The lounge?
"We call it the lounge, and we make it as comfortable as possible," he says, showing me a waiting area where the St. Patrick's Day decorations are cheery, the chairs are comfy, and the coffee is free.
"I remember when I was a farmer out in New Lisbon, pruning those blueberry bushes in cold weather, and thinking, 'Man, I don't have the money for a cup of coffee,' " Stiles recalls. "I swore that if I ever had a business, I would give the coffee away. Since day one, we have never, ever charged for a cup of coffee."
The affable Stiles, who at one point owned two other gas stations in Burlington County, is certainly folksy - and surely no fool. A gas station is essentially an advertisement, and curb appeal doesn't apply only to selling houses: Stiles Sunoco catches your eye, even if you're doing 50.
Early on, the station also drew in people by hosting car washes and similar fund-raisers for local schools - events that inspired more decorating. These and other shrewd practices have helped the business not only survive but also thrive despite new traffic patterns, ever-more-complex vehicles, and new challengers in the market.
Who could have predicted 40 years ago the emergence of a onetime dairy-store chain as a gas-retailing powerhouse?
"I would say our biggest competitor now is probably Wawa," Stiles says, "but I've always said don't worry about the competition. . . . If you do a good job, the customers will come to you."
Since 2007, Shawn Wilson and his wife, Darlin-Jo (Louis and Eleanor's daughter), have run the business, with Wilson inheriting responsibility for the decorations.
"It's our signature," Wilson says. "I'm a mechanic, I've always been a mechanic, and I love that . . . but I don't mind doing the decorations. I like the creative part of that."
