Chances are you have noticed the long-abandoned garage at the corner of State Hill road and Woodland Avenue in front of the Berkshire Mall. You also may be wondering why a gas and service station couldn’t survive on such a prominent corner in Wyomissing. Spoiler alert; it wasn’t because they didn’t have business.

The Mobil station opened in 1971 shortly after the mall, and was managed by John Hoover Jr.

Photos from the 1970s-

Gas refiner Mobil Oil Corp leased the property from the mall, and Hoover rented it from Mobil. In 1974 the Reading Eagle reported long lines at the station due to the gas crisis.

In 1988 new gas pumps, canopy and tanks were installed on the property. John Hoover retired in 1998 in which the business was taken over by his son, Robert Hoover. By the early 2000s the mall began upping the rent in an effort to push Hoover out of the property. When Lukoil acquired 308 Mobil stations in 2005, the high rent forced them to not renew their lease on this location at the mall.

Photos from 1988 –

Due to this, the station closed permanently in 2006 after 35 years in business. The Mall raised the rent because they had intended on adding 83,000 square feet of retail space to that section of the lot, which ultimately never came to fruition. Two decades later the lone dilapidated garage stands a testament to that poor management decision.

Hoover relocated his business to Robesonia and operated it as “Hoover’s Auto Service” where he continued until his death in 2014.

Photos taken in 2006, shortly before closure –

Special thanks to Andrew Hoover who provided this info and photos