Local Marine Corps veteran Todd Kane is nearing his five-year anniversary of owning the Riverhills Shell station located off Lithia Pinecrest Road. The Riverhills station is the only independently veteran-owned store in the area.
Kane served in the Marine Corps from 1993 to 2000 as a logistics clerk in the S4 office. During his seven years of service, he was responsible for helping organize deployments and loading aircrafts.
The veteran said the biggest challenge of owning his own convenience store is the constant demands of the job. He is responsible for monitoring and working at the store 19 hours a day and seven days a week, and he said that, even when he is off the clock, he continues to work to ensure the success of the Riverhills Shell station.
“If anything happens, I have to get up and go to the store. It’s just one of those things that it never turns off, even with the outstanding employees that I have,” said Kane.
Despite the demands of his job, Kane expressed gratitude for the dedication and hard work of his employees that help him manage the station.
“I have phenomenal employees. I have employees that I can trust. I have employees that I give the ability to manage the store as they see fit during their time of work and, to me, it has given them the opportunity to see they can do it, and it has given me the ability to not to be at the store 24/7,” said Kane.
The convenience store is operated by Kane and his three employees, offering sodas, snacks, alcohol, tobacco and more in addition to Shell fuel.
Kane urged members of the community to support locally owned and operated stores like his over the larger franchises.
“If you know that you have somebody in your area that you know is independently owned and operated or locally owned and operated, try to support them as much as possible,” said Kane.
The Riverhills Shell station is located at 4330 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. in Valrico. For more information on Kane’s store, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/riverhillsshell or call 813-643-7809.
