Eastside Convenience – Shell Gas

Not a big shopper here, and I’m not overly anal but for me its often the little things. If I’m getting more than a couple of things I shouldn’t have to ask for a bag… it should be a common sense thing to either offer it or start bagging the items as I’m swiping my card. Yet time after time I have to ask for a bag whenever I’m checking out, which for some bizarre reason seems to annoy the clerk. And its not just this location the one down the road at the intersection of Frenchtown/​South County Trail is the same way

Figured this place deserved a long overdue nod simply because I frequent here at least a couple times a week for fueling up the kid mover or to grab a cup of coffee. This location is in Warwick despite the College Hill PVD reference. I’m thinking this Shell is probably somehow connected with the station at the bottom of Wickenden in Providence.
I just can’t be too enthusiastic about it, despite my frequent visits, because it so freaking chaotic here and the gas prices are always high.
OK — it does pass my newly developed Unilocal litmus test whereby a business scores an automatic star if it could sustain me for twenty four hours, serving all my basic needs, if I was trapped there for a 24 hour period. But ya see? Only two more stars, despite convenience of location up the street from my house.
Why? Well — because it COULD sustain my needs for 24 hours, I think that there are actually those who try to make that happen here. I mean, it’s not tent city, but there is a constant logjam of cars that are in a mad rush to pump their gas, go inside to get their DD fix and then get their Redbox… all while leaving their car parked in front of the pump. I mean we do pay close to $ 4/​gallon for gas now but it’s not like your paying rent to keep your car parked after you’re done fueling up! The parking is limited here but that is not a reason for such a display of entitlement (insert sound of soap box getting put back in closet).
On the flip side, this spot does provide a great location for the weary, gas poor traveler to make a rest stop. It is very accessible to both 95 north and south, with EZ off and on ramps less than a quarter mile away. The bathroom is clean, the pumps are kept up and well-​lit at night and the Dunkin’ Donuts gals do a great job at their full-​service little kiosk. There is also a coin — operated air pump, an outdoor Redbox, an inside ATM and a well-​stocked convenience store. Not bad. I guess.