After plenty of bumps in the road, Lil Cuties fuel stop officially opened on Nov. 6. “We opened at about 7 o’clock at night. It was finally all done,” said Promise Miller.
In September of 2022 they started on their venture with hopes of opening in March or April of 2023. From tanks showing up with damage to the wrong dispensers coming in, it seemed as though hiccups were waiting around every corner. “Working through all of those problems set us back, but we finally got it,” she laughed. “We had some bad luck along the way. Pretty much anything that could go wrong did.”
“It’s a good thing our dad is a handy man,” added daughter and business partner Savannah. “It all happened for a reason though.”
The family business, run by mother Promise Miller and daughters Savannah, Taylor and Kelsey, is open 24/7 and includes pumps, a vending area and lounge equipped with bathrooms and Netflix. “We own Flatline. We haul gas and diesel already. The natural progression was to open up a gas station, get the family involved, and sell fuel,” noted Promise.
The family team decided to create their business model in a way that it could operate unmanned. “It’s hard to find employees,” Promise elaborated. “And it gives a 24-hour option somewhere in town.” They also decided to cater to trucks, offering a high flow diesel pump that allows both sides of the truck to be filled at the same time. In the future they hope to expand the vending area, offering a greater variety of foods, but for right now it hasn’t even fully sunk in yet.
The station name holds a sentimental meaning to the family. “We have four grandkids, and we always call them Mimi and Papa’s little cuties,” explained Promise. “We decided to name it after the grandkids. Opening this for Mike and I especially was leaving something to our family.”
“We’ve always been a pretty close knit family,” smiled daughter Taylor.
Lit Cuties will hold their Grand Opening Saturday, Nov. 18, with a free lunch from noon-4 p.m. and door prizes.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.