Danby's, since 1948, home
Our history

Since 1948.

Three generations of the Danby family built the business. Kevin Curry joined in 1979 and owns it today with his wife, Patti.

  1. 1948

    Danby's Service Station

    Fred Danby and his father, Frank, open a Sunoco station on Broad Street in Meriden.

    A small white service station with two pumps and a tall sign pole, a man standing by the door
    A young Fred Danby at 279 Broad Street, about 1948.
    A small station with a single pump and a roadside price sign reading 28
    One pump, and gas at 28 cents a gallon.
  2. 1962

    A new Sunoco on the same corner

    A new Danby's Sunoco goes up on Broad Street. In 1963 Sunoco gives Fred Danby its Gold Award for display and appearance.

    Two people standing outside a Sunoco station with a large Sunoco sign over glass windows
    Danby's Sunoco on Broad Street, undated.
    A Sunoco certificate reading 1963 Gold Award, Go First Class, presented to Fred Danby
    Sunoco's 1963 Gold Award to Fred Danby.
  3. 1965

    Gulf, on East Main Street

    With Interstate 91 coming through Meriden, Danby's becomes a Gulf dealer and moves to East Main Street. Danby's Holiday Gulf opens there in January 1966.

    The Holiday Inn marquee reading Good luck Danby's Holiday Gulf, open 24 hours
    The Holiday Inn next door wishes Danby's luck.
    The Gulf station with its new canopy and a tall round Gulf sign
    Danby's Holiday Gulf, spring 1966.
  4. 1975

    Towing and auto service

    Danby's starts 24-hour towing in 1975. Danby's A1 Auto Service opens at 872 East Main Street in January 1978.

    A blue tow truck marked A1 Auto Service, 24 hour towing
    The first A1 Auto Service tow truck.
    A1 Auto Service on East Main Street with a Gulf sign by the road
    Danby's A1 Auto Service, 872 East Main Street.
  5. 1979

    Kevin Curry joins

    Kevin Curry starts at Danby's as a technician and wrecker driver while still a student at H.C. Wilcox Technical High School in Meriden.

    A young man in an A1 Auto Service sweatshirt sitting at a desk by a wall phone
    Kevin Curry as a new employee at A1 Auto Service.
  6. 1983

    Kevin Curry becomes an owner

    Kevin Curry buys a share of the business and works beside Fred Danby until Fred retires in 1988. Kevin Curry and Fred's son, Kevin Danby, carry on as partners.

    Three men in work shirts standing behind a station counter
    Kevin Danby, Fred Danby and Kevin Curry, "the Three Musketeers of Gasoline".
  7. 1984

    The Smart Stop

    Danby's third station opens at 1100 East Main Street. Gas sells for 99 cents a gallon on opening day, and cars line up down East Main Street.

    The Smart Stop station with an Exxon sign and a price board
    The Smart Stop, 1100 East Main Street.
    A person in a tiger costume on the sidewalk beside East Main Street
    The Exxon Tiger at the grand opening.
  8. 1993

    Danby Gasoline Marketers

    Kevin Danby and Kevin Curry form Danby Gasoline Marketers and start supplying fuel to other stations.

    A Gulf station in the trees with a price sign and cars at the pumps
    Danby's Middlefield Gulf station.
  9. 2016

    Kevin and Patti Curry

    Kevin and Patti Curry complete the purchase of the Danby family business.

  10. 2019

    Teddy's Stores

    Kevin and Patti Curry start Teddy's Stores, gas stations and convenience stores in Connecticut named for the family dog.

  11. Today

    Still in Meriden

    Danby's Gasoline Marketers supplies fuel to stations from its home on East Main Street in Meriden.

In Meriden

Teams, schools and parades.

Over the years Danby's backed Meriden's youth sports leagues, schools, charities and the Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Teddy's Stores, the sister company, carries that on today.

Teddy's side of the story