04/12/2022
A Brief History of Benville Service, written by Lawrence Aho, years ago.
Our father, Ben Aho, started our family business in Babbitt in 1957 as a Pure Oil station. It was basically a 2-bay repair shop/gas station and bulk fuel oil dealership. He worked in the mines and operated the gas station to subsidize his income. It was basically a 2-man operation, one full time and one part time employee. In 1965, he added on a convenience store which my mother managed. As we were growing up, it gave all six of us kids employment in one aspect or another.
In 1976, my dad decided to retire full time and called myself and two brothers together and sold the business to us for $1.00. We then incorporated the business to its present name of Benville Service, Inc.
Lee and I were both working full time as mechanics in the station and LeRoy was doing the books as a part-time job. In the next few years, we added on 4 bays, purchased good shop equipment and bought a tow truck. We also added a sporting goods store. Basically adding bait, tackle, etc. to the convenience store.
In 1981, we bought an old Midland gas station in Embarrass and converted it to a Union 76 station. We built it up, remodeled it and when it was doing a profitable business, sold it on contract-for-deed. In 1984, our major employer in town, Reserve Mining Company, shut down partially and by 1986 closed completely. Over 1000 good paying jobs left town. In 1986, we closed the convenience store as it was costing too much to operate, as we were already buying a lot of auto parts for ourselves and the only parts store in Babbitt closed, we decided to explore this avenue. In July of 1986, we opened our first Carquest store in our convenience store location. We explored a lot of companies before deciding to affiliate with Carquest Distribution Center in Lakeville, MN. They assisted us in building a profitable auto parts store. In the summer of 1988 we bought a self-serve car wash in Babbitt, which had been closed for four years. We painted it, remodeled it and opened it. In 1989, a new mining company came to Babbitt and the town started to prosper again. In 1991, we added a new auto parts store in Mt. Iron, MN, approximately 40 miles away from Babbitt. This location proved very fruitful, superseding our expectations. In 1993, we found a good buy on a third store in Aurora, MN and bought it. It was a run-down business and it sold cheap. We gave it a facelift and some new signs. In one year, we tripled the previous owners sales at this location.
In 1989, LeRoy went to work for the new mining company and became a silent partner in our corporation. His son, Todd, took his place as an active partner in the corporation. Todd and Lee ran our carwash, service station and fuel oil business. Lee also works two days per week in our Aurora store. I work in all three stores overseeing the managers and actively pursuing new accounts. We employ approximately 26 people in all three locations. In 1997 we added and Ely store and in 1999 a store in Internation Falls.
We are all married and live in the Babbitt areas. We were taught a good business ethic by our parents and have worked hard toward business growth.
