Come for an oil change, stay for a Verna burger.
Step into Kendel’s Service Station & Diner and you might think you’ve gone back in time. The family-owned East Kildonan business is celebrating its 50th anniversary and much of the shop remains as it was in 1974. A vintage Cola Cola menu frozen in time — with a bacon and eggs breakfast priced at 65 cents — hangs on the wall by the cash register.
“The fact that we’ve been able to keep it up for 50 years is amazing,” said owner Jeff Kendel, 77, who opened the store with his wife, Lynne, and his parents in 1974.
The one-stop shop offers car repairs, pumps for gas and breakfast and coffee from the diner while customers wait. If it’s closer to lunch, a Howie dog (named for Kendel’s late father) or a Verna burger (named after his late mother) might hit the spot.
“There’s not too many places like this around, said Chuck Clarkson, a regular who’s been visiting Kendel’s since it first opened at 1157 McLeod Ave. “They’ve kind of come and gone, the mom and pop shops. It’s just handy.”
When the Kendel family purchased the property, it had one service bay, a couple gas pumps and an abandoned restaurant. In those days, the shop was surrounded by gravel roads and farmers’ fields.
Kendel’s father Howard, who was a mechanic who worked around Winnipeg, never had doubts about opening up shop.
“My dad was such an amazing mechanic that he had a following of people that would follow him wherever he had a service station,” Kendel said. “If they had four wheels and a motor, he could fix it.”
As business grew, additional pumps were added and two new service bays were built in 1977.
There were no plans to revive the restaurant left behind by the previous owners — the attached kitchen and diner was left virtually untouched. Kendel’s mom, Verna, said she wanted no part of the restaurant.
But as customers waited for their car to be repaired, they got hungry. Howard starting serving coffee and toast and, soon enough, Verna got involved.
“He called up my mom up and asked ‘Can you bring some tea towels and rags to wash dishes?’ She did and she never left. Poor lady was here another 20 years after that,” Kendel said with a chuckle.
Over the 50 years, Kendel has seen his fair share of struggles, pushing through it all to keep the coffee pots filled and the gas pumping.
“We survived,” he said. “There were a lot of bad years and COVID just kicked the hell out of our restaurant. But we survived because we treat our customers well so they want to come back.”
The service station pumped Shell gas for the first 33 years but in 2007, the costs became too great. Paying a rental fee to Shell, Kendel had to purchase the gas up front, which strained his bottom line. He found even if he sold all the gas, because of credit card fees, he saw little to no profit.
A switch to Esso changed nothing. Left with no other choice, Kendel let the pumps go dry for two years, relying solely on the diner and car repairs to make ends meet.
When Domo came calling in 2014, Kendel was skeptical to dip back into gas. But Domo’s business model fit and the pumps returned. Today, Kendel’s is the highest volume Domo gas station in the city, he said.
Kendel has no plans to retire any time soon, and said the moment he stops working is when the station will go up for sale.
“We applaud the owner for reaching this significant milestone. Small family owned businesses are the hallmark of Winnipeg,” said Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.
North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty said the shop has been a mainstay in the community for years and serves as the neighbourhood meeting spot.
“It’s nice to have a place like that where people know your name,” said Browaty.
matthew.frank@freepress.mb.ca
