'Hail Mary': How social media saved a Guelph business

A Guelph gas station is thanking the community and the power of social media for saving their business.

Global Gas Station at 390 York Rd. says they’ve seen at least a 35 per cent drop in revenue amid the ongoing York Road reconstruction project.

“We would have to just close the station. I think it takes so long and a lot of people aren't coming down,” said Vino Sutha, whose father owns the gas station.

In a last-ditch effort, Sutha posted a video to TikTok on Saturday highlighting why his “family business is on the verge of losing everything.”

“It was like kind of like a Hail Mary. I expected maybe like 5,000 people to see and it just went viral,” said Sutha.

The video has since received more than 287,000 views and 9,000 comments.

The viral post has translated to a massive spike in business. Sutha says roughly 300 to 400 customers have visited the gas station in the last few days after seeing the video on social media.

“On Saturday morning someone drove down like an hour just because they just wanted to see us. Crazy to see social media can do that,” said Sutha.

He is hoping the sudden boost of customers will fuel their business until the end of the road construction project.

“We're just hoping like it sticks through. A lot of people have said that we didn't even know you guys were here. We hope most people just keep coming down,” said Sutha.

The York Road reconstruction project began in 2017 and the current phase is between Stevenson Street South and Victoria Road South.

This part of the project is expected to be done by fall 2024 – a year-and-a-half after it began this spring.

Phase four of the project moves to Victoria Road South to the east city limit and is anticipated start summer 2024 and last until winter 2026.

“York Road is being upgraded to improve our underground utilities like watermains and sewers, and to make it easier for everyone to get around, people who walk, cycle, drive, use transit, so that we can support more people and more houses,” said Christine Chapman, Guelph’s manager of economic development in a statement to CTV News.

“We understand construction is disruptive, however the city has implemented several tactics to support busineses in the area. The city created a Detour to the Ward social media campaign. We leveraged social media by creating a blog post, a video on select tourism businesses and a Global Gas stand-alone video.”