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Gas Station Expands and Offers Customers Much More

Michigan, USA – While the automotive giants and industry big houses are off begging for bail-out funds, real business leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation are busy finding new ways to better serve customers. Ask John Abbo, owner of Mobil station at Clyde Road and U.S. 23 in Hartland Township, who has transformed the gas station into a convenient one-stop-shop.

"The general trend is consumption of petroleum has gone down; it has affected our industry a lot," Abbo said. "We're fortunate that we were able to do the different type of things that we did, like put in a new grill, and we've now converted the store into a market. Gas stations aren't what they used to be."

Abbo has expanded offerings at his 5,000-square-foot station, which he now refers to as the "Hartland General Store," including adding a full liquor collection, expanding Hartland Express Pizza into a grill and selling Michigan Department of Natural Resources hunting and fishing licenses on site. Frozen foods, a deli and other offerings are also included in the renovations, which are expected to wrap up within the next month or so.

In all, Abbo said, he's poured nearly a quarter of a million dollars in improvements.

When other businesses have fallen to their hands and knees over the economic slow down, Abbo wisely returns to basic business principals.

"It's scary to think how much money we're spending in this economy, but it's the right thing to do," Abbo said. "Every little department we can possibly have, we'll have. My main theme is to be a destination location."

The store carries hundreds of liquors and an additional 150 varieties of beer. The liquor racks extend upwards to the ceiling, which will soon be a common sight among all the store's shelves. "We don't have more space to go out, so we're going up," Abbo said.

The move makes sense, Abbo noted, saying the closest grocery stores are on M-59 and in Fenton, roughly 3.5 and 9 miles away, respectively.

"We're kind of tucked away to ourselves and it's really convenient for people," he added.

Filed in Business & Finance :: By David Najor on Monday, November 17, 2008 :: 944 Views

Mar Addai Church, MI USA

Mar Addai Chaldean Catholic Church
24010 Coolidge Hwy.
Oak Park, MI 48237
Tel: (248) 547-4648
Fax: (248) 399-9089

Congregation Organizer:
Rev. Michael J. Bazzi

Church Founding Pastor:
Rev. Stephen Kallabat

Current Pastor:
Rev. Stephan Kallabat

Parochial Vicar:
Rev. Fadi Habib Khalaf

Parochial Vicar:
Rev. Sulemina Denha

Rev. Stephen Kallabat

Fr. Stephan Kallabat was born in Telkaif, Iraq. After completing seven years of scholarly work for the priesthood in Mosul, Iraq Fr. Kallabat was accepted at the prestigious university in Rome. There he spent six additional years of scholarly work in the areas of philosophy and theology and an additional four years in scriptural studies.

Ordained a priest in 1966 by Pope Paul VI he returned to Iraq to serve the Holy Family parish until his departure to Michigan, U.S. in 1979 to serve the growing population of Chaldeans. Fr. Kallabat was appointed assistant pastor, then pastor of Mar Addai Parish in Oak Park, Michigan.

Hitting the ground running, Fr. Kallabat is credited with raising the necessary funds to provide Chaldeans in the local area a church and community center of their own. Fr. Kallabat continues to serve the parish and Chaldean community as their pastor.

Rev. Fadi Habib Khalaf

Fr. Fadi Habib Khalaf was born in Baghdad May 10, 1974. Fr. Khalaf graduated from Baghdad University in 1997 and soon after joined the Chaldean seminary in Baghdad. While there Fr. Khalaf earned a scholarship to attend the Urbanian Pontifical University in Rome. There he earned another bachelor’s degree in theology and was ordained deacon in Rome on May 8, 2004.

Fr. Khalaf then returned to Baghdad where he was officially ordained as a priest. Afterward Fr. Khalaf returned to Rome to further his studies. In 2006 Fr. Khalaf was appointed to serve Chaldeans in the United States.

In the summer of 2006 he arrived to the Chaldean diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle and was cardinated into the Diocese and elected to serve at Mar Addai parish on March 15, 2007 as the Parochial Vicar.

Rev. Suleiman Denha

Rev. Suleiman Denha was born in Telkaif, Iraq. He began his priestly studies in 1951 in Mosul, Iraq and was ordained in 1959. Fr. Denha taught in Telkaif until 1961, when he was appointed pastor in Basra, Iraq in 1966.

After immigrating to the Unite States in 1979, he was appointed to serve the Chaldean community in Virginia. A year later, Fr. Denha was recruited to assist the much larger population of Chaldeans in Detroit.

Upon his arrival Fr. Denha assisted Fr. Yasso at Sacred Heart Church. In 1982 he was asked to temporally assist St. Joseph Church in Troy, returning a year later Sacred Heart.

In 1991, he was appointed to Mar Addai Church in Oak Park, Michigan as the Parochial Vicar, where he still serves the community today.