The clock is ticking for the only gas station on Alameda’s Bay Farm Island. Come Nov. 30, the Unocal 76 station on Mecartney Road near its intersection with Island Drive at Harbor Bay Landing shopping mall’s southwest corner will join other Bay Farm retailers that have bitten the dust in recent years, like the CVS (formerly Long’s) drug store across the parking lot.
The shutdown of Bay Farm’s only fuel stop is due to the estimated $2 million price tag to remove the station’s old single-walled underground gas storage tank and replace it with a state-mandated double-walled one—an environmental upgrade. That cost is simply too high for station owner Simon Kim.
When Kim was first notified several years ago that he needed a double-walled tank, the cost was around $1 million. “At the time, I thought I could handle that,” Kim said. “But the COVID pandemic hit, so prices started to rise. Now, the average cost is about $2 million.”
Kim also faces a potential fine of up to $20,000 a day if the tank is not replaced by Dec. 31. Adding to the challenge for the independent operator, who doesn’t own the land his station sits on, is that he cannot make the decision to upgrade on his own. “I cannot even control my situation because the landlord has to approve it and then 76 has to approve it,” Kim explained.
So, after 41 years in business, Kim, now 70, has decided to pack it in.
A native of Seoul, South Korea, Kim emigrated to the United States in 1982 and began working at his uncle’s five gas stations throughout the East Bay, learning the trade. In 1984, he took over one of them—the then-Mobil station at the Bay Farm shopping center. Since then, it has also flown the BP flag before eventually becoming a Unocal 76 station.
In addition to selling gas, Kim has emphasized routine maintenance for his customers, especially the elderly. He expressed concern about where they’ll go once the station closes. “They need kind of little, small touches,” such as checking the oil and tire pressure, he said. “I’m really sorry for the elderly persons, my dear customers.”
Besides the tank replacement issue, Kim said another challenge is that today’s cars don’t break down as much and are equipped with more warning systems indicating when repairs are needed. “Every time tire pressure gets lower, a light comes on. And oil changes too. Twenty years ago, we didn’t have those kinds of fancy monitoring systems,” he noted.
The soon-to-be-retired Kim plans to take a well-deserved vacation back to South Korea after closing up shop to check in with friends and relatives he hasn’t seen in over 25 years—a long-overdue trip his wife says he’s been “dragging his feet on.”
Over the years, Kim’s Unocal 76 has had its share of memorable moments. Perhaps the most noteworthy was when the station sold a $93 million winning California lottery ticket in 2016 to then-executive assistant Judy Taylor on a “quick pick” ticket.
Kim recalls, “Taylor came in after filling up and had a couple of bucks in change. Not a regular lottery player, she decided to buy a quick pick ticket. The rest is history.”
Retailers who sell winning tickets also get a share of the winnings, and Kim’s take was $465,000. As for Taylor, her current whereabouts are unknown. She opted for the lump-sum payout and took home a cool $52 million after taxes.
To celebrate the win, Kim handed out free $1 quick pick tickets to his customers. As often happens with big-win lottery ticket outlets, Kim’s Unocal gained a reputation for being “lucky.”
Bay Farm resident Rob Sloan, a retired U.S. and world history high school teacher, said he’s been coming to the station since 1989 and that its closure will be tough. Sloan mentioned that he stops by every time he needs a fill-up and is not looking forward to driving over the bridge to the next-nearest station on Alameda’s main island.
Sloan shared that he’ll miss not just the service at Bay Farm Island’s only gas station but also the other aspects of the experience—like “the joy of talking to him [Kim] about the Lunar New Year,” sparked by calendars Kim used to provide.
“It’s part of my routine,” Sloan said. “When you separate from a job or situation, it’s always going to be bittersweet.”
Ever the history teacher, Sloan summed up his feelings about his local gas station going the way of the woolly mammoth with a quote from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “There’s nothing permanent except change.”
https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/04/lone-gas-station-on-alamedas-bay-farm-island-closing-by-end-of-month/
