JOHN DAY — The former Leathers gas station next to Chester’s Market at 603 W. Main St. has been modernized and rebranded as a Marathon station, although its services will remain largely the same.

The wheels were put in motion for the rebrand well over a year ago after the acquisition of Portland-based Leathers Fuels by Sierra Enterprises Oregon. Marty Jordan, the wholesale accounts manager for Sierra Enterprises, said it simply took a little bit of time for the results of the acquisition to trickle down to John Day.

“We’ve been bringing Marathon fuel to that site since October of ’23, so it’s been getting Marathon fuel for 14 or 15 months,” he said. “When you brand a site, part of it is for identity, and part of it is what the brand can offer.”

The operators of the site, Mike and Trish Brannan, will run the business in the same way they have for the past decade, according to Jordan. Staff will remain unchanged as will the operation of the repair shop, but the rebrand does provide an opportunity for some new offerings.

“It’s basically a fresh brand, a fresh look at an opportunity to provide (customers) with the loyalty program, (with) some savings there, and also commercial businesses have access to some commercial fleet programs as well that might help,” Jordan said.

That loyalty program will save customers 5 to 10 cents per gallon of fuel and give commercial customers an opportunity to save money gassing up their business fleets, according to Jordan. Along with the loyalty program, customers will see a new, fresh and modern facility.

“That look from Leathers was started in the late ’60s,” Jordan said. “I don’t know when that store was branded, that was well before my time, but it just needed an update.”

Work on the rebrand began on Monday, Jan. 6. The gas station was closed for several days so workers could safely proceed with sign installation, painting and other renovations.

Jordan said he understands the frustration some may have with the temporary closure but said the gas station was expected to reopen under the Marathon banner by Friday, Jan. 10.

“We apologize tremendously that we had the block off the site,” he said, “but for the customer safety, the staff safety, and even our contractors, we couldn’t have cars driving through that tangle.”