POTTSVILLE -- Four Exxon Mobil gas stations and convenience stores have closed their doors, some of them just this week, with little warning to those who live in and around this part of Schuylkill County.
"They never have no gas. Either they have no cigarettes or they have no gas. Or they have gas and no cigarettes. I don't know what's going on," said Traci Dietrich of Cressona.
The station along Route 61 in Pottsville sits empty. A hand-written sign on the door tells would-be patrons that the business is no longer open. And the sign indicates the last time fuel was sold at this station, prices were still over $3 a gallon for regular unleaded.
According to the published reports, Lehigh Gas Cross America Partners, which is based in Allentown, owns the four stations, but Lehigh Gas was leasing the four locations to an operator who has not been identified. Lehigh Gas claims the owner simply no longer wanted to run the four businesses.
Some of the stations have been closed longer than others. One station along Route 61 just outside of Pottsville shut its doors back in November according to a sign on the door.
"I don't know. I was going to come over here. I stopped here on the way to my mom's because that's where I'm headed. It's a mile from here to my mom's. Now this one's shut down," Dietrich said.
And when gas stations and small food stores like these close their doors, it not only means consumers have fewer options, but it also leaves those who worked there without a job.
"I feel sorry for them. That was their livelihood," said Tina Kohr of Minersville.
"I'm sure that once it opens again, if it opens again, I'm sure that they will be one of the first people to get hired back," said Sandy Carl of Minersville.
Carl works at a Mobil gas station in Saint Clair that is under different management and is still open. It's not far from the four stations that have closed up shop. Carl says she is happy to still have her job, and has heard about the other stations closing.
"They are all owned by the same person and he just stopped paying his bills apparently there was no gas and no cigarettes," Carl said.
We did try to reach out Lehigh Gas, but did not receive a response. There is no word if any or all of these stations will be reopened in the future.