Ellice and Arlington's nearly century-long gas station tradition to continue

© 2026, Christian Cassidy

January / February 2026

The nearly century-long tradition of a gas station at Ellice Avenue and Arlington Street is set to resume after more than a year's absence as Bunty’s, a.k.a. the “Chicken Car Wash”, is getting set to open Esso pumps. 

Here's a look back at the gas station history of  the intersection that peaked in the 1960s, when three of the four corners had one!

South East Corner - 804 Ellice Avenue

The first filling station to open at this intersection was a McColl-Frontenac in late 1928 at 804 Ellice Avenue. The station building was replaced in 1934, with the original one being moved to Portage and Main, and again in 1964 with a classic William Teague design.  Sadly, recent renovations have turned it into a stucco box. (You can read more about the building's history here.)

The Texas Company began buying up the struggling company's shares in the 1930s, and by 1941 it was the majority shareholder. The McColl-Frontenac name and its Red Indian brand were then replaced by Texaco and Sky Chief.

The first operator of the station was Edward "Ted" O'Dowd from 1928 to ca. 1935. It was Harry Ruddell's Service Station until 1947, Cecil Poulton's Service Station from 1948 to 1956, and William Leach's Auto Service until around 1970.

Its final incarnation was Bill's Texaco from around 1971 until its closure in 1982. The owner was Vassilios (Bill) Caravelis, a Greek immigrant, who "showed his family what it means to work hard and achieve your dreams."

Since then, it has been a BBQ sales shop, a pawn shop, and most recently a convenience store. 

North East Corner - 805 Ellice - Esso Service Station

An Imperial Oil / Esso service station first appeared at this intersection in 1951. It would have been a small facility as the neighbouring lots at 801 and 803 Ellice were home to the Battaglia family and their family restaurant. 

Neil McVicar was the first to lease the station, and in 1956  held an "expansion sale" that included free nylon stockings with each fill. It didn't expand that much as 801 and 803 Ellice remained on the block through the 1960s.

In 1957, it was taken over by Ken Bidley and became known as Ken’s Esso Service.

The Esso station was closed in 1976 and reopened the following year as a Gain Gas Station.

A new Mohawk Gas Bar was built on the site in 1982. It was one of five Manitoba locations added to the chain that year.

Mohawk Oil Co. was acquired by Husky Oil Co. in July 1998. This added nearly 300 gas stations to Husky's operations, and 805 Ellice was rebranded.

Husky, in turn, was taken over by new owners in 2021. Two years later, its 181 Western Canadian retail gas stations were sold to Federated Co-op. The 805 Ellice location was one that Co-op chose not to make part of its chain.

It closed on September 1, 2024, and was demolished in November. The land is currently vacant.


South West Corner - 540 Arlington / 830 Ellice - Shell Oil Service Station

August 24, 1929, Winnipeg Tribune

The first gas station to open on this corner was Prairie Cities Oil Service Station No. 11 in 1929.

Prairie Cities Oil Company was created in May 1929 when a group of investors bought the assets of the Prairie City Oil Company. With the popularity of motorcars on the rise, it wanted to expand the company from its base of commercial lubricants and oil and go further into the retail gasoline business.

It built a new office building on Valour Road and eleven gas stations in Winnipeg by October 1929, and another five over the next decade. It eventually had 250 gas stations and affiliate stations across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Prairie City was taken over by North Star Oil in 1938, and the Arlington and Ellice service station became North Star Oil Service Station No. 71. Unlike Prairie Cities, North Star stations appear to have been leased out rather than corporate-owned. As a result, it was also known as Powers Service Station, operated by James R. Powers who lived nearby at 621 Banning Street. 

Shell Oil Co. of Canada bought North Star Oil in 1963, and by 1964, the station had been rebranded to the Arlington Shell Oil Service Station.

In the summer of 1966, Shell Oil issued a tender for a new "three bay" service station at the corner of Arlington Street and Ellice Avenue.

It had expanded the site by purchasing a couple of residential properties to the west. A photo of the station cannot be found, but the mid-1960s is when Shell began constructing its two and three-bay ranch-style stations. There are remnants of these stations around the city, such as this three-bay on Logan Avenue.

When Barney's Shell Service started advertising for staff in August 1967, it was with the new address of 830 Ellice Avenue. It became A&L Shell Service, operated by Arthur J. Dorge, in 1977 until the station closed in 1988.

Bunty's in 2020. The "Chicken Car Wash"

The gas station was extensively renovated and reopened as Thawani Govin's "Fist End Plaza" with a Bread Basket Discount Bakery, Classic Cleaners depot, and convenience store. It also had a new address of 820 Ellice Avenue.

In 1993, it was still operated by the Govin family and listed in street directories as Aeshu car wash, laundromat, convenience store, and pizza shop. It was the same in 1999 when the Winnipeg street directory ceased publication.

Yonas Zewude opened Bunty's at this location by 2004 with the same combination of laundromat, car wash, convenience store, and Chester Fried Chicken to accompany the pizza. This was the second Bunty's; the original was at 228 Isabel Street and included a gas station.

Zewude put this Bunty's up for sale in 2019 to concentrate on the Isabel location. It sold in late 2020 and the new owners kept the Bunty's name and signage.

The presence of a gas station at Ellice and Arlington ended in 2024 after 96 years, but one will return!

As can be seen in the image at the top of the page, Esso pumps were added to the forecourt of Bunty's in early 2026, though construction has been quiet from the end of February to mid-April.

Another change will be the name of the store. In early 2026, the Bunty's signage was removed!