Since 1948, Tobie’s Restaurant in Hinckley, Minnesota, has welcomed travelers on their journey between Duluth and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In the late 1970s, Tobie’s acquired the adjacent gas station, rebranding it as Tobie’s Station. “The gas station and small convenience store is very complementary to our restaurant business,” said Chris Hickle, who owns the business along with his younger sister, Pam Zabrok.

Hickle’s grandfather was the original owner of the restaurant and convenience store, which Hickle and Zabrok purchased from their parents. “I’ve worked here my whole life,” Hickle said. “And I am thrilled to be the third generation to run this family-owned business.”

On the Road

Being a traveler’s traditional stopping point isn’t something Tobie’s Station takes for granted. “We’re a famous halfway stop between the Twin Cities and Duluth, and have marketed ourselves as such for as long as we’ve been in business,” Hickle said.

Tobie’s Station advertises its presence on a freeway billboard and on social media. “People have known about us for years, and we’ve built our reputation on being the place to stop when traveling between these two cities,” he said.

Today, the station boasts a dozen fueling pumps through the Minnoco brand, offering E85 and E15. In addition, there are eight Tesla Supercharger points. “We’ve had those electric chargers for nearly five years and see them being used more and more every year,” he said.

After purchasing the gas station next door to his restaurant, Hickle’s grandfather put in a convenience store. “It was really an early rendition of the modern convenience store, with groceries and convenience items inside and gas pumps outside,” Hickle said.

Hickle keeps the grocery section well stocked, which helped during the pandemic. In addition to necessities, Tobie’s Station offers grab-and-go food, drinks, beef jerky and candy, along with other traditional convenience store items. “Since convenience stores were deemed essential, we were able to operate out of our store and even sell some of our restaurant menu items,” he said. “The pandemic impacted our business greatly, since we had to completely shut down our restaurant.”

One thing that helped Tobie’s Station stay afloat was a willingness to open their restrooms to the public. “With so many fast-food restaurants only offering drive-thru and other businesses and public buildings closed, we were the only public restroom available,” he said. “That brought people into our store and helped us get through the lockdown.”

A Sweet Side

Travelers and locals alike have another incentive to stop at Tobie’s Station—to sample some of its world-famous baked goods. An in-house bakery churns out pans of caramel rolls, cinnamon rolls, donuts, apple fritters and other pastries daily. On a busy day, Tobie’s Station can sell 3,000 caramel and cinnamon rolls, plus numerous pans of donuts and fritters.

A few years ago, Hickle added a Caribou Coffee kiosk inside the convenience store, which sells specialty coffee drinks. “Our baked goods sell so well, Caribou allowed us to put our bakery products in their case rather than their own branded sweets,” he said.

The restaurant provides fresh, grab-and-go sandwiches, as well as pizza, which Tobie’s Station sells by the slice. “Our convenience store space is limited, so we’re not able to do more foodservice out of the store,” Hickle said. “But with the restaurant next door, we have a nice selection of grab-and-go food for our c-store customers.”

When he took over, Hickle integrated both the restaurant and convenience store graphic. “Before we remodeled, not everyone knew it was the same business, even though both the restaurant and the convenience store had Tobie’s in the name,” he said. He put a red roof on both buildings, moved the convenience store signage from the side to the front, and made sure the brand crossed into both businesses.

Overall, Hickle is proud of the family tradition of being there for travelers. “We hope our customers recognize that we run a top-of-the-line small family operation,” he said. “We want our customers to know we’re going to be here for many years to come.”