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By MICHELLE LOVE | Staff Writer

PELHAM – The sun was shining bright in Pelham as people gathered at the new MAPCO Express gas station on Pelham Parkway to celebrate the corporation’s new location with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The new location will feature a Subway, a laptop station, frozen drinks such as smoothies and coffees and full amenities of other MAPCO locations that travelers can take part in while they get their gasoline.

Many members of Pelham’s city government were present including Mayor Gary Waters and City Council President Maurice Mercer. The ribbon cutting also featured appearances by 98.7 Kiss FM radio station and free samples of energy drinks, frozen drinks and subway sandwiches.

The ceremony was topped off by a special check presentation of $1,000 to Pelham Park Middle School. MAPCO Express CEO Frederic Chaveyriat said this is all part of MAPCO’s mission to bring community together.

“We looked for the best place, and that place is Pelham,” he said.

Chaveyriat said the Pelham location is one of the company’s new store designs, which they’re developing across the states of Alabama and Tennessee. The county is home to another newly-modeled location at the intersection of U.S. 280 and Inverness Center Drive.

According to Chaveyriat, MAPCO wants to offer a new standard of gas station to the community, and the goal of the new design is to move away from your typical gas station where people go in and out quickly and to offer a place for those who may want a place to stay a while.

“It’s a place where we want to join the community together with coffee or a cold drink or a good sandwich at Subway,” he said. “it’s not just a store, it’s MAPCO arriving in the community of Pelham and trying to bring people together.”