30-01-2025
Social media plea drives support for Wisconsin's only Black-owned gas station
Sonia Nash and her husband, Marvin, wanted to continue the legacy Diane Stowers created more than 30 years ago.
When Stowers opened a BP gas station at 807 E. Atkinson Ave. in Milwaukee's Arlington Heights neighborhood, it was Wisconsin's only Black-owned gas station.
It still is — thanks to Nash and her husband. The Milwaukee couple are the station's new owners. But since they took over in November, things haven't been so easy.
The volume of customers dwindled, a side effect of the gas station changing hands multiple times. And a temporary closure before the Nashes took over left people wonderingif the business had closed for good.
That prompted her husband to make an impassioned plea on Facebook.
'Unfortunately, when times get tough, and unlike our competitors, we don't have the luxury of borrowing money from other gas station owners," the post read. "Therefore, WE NEED your help, Milwaukee! Please patronize us. Please support us. We cannot succeed without you.
'I can't tell anyone where to spend their hard-earned money, but how does the ONLY black and brown-owned gas station in Milwaukee not get the support it needs? I continuously see our people patronize our competitors who are directly across the street."
Sonia Nash believes people were unaware the station was back open and under new ownership.
'Once that posted, people started supporting,' she said. 'People do care and do care about Black businesses. I appreciate everybody that came and supported. They are still supporting.'
The Nashes are both new to operating a gas station. Sonia Nash is a facilities manager at an office tower on North 27th Street and West Hope Avenue. Her husband spent some 20 years as a correctional officer with the Community Reintegration Center, formerly the House of Correction, before retiring last year as a lieutenant.
Boredom led Marvin Nash to get another job at Auer Steel and to venture into owning a gas station. The couple rehired all the station's staff, which Nash said has been a huge help in learning the business and running the gas station.
But Sonia Nash said fate might have led them to owning the station. They were approached three times about buying it. They declined the two previous times because they knew little about operating a gas station. But when presented with a third chance, they pondered the possibilities.
'I told my husband, 'Babe, do you think maybe this is a sign?'' Nash said. 'Maybe somebody is telling us you better jump on this, otherwise somebody else is going to get it. ... We wanted to keep it Black- and Brown-owned.'
The Nashes have big plans for the business. A barbecue restaurant will open soon in the station's café. The couple plans to host bookbag and gas giveaways to show their appreciation for the community. The effort, Sonia Nash said, is about being part of the community where they spent their earlier years.
Her husband, she said, remembers his mom sending him to that same gas station to buy milk and bread. He never imagined owning it one day.
'It's important to us to be in that area, to be in that community,' she said.
The customers, she added, are very friendly, especially the regulars who come for the coffee but stay to chat with other customers.
'It is so like family," she said. "It is so nice to have that in the community."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's only Black-owned gas station helped by social media plea
