At the corner of Elmwood and Amherst sits Joe’s Service Center, the furthest North member of Forever Elmwood and the furthest East member of the Grant/Amherst Business Association (GABA). The service center is, and I quote, “Where blue-blood meets blue collar and Joe College meets Joe Shopper.” That is exactly how Mark Kubiniec (right) feels about his corner business, which he runs along with Tom Hryvniak (left).
Mark and Tom are avid members of the 60-member business association that contributes to the neighborhood in the form of beautification projects, tree plantings and the installation of custom-stenciled concrete garbage cans that display the association’s name. The GABA has also planted flowers around the area’s tree-pits for the last three years. Mark is not just your average friendly full-service gas and convenience shop-owner, he is also on the board of the GABA and is eager to participate in the hands-on growth of the Grant/Amherst district. He and Tom are key components of the city’s super-successful Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts, so they know what it takes to grow a grassroots association.
Another distinguished feature of Joe’s Service Center is the unusual auto parked in the corner lot. The confused car is called the Automobius and is a remnant from the Burchfield-Penney’s Art on Wheels project. As a matter of fact, you can see this unusual vehicle in today’s Mardi Gras parade on Elmwood. Mark purchased Automobius at the Art on Wheels auction, and since the vehicle is street-legal he makes sure that car gets plenty of exposure at all sorts of Buffalo events, including Rediscover Amherst Street in June.
The two also know how to run a customer-friendly service station. Check this out. What do you normally do while waiting for an oil change? Not much, right? Well these guys have a couple activities to keep their customers busy including, suggesting that people go bowl a game over at Volker’s Bowling Lanes (located right across the street), which apparently many people are doing these days. The two have also set up a symbiotic relationship with Signature Coffee located a stone throw from the station. It’s simple, get your car serviced and get a free cup of coffee in this warm and cozy local eatery.
Joe’s is also the place to get the cool Buffalo baseball caps that we have featured as recent website headers as well as a couple posts. For anyone interested in finding out more about the GABA, please contact Joanna Dickinson at the Grant Amherst Business Association located at 416 Amherst Street in Buffalo (14207).
Side Note: The stencils on the GABA garbage cans are produced locally by Ed Hogle at Atlas Steel. He is the same artist that made the crystals for Superman The Movie starring Christopher Reeves. Some of the original crystals may still be found located on Tonawanda in his renovated train station.