T-L Photos/SHELLEY HANSON OWNER JOHN Ayers, left, and his wife Brittany Ayers stand with the Hanover Fuel Stop’s new Fat Guy mascot statue outside of the shop this week. Ayers had the statue made by a Wisconsin-based company. It stands at nearly 10 feet tall.

MARTINS FERRY — A local businessman has taken his store’s mascot to another level — nearly 10 feet tall, that is.

John Ayers’ “Fat Guy,” the mascot for his Hanover Fuel Stop in Martins Ferry, has come to life in the form of a giant statue he had made that now sits near the front entrance of shop, 109 Hanover St.

Ayers said the statue is based off an artist’s rendering of the fuel’s stop mascot, The Fat Guy, which he had created from an idea in his mind.

He said he asked the artist from a website, fiverr.com, to draw “a regular Joe,” such as a trucker driver who has just gotten off work and is heading home to relax after purchasing a hoagie and a six pack of beer.

“We have a lot of people who do that,” Ayers said of his customers. “I wanted him to be an everyday Joe who would have a big sandwich and is going home to enjoy the evening.”

Ayers started out using the image on the sides of his delivery vehicles, but he wanted to do something more with it.

He found a company in Wisconsin, Fast Fiberglass (www.fastfiberglass.com), that makes statues and other structures from fiberglass. He said the company, which does some work for Disney, took the drawing and had a 3-D animator from Disney create the Fat Guy model.

From this model the company created the larger-than-life statue.

“He came out perfect — a lot better than I thought he would,” Ayers said. “This place in Wisconsin has all kinds of moulds. Once they make a mould it stays with them. If I want another one of him I can just call them up and they will make it right there.”

Ayers said the statue has been received well by customers since he installed it a couple weeks ago. Several people have taken “selfies” with the statue, he noted.

“He’s cool. Hopefully he will get a lot of attention and photos,” he said.

Ayers said the statue reminds him of his childhood and going to “Big Boy” restaurants. Big Boy statues were placed in front of restaurants across the country, including at Elby’s eateries locally.

“It’s going good,” Ayers said of his business, which was expanded in the last year with a building addition. “He’s pretty cool. He’s a pretty good guy. He’s an average Joe — everybody knows somebody like him.”

Ayers said he plans to hold a ribbon cutting for his new building addition in May. Future plans included offering ice cream cones.