New gas station goes up

"Another business is entering the battle for gas dollars in Oak Harbor. Ki Hwan Kim and Wes Young, co-owners of 10-month-old DK Market and Deli, are remodeling the store at the south end of Oak Harbor on Highway 20 and putting in a Tesoro fueling station.Kim, who also owns Arirang Garden Korean Restaurant on Goldie Road, said that the remodeling job will cost approximately $200,000, and the store will probably start selling gas on Monday. He was hoping to finish preparations by Friday but software problems delayed the process. Young, a retired Marine, said he thinks the new store will be successful because it will carry products other convenience stores don't have such as a large Oriental foods section and a full deli. He said that beer, cigarettes and gas prices will be competitive.We are going to be willing to beat the market, Young said. Our main competitor is probably going to be 7-Eleven so we'll probably market a few cents cheaper than them. DK Market and Deli, which is named after Kim's son Douglas Kim, will be the only gas station on the west side of Highway 20. Young said he thinks it's much more convenient to stay on one side of the highway on the way south out of town, especially in heavy traffic. The Oak Harbor Tesoro construction is the latest in a surge of Tesoro gas stations in the area. In 1998, Tesoro bought the Anacortes oil refinery previously owned by the Shell Oil Co., and its gas stations have popped up in Burlington, Anacortes, on North Whidbey near Deception Pass, and in other Skagit Valley locations. "

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