Creswell, that sleepy little town a few miles down I-5 from Eugene, sometimes feels like it’s stuck in the 1950s. It has more churches than bars. The streets are mostly clean. It’s even got a popular Fourth of July parade that draws people from out of town each summer. But is that a bad thing?
Not when it comes to finding a full-service gas station, the kind from decades ago where employees wear matching uniforms, are unfailingly polite and friendly, and appear as if by magic at your window the moment you park near a gas pump, asking how’s your day going and what they can do for you today? And then, once the gas is flowing, they start cleaning your windshield.
All this is the legacy of businessman Bill Spencer, who’s owned and operated the station since 1974, hiring young, inexperienced workers and training them not only to pump gas but in the art of customer service. Spencer’s approach — which includes generous employee bonuses, from educational saving accounts to holiday turkeys, is so remarkable he’s drawn national publicity, even appearing in The Washington Times.…