What happened to Texaco along the East Coast?

[J Route Z]

I remember growing up, there were a bunch of Texaco stations here in NJ. I know they still exist but more in the western part of the country. Who remembers Amoco, too?

[1995hoo]

I don't know what the corporate transactions were and am not inclined to look it up, but in Northern Virginia, at least, the Amocos mostly became BPs and the Texacos mostly became Shells.

[spooky]

In New England, the Texacos mostly became Shells. I don't recall any Amoco stations in this area.

[SP Cook]

Texaco - At retail, Texaco formed two joint ventures, one in the west and midwest with Shell and one on the east coast with the Saudi government in the 90s.  The company fell on some hard times due to losing a lot of big $$ lawsuits and merged into Chevron, with Shell buying out Texaco's share in both joint ventures and converting most of the stations to Shell in 02.  Chevron then decided to leave the mid-Atlantic and lower midwest in 08 and that was that.  Today Texaco is just an alternate brand name for Chevron.

Amoco -  Amoco was the out--of-territory (if you don't know that story, we can go there but its complicated) brand for Standard of Indiana.  Amoco was merged into BP in 98 which rebranded the stations as BP.  Like all the Standard decendents it maintains nominal use of the brands "Standard" and "Amoco" for trademark purposes.

[LM117]

The Amoco I was most familiar with was in North Carolina on US-117 just north of Goldsboro.

[roadman]

In New England, the Texacos mostly became Shells. I don't recall any Amoco stations in this area.

Growing up, I recall seeing some Amoco stations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but they were few and far between as compared as Texaco, Esso/Exxon, and Mobil.

[Takumi]

About five years ago there was a still-standing, well-kept Amoco sign at what looked to be a semi-functional station in the absolute middle of nowhere on VA 45. When I went back that way last week it was gone.

[epzik8]

They withdrew.

[Sctvhound]

That is what happened here in the Charleston area. We had Texaco up until about 2000, then they got replaced by Shell. There used to be a couple on James Island. Both were on SC 171 (Folly Road). One was replaced by a bank, the other by Shell.

[02 Park Ave]

A number of Shell stations in South Jersey went unbranded earlier this year.  Most of them are still unbranded.  At least was a former Texaco station.

Amoco Premium gasoline was unleaded long before there was even Low-lead gasoline in the 1970's.  Perhaps even back to the 1920's.  It was featured in their TV ads prominently.

[jp the roadgeek]

In New England, the Texacos mostly became Shells. I don't recall any Amoco stations in this area.

The Amoco station in my town is now a Hess (yes, CT has yet to convert to Speedway).  Some became BP's after they bought out Amoco, but BP has pretty much withdrawn from the area and the remaining stations became an assortment of other brands.  The old Texaco near me is a Shell.  I'm old enough to remember ARCO being in New England.

[NJRoadfan]

Chevron might be gone in the east, but many western brands have started to appear in NJ. 76 is just about everywhere, and now Sinclair stations are popping up.

[briantroutman]

Texaco...I know they still exist but more in the western part of the country.

By the time of my childhood in the '80s and '90s, Texaco was already a fairly rare brand in central PA, and those that I do recall were simply closed and demolished or converted to unrelated brands. Perhaps these particular stations were under different ownership than those that were converted to Shell stations.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but after the merger of Chevron and Texaco, most stations that remained in the company's portfolio were converted to the Chevron brand, leaving very few Texacos at all–even in the West. Actually, in my travels nationwide through recent years, the only Texacos I've seen have been in Texas–perhaps the "Tex"  in the name and star logo being more recognizable and valuable there.

Who remembers Amoco, too?

Amoco was still a fairly common name in central PA by the late '80s. Not nearly as ubiquitous as Sunoco or Exxon, but probably more common than Texaco. As with Texaco, though, the Amocos I remember were either closed, demolished, or converted to other unrelated brands.

I read somewhere that after the incredibly negative publicity and brand image associated with BP after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the company was considering reverting back to the Amoco brand name in the US. Apparently they decided to scrap that plan.

Like all the Standard decendents it maintains nominal use of the brands "Standard" and "Amoco" for trademark purposes.

I know that BP stations fairly prominently featured an "Amoco Fuels"  banner underneath the BP helios logo, although these seem to have gradually disappeared over time. Perhaps BP's maintaining just enough Amoco banners here and there to keep the trademark alive.

I assume they're keeping "Standard"  alive with a few throwback torch and oval signs posted in out-of-the-way places like this BP station in Durand, Michigan: https://goo.gl/maps/EiqVVtr1SG42

But before Amoco, BP had previously engulfed Standard Oil (of Ohio)...a.k.a. Sohio. Are there any vestigial Sohio signs hanging around the Buckeye State?

[1995hoo]

Chevron might be gone in the east, but many western brands have started to appear in NJ. 76 is just about everywhere, and now Sinclair stations are popping up.

We bought gas at a Chevron earlier this week in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

BTW, regarding briantroutman's comment about BP and negative publicity, around here (South Florida) there are no BPs. My brother-in-law, who always went to BP since he had their rewards credit card, said they all became Marathon due to Florida residents boycotting BP after the spill.

[Takumi]

Chevron might be gone in the east, but many western brands have started to appear in NJ. 76 is just about everywhere, and now Sinclair stations are popping up.

Sinclair is very surprising.

[SP Cook]

But before Amoco, BP had previously engulfed Standard Oil (of Ohio)...a.k.a. Sohio. Are there any vestigial Sohio signs hanging around the Buckeye State?

Quite a few.  BP still uses SOHIO as its brand at boat docks for motor boat fuel.  This is their way of keeping the trademark alive.  I think they just let Boron, their out of state name, just die out.

[Eth]

Chevron might be gone in the east, but many western brands have started to appear in NJ. 76 is just about everywhere, and now Sinclair stations are popping up.

We bought gas at a Chevron earlier this week in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Chevron is fairly common in the Atlanta area. Texaco used to be, but I think they're all Shell now.

As for Amoco, I grew up about a mile from one in south metro Atlanta during the '90s. It's an Exxon now; I vaguely recall the change occurring, so it must have happened before 2005. (There was, at the time, already a BP just 3/4 of a mile down the street.)

[Stephane Dumas]

We used to had Texaco in Canada. Texaco division in Canada was acquired by Esso in 1989.

Here some bunch of Texaco tv ads aired in the Great White North.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te60LOac7DI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H9ImreSYkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU4KcXbJuQ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EtmNUPHgMw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75gZJDcJi-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrVQL1jmF7E

[Road Hog]

Texaco stations in Texas mostly switched to Shell in the early 2000s. About the same time, Citgo also pulled out of Texas. Those stations eventually became Valeros other than the 7-Elevens which continued to sell gas unbranded.

[JJBers]

I'm not joking, there's two Texaco's right down the same road, about 2 miles apart in Kennesaw, GA

[sparker]

I'm not joking, there's two Texaco's right down the same road, about 2 miles apart in Kennesaw, GA

The thing I most remember from my youth about Texaco vis-a-vis Chevron and Shell was that all three used Gousha as their map supplier -- but whereas -- and this is circa 1959-63 or so -- Shell and Chevron maps showed local and "secondary" state routes in shades of blue (navy blue for state highways and sky/light blue for local roads), the Texaco equivalent used black for this same indicator, with gray being the choice for the locals.  Then, about 1964-65 or so, the blue hue -- at least for roads -- was dropped in favor of black/gray for all oil-company-supplied maps (Gousha cutting costs, I presume).