Crested Butte cardlock facility closing

Parish Oil unable to purchase property, continue service

Local gas stations may see a boost in business this summer since the cardlock fuel facility in Crested Butte will close, effective June 30. Montrose, Colo.’s Parish Oil intended to purchase the property from Paradigm Services, LLC (Sweitzer Oil) but could not secure financing. Also, Parish was trying to purchase the Take Away convenience store in Gunnison, but could not secure financing for that purchase either.

Parish Oil president Greg Parish is disappointed in the outcome, but said the company will still compete for local customers who need bulk fuel delivery services. “We’ve been operating with the intent of purchase since October from Paradigm Services, and we were unable to put together our financing,” he said. “We will continue to compete for wholesale deliveries—we’ve had deliveries into the Gunnison area since 1977. It was our intent to give people plenty of notice,” Parish said. “Under no fault of theirs [Paradigm], I was unable to put together the financing. Everybody’s been really good to us.”
Among their bulk customers is Crested Butte Mountain Resort, and Parish said they would still be able to provide that fuel-delivery service.
The Mountain Express stopped using the cardlock service in February. “We’ve been purchasing our fuel at the Gas Café since February” said Mountain Express Transportation Director Chris Larsen. “We have fleet credit cards that deduct the federal tax automatically and then we are reimbursed from the state for the state sales tax. With the uncertainty of the key card fuel we felt it was better to change over sooner than later.”
The town of Crested Butte is currently considering all of its options, according to Public Works Director Rodney Due. “It would be premature for me to say otherwise,” he said. “The town will be using our Conoco/Phillips Fleet cards until we decide on the best direction for the town.”
Mt. Crested Butte will continue to use the cardlock service until it closes, at which point they’ll also use fleet credit cards that deduct the federal taxes from fuel purchases. Town finance director Karl Trujillo said they received a letter from Parish confirming the closure with a recent billing statement.
The letter from Parish to customers states: “It is my understanding that Paradigm Services, LLC does not intend to provide fuel from the Crested Butte cardlock facility when Parish Oil Company turns the property back over to them, but will continue to look for a buyer to replace us.”
According to Mike Hardin, chief executive officer for Paradigm Services, LLC the company does not intend to operate the Crested Butte cardlock facility once Parish Oil ceases operations. However they do intend to sell the Crested Butte cardlock facility when Parish Oil ceases operations.