William Elbers quits TotalEnergies filling station ‘t Meertje after 36 years: ‘Priorities have changed’
TotalEnergies petrol station ‘t Meertje on the N325 east of Nijmegen will continue in the network of Circle K. Owner William Elbers is quitting the business after more than 36 years. The border, politics, scarcity of staff and regulations are the reason for stopping, according to Elbers.
TotalEnergies ‘t Meertje is the only manned filling station on Nieuwe Ubbergseweg between Nijmegen and the border crossing with Germany, a few hundred metres away. The fuelling location offers a Bonjour fuel shop with coffee corner, toilets and free wifi. Run since 1989 by entrepreneur William Elbers, the filling station has been included in Circle K’s network as of 2 February. Elbers will cease operations as of this date, he reported on LinkedIn. A decision he says was not taken overnight.
“It is a well-considered decision. I took over the petrol station when I was 19 years old from my father, who passed away at a very young age. I was already enjoying working there and I also decided to take over right then. A few years later, my wife came to work here and together we have made this a beautiful business. Total ‘t Meertje is really our family business which our children have also been a part of.”
No influence
According to Elbers, getting rid of the petrol station was not easy, but according to him, “there are some aspects you have no influence on as an entrepreneur”. “The border, politics, scarcity of staff and regulations: all these aspects together led to this decision. In addition, the priorities have also changed compared to before.”
The filling station on the N325 will continue to display TotalEnergies’ colours on the awning and at the pump. Now included in the Circle K network, the manned shop will be converted to this formula.
Conversion operation
Since the acquisition in March 2023 of TotalEnergies’ retail and card operations by Alimentation Couche-Tard/Circle K, the Canadian-American convenience store formula has been engaged in a large-scale conversion operation of tank shops in Western Europe. In total, some 2,000 petrol station shops in Central Europe are being converted to Circle K, with 250 of them in the Netherlands. Eighteen months after the launch of the formula, around 30 Circle K locations at petrol stations have now been realised in our country. In Belgium, where the rollout also began in April 2024, the counter currently stands at 17 Circle K stations; Luxembourg has five. It is expected that by mid-2027, all shops in the Netherlands will be converted to the Canadian convenience brand.
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