Foreclosure Imminent! Save Ren's Motors

Our names are Nancy deProsse, Jenn Gladu-Howe, Bob DiCarlo and Lisa Musante. We are creating this GoFundMe, along with some other community members and the rest of the Gladu family, to raise $125,000 to save Ren’s Motors- a small, family-owned and operated business whose future is in the hands of a major wholesale gas supplier.

Ren Gladu, an 81-year-old husband, father of three, and grandfather of seven, opened his doors nearly 50 years ago. Since then, he has worked with integrity and generosity to be available seven days a week to provide his loyal customers with gas, affordable used cars and repair services.

In mid-June of this year, Ren was ordered by his supplier to raise the gas price on a Friday by 20 cents, then told the next day to raise the price by 20 cents again. “I could no longer charge my customers the high prices ($5.00 at the time) while the oil companies were making such large profits. This is the biggest rip-off that has happened to people in my lifetime”, Ren explained to local media outlets when discussing his difficult decision to stop selling gas.

He felt it was unfair to impose such unwarranted high prices onto his loyal customer base., so he ran his pumps dry and stopped selling gas. As soon as he did not sell gas for seven straight days, his contract with that supplier was considered broken, and their 15-year relationship was terminated.

Ren then found another supplier who agreed to deliver gas, and his station started selling gas at a much lower price to the relief and joy of all of his customers. However, his initial gas supplier then sent a cease and desist letter to the new supplier, who stopped delivering gas to the station. All of this caused significant financial turmoil for his business and hurt the lives of thousands of locals who rely upon Ren’s services every day.

Ren eventually found another supplier who is currently providing gas for a fraction of what the original supplier charged, and the station is selling gas again. The people of Amherst and the surrounding area have shown an outpouring of support for Ren, making it apparent how thankful they are to have a full-service gas station functioning in the middle of our town again. Now though, we want to ensure that Ren’s can remain open and continue to be a thriving member of the Amherst landscape well into the future.

With this goal in mind, we need to raise the $125,000 required to save the business. The supplier he broke his contract with has his property as collateral for a loan they received to upgrade their pumps in 2007. That supplier is threatening to foreclose on the property if he cannot pay the mortgage in less than two weeks. We need to raise $125,000 by September 10th to pay the gas supplier for the broken contract, their legal fees, and Ren’s own, to prevent the foreclosure from happening.

The property is prime real estate in our town. The threat of foreclosure is real, and its consequence will be the end of Ren’s business and devastating to our local community.

Ren has been devoted and loyal to the people of Amherst and the surrounding towns for five decades, recently standing up for his customers to protect their wallets and taking on a large gas supplier to fight for what he found unfair. Now that supplier wants to punish him by taking his station! We say no way! Not in Our Town!

We all appreciate your consideration in donating to help save Rens!