Shelby’s new Mickey’s features decades-long personal connection
By David Jacobs
A longstanding personal connection ties the new Mickey’s off Mansfield Avenue to the decades-old station along West Main Street near downtown Shelby -- a connection beyond the name.
As a young person, Dan Coles -- now president of the Coles Group -- first worked at the current Mickey Mart station along West Main Street when it was a full-service operation, with staff members providing gas and other customer services pumpside.
Decades later, as a retail developer, he returned to Shelby on May 5 to open the new Mickey’s and Dunkin’ location on the opposite side of town, at Mansfield Avenue near Lamplighter Lane.
“I have history in Shelby,” Coles said during the store’s opening. “I had been coming here for a very long time, since I was a little boy. We still have the gas station on the far side of town. It's an Amoco now. It's a Mickey Mart. I've got some great employees there. I've been proud to be part of the community for a very long time.”
Coles shared history about the Mickey Mart just west of downtown.
“Back when I was a kid, that was a full-serve gas station,” Coles said. “So I would work there, and we had the little change belts where we would make change and pump your gas and all kinds of things.”
“So fast forward multiple decades, and here we are today,” Coles said, stating that he is "a big believer in Shelby and Richland County. We are Ohio-based, Ohio proud..."
The new Shelby store sits at a site once home to Skarl Motors and now pairs Mickey’s with a Dunkin’ under one roof. It reflects Mickey's newest store design.
“Yes, we went big, but this is really our new look,” Coles said. “So where there's a spot throughout Ohio for Mickey's, this is kind of going to be our new model...We had opened the one in Norwalk about a month ago, but we're really super excited about this one, especially when we saw the location for sale, and were able to do something here.”
Shelby Mayor Steve Schag noted the project’s scale and Coles’ personal, family and Milan, Ohio-based company's ties to the Shelby community.
"We say oftentimes that it's all about relationships, and that is what you are seeing here today," Schag said.
“It was so cool to get to know him better this morning and realize there's a Shelby connection,” Schag said. “This is a huge, huge investment in the city of Shelby, and you wonder, 'What traces back to that?' And Dan was reminiscing about his days in Shelby as a boy growing up, but actually, his father owned the (West Main) gas station here, and so his heart beats for Shelby. So I fully appreciate that.”
At the new Mickey's/Dunkin' site, Coles "is responsible for everything that you see on this lot,” Schag said. “Here you are standing in front of the project that's been completed, which was a huge, huge project.”
Coles said he is "happy to bring donuts and coffee" and "to continue to be a community partner."
AT A GLANCE
Photo gallery: Mickey’s and Dunkin' open in Shelby
Mickey’s, Dunkin’ fuel a reshaped Shelby corridor
Mickey’s prepares for dino-themed Shelby attraction
A closer look: how Mickey’s, Dunkin’ project took shape in Shelby