. “With the eatery, we have something special to offer. It’s always a hurdle getting people past the pumps and into the doors, but what we are offering is something really unique.”
Leo’s celebrated its official opening here on Jan. 9, just seven months after news broke of its expansion from the Greater Indianapolis market into the Lafayette area. Before the end of summer, Wawa, the east coast gas station chain, had filed a permit to build Lafayette’s first location just a little over a mile east of Leo’s along South Street.
Gas stations, both of simple and destination-based concepts, continue to pop up around Greater Lafayette, with more planned in 2025. But what is it about Lafayette that draws developers of these businesses? And will we ever reach capacity?
As it turns out, big money is to be made in the fuel station business, and there’s still money lying on Greater Lafayette’s table.
A metro area of Indianapolis, developers say
When Leo’s began scouting for property to expand their location portfolio, Cring said the company started by looking at cities similar to Indianapolis.
“We review sites all of the time, and we get requests from cities to review property that have expressed they want a Leo’s,” Cring said. “The people of Lafayette have really embraced us. They are very active on social media, and our pages have gained a ton of new followers. Their engagement with Leo’s has been really exciting.”
A commercial real estate broker, who asked not to be named because of competing project deals in the works, said Lafayette’s similarities to Indianapolis are what draw national chains and businesses.
A lot of the draw comes down to loyalty, he said.
“Lafayette is a chain town, and it’s big enough that it can support competing chains, and that’s part of what brought in Raising Cane’s,” he said. “Developers like to see loyalty, and when you look at Lafayette, it has great sales volume from a lot of different retail groups. Having a large school like Purdue is absolutely a draw for a lot of these businesses, too.”
What holds back certain developers, however, the broker said, is the lack of available land.
“A lot of places only want to build on State Road 26, and there are a few that have been waiting for years to get in here,” he said. “There are some chains that require a certain acreage in order to build, and it’s a competitive market.”
Having experience with brokering several chain restaurant deals, the broker said he’s heard feedback that opening weeks for new business locations along Indiana 26 have been the best in a chain’s history.
In about 90 days, a new gas station is born
The cost to build a gas station is hardly anything to blink at, either. Leo’s Market and Eatery came at a price tag of $5 million, according to permits filed with the city of Lafayette.
The estimated cost for each Wawa location, permits show, is $2.2 million.
A good chunk of that price tag comes from the cost associated with installing fuel tanks, fuel lines, dispensers and canopies over the pumps. Jamie Dahmen, general manager at Oscar Larson, a general contracting company specializing in petroleum services, said that depending on the size of the fuel station’s operation, it could cost $1 million to $2 million.
But there some locations are pending, according to permits, that are estimated to be less than $1 million. A newly opened Marathon gas station, located at 3029 Old Romney Road, came at a price tag of $598,319, permit reports show.
But at 3829 Indiana 38 E., home to the long-shuttered Kyger Bakery, a permit filed for construction of a new gas station and convenience store shows an expected cost of $750,000 for the new build.
Lafayette isn’t alone in the never-ending pop-up of gas stations, either. The commercial broker said large companies are looking at any city within an 80-mile radius of Indianapolis, including Kokomo, Bloomington, Bartersville and Greenwood.
For Terry Bussell, a contractor with Jim Allen Maintenance out of Muncie, said he installs the equipment needed for new gas stations daily. Having completed the work for the new Leo’s location, Bussell said he’s worked on about four other gas station builds in the Lafayette area.
The fuel tanks for a gas station come with a 30-year warranty, Bussell said, with most lasting well beyond that time frame before a new one needs installed. Although Bussell said he mostly works on new construction, he has worked on several tank replacement projects as well.
But what happens to a shuttered gas station? The commercial broker said the cost to remove an old tank from the ground of a property that isn’t set to be a gas station can be costly, though he couldn’t provide a ball-park price.
On example is the former gas station at 1930 S. Fourth St., which is on the smaller side for a station of today’s proportions.
“The traffic that site sees probably wouldn’t be viable for a new gas station to come in, and its size makes things more difficult,” he said. “To a developer, looking at that just doesn’t appeal as a good investment opportunity.”
Fueling an experience, as well as your car
When customers are drawn in past the gas pumps at Leo’s, for instance, they’re greeted by two counters and an array of options.
Sure, there’s your bottled beverages and candy, but there are aisles and sections devoted to just groceries, too. Colorful displays of fresh produce, like fruit, bell peppers, heads of lettuce and baskets of mushrooms await customers, while a wall section of the coolers features a variety of dairy products and chilled goods.
Cring said much like the convenience of gas, Leo’s is known for the convenience of fresh dinner ingredients, too.
“I had a customer tell me about how his wife sent him to the store for feta cheese, and he by chance stopped into a Leo’s on his way to the store and we had it, which saved him another trip,” Cring said. “We have a lot of items that you would typically find in a farmer’s market, and we partner with local vendors to carry those products, too.”
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Cring said Leo’s offers the convenience of fresh flowers produced by a local florist alongside an array of greeting cards and gifts.
While Wawa’s two Lafayette locations are still under construction, the chain is known for its custom breakfast sandwiches and hoagies.
Cring said she can understand the nostalgia of a Wawa, a gas station often sought by travelers while vacationing around the east coast and Florida. You’ll be able to find a sandwich inside a Leo’s, too, but Cring said customers will find Leo’s is much more than that.
“We have two executive chefs on our team who come out with new menu items and kolache flavors every month, but this isn’t someplace that does wrapped sandwiches or roller dogs,” Cring said. “Alongside single serve salads and pasta bowls, we offer full size family meals that are grab and go. A lot of these are similar to the subscription dinner kits people have mailed to them, but ours are much more visually appealing, and they’re made fresh daily.”
If customers want to see a product in a Leo’s location, Cring said they’ll make it happen. Since opening earlier this month, Cring said the Lafayette community has shown its love for the store’s concept, and the company has taken notice.
“We just have been so taken aback by the great feedback and the amount of new followers we’ve accumulated from the Lafayette area,” Cring said. “The people here in Lafayette are so active and engaged, and you don’t necessarily see that everywhere.”
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal and Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@gannett.com.
Leo’s Market and Eatery to open in Lafayette, offering fresh meals, groceries and gas