Cammack Station Brings "Comfort" and "Uniqueness" Into the Lives of Many Customers

From refurbished gas pumps to antique Coca-Cola machines, Cammack Station is full of unique items. With these items, the restaurant located just outside Muncie, Ind. takes its customers back to a time when things were much simpler and gas was less expensive. It reminds customers of what the world used to be and that with a little elbow grease, any place can become a success.

Before the Cammack Station restaurant began taking its customers down memory lane, it was a gas station full of penny candy and cold lunchmeat sandwiches. After the gas station closed during the mid-20th century, Cammack Station became Pete’s Grocery, a place where people could buy food and other everyday items. Then, in 2006, Dick Howe, Indiana resident and owner of many businesses across the state, bought Pete’s Grocery and made it into what is now known as Cammack Station: a place full of unique antiques and friendly people.

Kim Sloan, manager of Cammack Station, said when she first became manager back when Howe bought the place in 2006, she would work an average of 90 hours a week trying to figure out a plan for the restaurant.

“It was very stressful not only for me, but my husband as well,” Sloan said. “He told me if I’m not going to have a wife to come home to, then I might as well leave. But all in all, I do like it here, and the reason I like it is because of the customers.”

One of those customers, John Paul, said he enjoys coming to Cammack Station because of its “uniqueness and friendly environment.” Paul also said one of the reasons he continues to come back to Cammack Station is the food.

“It does look from the outside like a filling station,” Paul said. “Instead of getting loaded with gas, you’re getting loaded with food.”

Muncie resident Cindy Gillam, on the other hand, goes to Cammack Station not only for the food, but for the people as well.

“First of all, when you come in, you don’t feel like a number,” Gillam said. “You come in and you order and you sit and chat with people and pick on them. It’s just comfortable.”

Whether it’s the food or the comfortable environment that brings customers back to Cammack Station, they all agree Cammack Station is a place full of memories and "uniqueness."