Fuel station driving focus on loyal locals
THE owners of a Far Northern fuel supplier’s latest service station are placing the focus on locals.
Marano’s Fuel now provides customers with a network of 13 service stations in Cairns, Port Douglas, Mossman, the Tablelands and Cooktown after its newest retail outlet on Draper St, Portsmith started trading last month.
On Saturday, a grand opening event attracted more than 300 people keen to check out the site and be in the running to win $1000 worth of fuel.
Site manager Adam Psarros PH: 07 4033 6944 said the business placed a big emphasis on employing locals and offering local products.
“We’re locally owned so we use local produce and everything in our food offering is made fresh on the site daily,” he said.
“We have had a fair few people from Bunnings and a few other nearby businesses come in because that is now the closest outlet for lunches.
“I always had plans of going and seeing a lot of the local business with the food offer, they’re coming down and helping us out.” 1/472 Mulgrave Rd, Earlville QLD 4870
Mr Psarros said Marano’s Fuel was one of the last local distributors in the area and, while he said customers’ appetite for supporting local businesses was growing, he believed the big chains were here to stay.
Burgers or hot chooks from the Golden Fried Chicken outlet, new for the southside of Cairns, were among the most popular menu items.
Marano Enterprises chief executive Angelo Marano said the company had partnered with Shell at the new site on the corner of Kenny and Draper streets.
The site underwent a total refit and now offers industrial lube sales and pumpable AdBlue.
The station now operates 24 hours a day.
Mr Marano said he had been working “for a number of years” on breaking into the Cairns market and the opening of the Draper St business was a milestone for Marano’s Fuel in the Far North.
The business has been operating in Far North Queensland for more than 60 years, predominantly in the Douglas and Tablelands regions.
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