Remnant fuel stations

[MDOTFanFB]

WELCOME TO PAGE 4! 

The most notable West Coast effect of the Exxon/Mobil merger: California Exxon franchisee Valero became an independent gas brand that has expanded quite nicely in the decade or so since.

Here in Metro Detroit however the Valero brand didn't come until late-2006/early-2007, when they rebranded many Citgo stations that were originally 76 stations (until the late 1990's), including the 76-turned-Citgo in my city.

Sunoco has made an appearance in eastern Tennessee.  I may be mistaken on this but I think I've seen them in western NC and northern GA.

Historically, back in the '60s and '70s they were all up and down the east coast.

Perhaps their resurgence in the south is due to being "The Official Fuel of NASCAR"

In addition to Sunoco, we also have quite a few Marathon stations, and last I checked in Knoxville there is an old Speedway station sign on Clinton Hwy.

Sunoco, Marathon and Speedway stations are all still common in the Detroit area as well. However, until around 2000, many Detroit-area Speedway stations were branded Total (this Total brand was a completely different one from the one in the western Midwest, but the same font was still used). However there are still traces of the Total brand in the area, including this sign: http://goo.gl/maps/uiTl9

Amoco used to have a major presence in the Detroit area too, but since BP bought them out there are pretty much no traces left of the Amoco brand, but in an unusual twist, a freeway sign at a former Amoco station in inner-city Detroit still bore the Amoco logo even after the station itself was rebranded into BP and even after the rest of the station was torn down, continuing to be a common sight for drivers on I-94 for years! But the sign has since been taken down in late 2010, but still remains in Google Street View: http://goo.gl/maps/kD94u

[Takumi]

In Norfolk there's a BP that had the logo retrofitted into the old Amoco oval sign. I'm sure it wasn't the only one of its kind, but it was surprising to see it standing that long without a modern sign replacing it, at least in such a major city.

[TheStranger]

However, until around 2000, many Detroit-area Speedway stations were branded Total (this Total brand was a completely different one from the one in the western Midwest, but the same font was still used). However there are still traces of the Total brand in the area, including this sign: http://goo.gl/maps/uiTl9

Total was actually a French brand that later was bought out by Fina.

[ce929wax]

I remember growing up in West Michigan that a lot of Amoco stations were actually branded as Standard.

[cpzilliacus]

I remember growing up in West Michigan that a lot of Amoco stations were actually branded as Standard.

That's because Amoco was Standard of Indiana, which had the rights to use the "Standard Oil" name in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois (and probably a few other states). This page has a pretty good discussion of Standard and its offspring as they exist today.

[roadman65]

I remember growing up in West Michigan that a lot of Amoco stations were actually branded as Standard.

That's because Amoco was Standard of Indiana, which had the rights to use the "Standard Oil" name in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois (and probably a few other states). This page has a pretty good discussion of Standard and its offspring as they exist today.

I remember the Standard name was used for Chevron in California back in the early 70's. 

[Duke87]

In reference to the sub $1 gas pump question, I am old enough to remember when that was a common situation.  What was done is that the gasoline was priced on the pump by the 1/2 gallon, with usually a crude hand-painted sign next to the pump stating such.  Thus if Gasoline were actually $1.10 a gallon, the pump price would read $0.55, but the money you owed would be correct, since it was measuing half-gallons, not gallons.

I recall hearing in the Summer of '08 when gas first broke $4 a gallon that there were some newer mechanical pumps out there for marine fuel (which due to the smaller market hasn't been as quick to go digital) that could not go past $3.99. The solution, in these cases, was that they were reading the gallons off the pump and calculating the total sale manually.

[kphoger]

The largest Amoco sign in the world (the station has been rebranded as a BP):
http://goo.gl/maps/6SM6Q

[US71]

I remember growing up in West Michigan that a lot of Amoco stations were actually branded as Standard.

That's because Amoco was Standard of Indiana, which had the rights to use the "Standard Oil" name in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois (and probably a few other states). This page has a pretty good discussion of Standard and its offspring as they exist today.

I remember the Standard name was used for Chevron in California back in the early 70's. 

I remember when Standard first changed to AMOCO they called themselves the "AMOCO Oil Company". Since AMOCO was The American Oil Company, they were now The American Oil Company Oil Company

[Pilgrimway]

Come to think of it, there is also a Stuckey's in Lebeau, LA. These stations are in the most random small towns too, maybe it's part of a marketing strategy.

I can still remember a Phillips 66 station in Alexandria though. Renamed to a Texaco, but it still has the full service pumps.

I know of 3 still-active Stuckeys.  Two are along I95 in North Carolina, one on US13 on Virginia's Eastern Shore.  There is an abandoned one on US13 north of Smyrna DE.

[Pilgrimway]

Sohio is long gone, as is Boron.  Be great if they came back, even for nostalgia's sake.  I grew up with Sohio while living on Ohio in the 1970s.  But you can stlll at least collect their road maps.

[mukade]

I remember when Standard first changed to AMOCO they called themselves the "AMOCO Oil Company". Since AMOCO was The American Oil Company, they were now The American Oil Company Oil Company

I believe that change was approved by both the department of redundancy department and redundancy department of redundancy.

[RoadWarrior56]

There is also a Stuckey's located along I-24 at the first exit north of Monteagle in Tennessee.

[Takumi]

There's also one on US 58 near South Hill, and I believe there's still one off I-95 in the empty space between Richmond and Fredericksburg.

[flowmotion]

My question is how vertically integrated are these gasoline station chains?

I'm guessing that perhaps Chevron stations actually sell Chevron formulated gas from Chevron refineries. (Chevron seems to be one fo the few brands which advertises around here.)

But others, I assume exist "in name only". That is, some local operator licenses the name because it has brand recognition.  But I really don't know - it seems that stations arbitrarily change from Brand X to Brand Y for no real reason other than some backroom deal.

[DandyDan]

There's a Stuckey's on I-29 at the US 136 Rock Port, MO exit.

I'd be interested in a couple from my Minnesota youth: Superamerica and Holiday's.  I even remember a Superamerica on North Avenue (IL 64) in Dupage County (don't specifically remember which city it was), but I don't remember seeing them on my last Twin Cities trip several years ago.  They used to have Holiday's here in Omaha, but they all got changed over to something (usually Casey's) in recent years.

[Road Hog]

My question is how vertically integrated are these gasoline station chains?

I'm guessing that perhaps Chevron stations actually sell Chevron formulated gas from Chevron refineries. (Chevron seems to be one fo the few brands which advertises around here.)

But others, I assume exist "in name only". That is, some local operator licenses the name because it has brand recognition.  But I really don't know - it seems that stations arbitrarily change from Brand X to Brand Y for no real reason other than some backroom deal.

Valero is very vertical. It's one of the biggest refiners in the States. But I didn't see it as a brand until I visited California in 2005.

About a year later the Valero brand came into Texas pretty strong (not really "into," since their HQ is in San Antonio) after Citgo pulled out of the state. They had been already selling gas under the Diamond Shamrock brand since 2001.

Thinking back at local changes, I believe many of the old Citgos switched to the Shamrock brand in Texas, while most of the new Valeros are newly-built. When Texaco went away, I think Shell swooped in and bought a lot of those filling stations.

As far as businesses in general, I bet a lot of the ones that decided to pull out of Texas – Kmart, etc. – are kicking themselves now. Carl's Jr. did it, saw Texas' economy, and re-entered the market.

[Brandon]

My question is how vertically integrated are these gasoline station chains?

I'm guessing that perhaps Chevron stations actually sell Chevron formulated gas from Chevron refineries. (Chevron seems to be one fo the few brands which advertises around here.)

But others, I assume exist "in name only". That is, some local operator licenses the name because it has brand recognition.  But I really don't know - it seems that stations arbitrarily change from Brand X to Brand Y for no real reason other than some backroom deal.

Not as vertical as you'd think.  Most gas stations are owned by franchises, jobbers, and independents.  They buy gasoline and diesel from whichever refinery is convenient and add the corporate additives at the station.  That includes Chevron and any other name brand station out there.  That's why, during the recent issue here with bad BP gasoline from the Whiting, Indiana refinery, you had BP stations and other stations involved, but some BP stations were completely unaffected (they may have bought gasoline from the Citgo refinery in Romeoville or the ExxonMobil refinery in Channahon).

[US71]

My question is how vertically integrated are these gasoline station chains?

I'm guessing that perhaps Chevron stations actually sell Chevron formulated gas from Chevron refineries. (Chevron seems to be one fo the few brands which advertises around here.)

But others, I assume exist "in name only". That is, some local operator licenses the name because it has brand recognition.  But I really don't know - it seems that stations arbitrarily change from Brand X to Brand Y for no real reason other than some backroom deal.

Not as vertical as you'd think.  Most gas stations are owned by franchises, jobbers, and independents.  They buy gasoline and diesel from whichever refinery is convenient and add the corporate additives at the station.  That includes Chevron and any other name brand station out there.  That's why, during the recent issue here with bad BP gasoline from the Whiting, Indiana refinery, you had BP stations and other stations involved, but some BP stations were completely unaffected (they may have bought gasoline from the Citgo refinery in Romeoville or the ExxonMobil refinery in Channahon).

In the Western/Northwestern Arkansas area, most stations are independently owned, but go through a specific jobber for their fuel. A few years back, the local Citgo jobber went to BP. A year later, he went to Phillips 66. So all the stations he serviced changed, as well.

Almost all the gas comes from the Bentonville Fuel Terminal for all stations. The only exception is if it's cheaper to truck it up the mountain from Ft Smith or down from Joplin, which happens rarely anymore.

[kphoger]

There's a Stuckey's on I-29 at the US 136 Rock Port, MO exit.

I'd be interested in a couple from my Minnesota youth: Superamerica and Holiday's.  I even remember a Superamerica on North Avenue (IL 64) in Dupage County (don't specifically remember which city it was), but I don't remember seeing them on my last Twin Cities trip several years ago.  They used to have Holiday's here in Omaha, but they all got changed over to something (usually Casey's) in recent years.

SuperAmerica and Holiday are all over the Twin Cities area, along with Kwik Trip (not QuikTrip).  It must have been a huge coincidence that you didn't see any.

[wphiii]

Sinclair is still here and there -- saw one this summer in a tiny town in Idaho -- but used to be much bigger.

Funny, I just saw several Sinclair stations this past weekend in and around the Uncompahgre Valley in Western CO. Don't remember ever having seen one prior to that.

[corco]

There are still Sinclair stations all over Wyoming and the refinery in Sinclair, WY is still going strong.

Idaho has several too in the southern part of the state- a lot are branded as Stinker convenience stores.

[mightyace]

a lot are branded as Stinker convenience stores.

Seriously? 

Do you happen to have any pictures?

[corco]

Seriously! That would be a weird thing to joke about. Just about every Stinker I know of is a Sinclair- I think there are a couple that use unbranded gas, but most have the Sinclair dino somewhere on their sign.

http://www.stinker.com/

[Road Hog]

So Stinker is an Idaho thing. You can vote for Pedro there.