By Danyelle Roquemore

When people go to gas stations, they typically do their business quickly. They pay for their gas, grab a soda or a quick snack and leave. They don’t usually hang out there.
The Green Spot is different.
The gas station is a true convenience store for the White Rock neighborhood. Located at 702 N. Buckner, it offers a sense of community, healthy food choices and biodiesel, an eco-friendly alternative to regular diesel gasoline.
Instead of the usual wall of fountain drinks and aisles of chips and candy, the store is home to many healthy alternatives like natural soda sweetened with agave nectar, veggie chips and even an organic frozen yogurt bar with all-natural toppings.
The Green Spot is the only retailer of biodiesel in Dallas. Biodiesel was a part of the original plan for the store, according to manager Adam Velte.
“Biodiesel is really great because there are very small emissions,” Velte said. “It will run in any diesel car or truck.”
The Austin-based company DieselGreen Fuels supplies the store with fuel. Biodiesel is made out of cooking oil that is collected from hundreds of restaurants and turned into fuel.
English professor Kassandra Buck, who lives in the White Rock area, said she and her husband frequent the gas station almost daily.
“It’s like [the television show] ‘Cheers’ for us,” Buck said. “When we walk in, the cashiers know us. So do the cooks in the back.”
Green Spot Café serves breakfast and lunch. Customers can order tacos, sweet potato or french fries, and burgers, both beef and veggie.
Buck thinks the Green Spot is an important part of the White Rock neighborhood because it unifies the community.
“Gas stations are very in-and-out,” she said. “[The Green Spot] has a neighborhood atmosphere. It’s more personable and family-oriented.”
Velte agrees the gas station is important to White Rock residents.
“We know customers by name, who their family members are and where their kids go to school,” he said. “I feel a great sense of appreciation for our customers and from our customers. I think we have the best customers we could possibly have.”
The gas station is also unique in the products it offers.
“We’re kind of like the Whole Foods of gas stations,” Velte said. “The fact that we’ve got healthy options available is my favorite thing about us.”
The store doesn’t offer conventional drink choices, but sells products like Direct Trade and Rain Forest Alliance coffee, Kombucha juice and local wines.
The store also hosts the White Rock Local Market twice a month from March to December. The market offers local food options as well as arts and crafts booths.
“You get a real sense of community through the markets,” Velte said. “[The market is] a unique entity of its own beyond the store.”
Sarah Perry, coordinator of the market, credits the Green Spot’s location for the market’s success.
“The location has really been key,” Perry said. “[It’s been helpful] being on this busy street and being in this neighborhood that really supports something like this.”
She said the market is important to the community because it helps consumers and vendors alike.
“I think it really benefits the consumers because it brings a lot of healthy [and local] options to the people,” Perry said. “I love that [the vendors] all live in this community because that’s where the money goes.”