The Parks Feed and Mercantile

12/22/2024

09/25/2024

Fuel Theft Follow-up
Thank you all for the kind words and concerns about what happened at the station on 9/13. I’ve been around this business for a long time and can tell you with absolute certainty these folks are professionals. They used specific knowledge and tools to break into the pump the first time and as I suspected the same vehicles and thieves returned again this past Saturday night at 11:38pm and attempted to steal fuel a second time. Because we took steps on our end to stop the flow of fuel to the pumps after hours they left empty handed this time. After hours fuel will remain closed until we have more safeguards in place to feel comfortable reopening the pumps at night. Parks is a great community with wonderful people and we will not let folks like this threaten our livelihood and change how we serve the community.

Sincerely,

Shawn and Sandy Frate

09/18/2024

The Merc Fuel Update
After hours fueling will be temporarily unavailable. On the evening of Friday 9/13 an organized group of three vehicles made a coordinated break in on pump 3/4. The thieves positioned their vehicles to block camera angles and bypassed the security features in place to gain access to the internal wiring of the gas pump. During the next hour the thieves pumped over 300 gallons of diesel fuel into a tank on the back of one of the vehicles while the other two kept watch. These were not locals who got lucky but likely a group of thieves travelling from a metro area with specific tools and knowledge that were looking for opportunities to steal fuel. We are working with local and regional law enforcement to provide vehicle descriptions and other identifying features in an effort to track down the suspects.
Leaving the pumps on 24/7 leaves us vulnerable to criminal activity and is a difficult balance between the risk and reward for the business we gain during the night. We know this is a tremendous benefit to our local customers and travelers on I-40. Our goal is to return to 24 hour fueling once we are able to address the vulnerabilities that were discovered.
We appreciate your patience and support during this temporary change in operation.

08/15/2024

Got a full feed order in! Stop in for all your feed and hay needs!

07/04/2024

Don’t miss the Parks parade and stop by the Merc to say hi!

07/04/2024

Start your 4th by supporting Maine Consolidated School in Parks!