Albany #7 | Food Lion #2820 - Albany, GA
Albany #7
Food Store | Deli
Albany, GA 31707
Circle K | Former Flash Foods #285 | Former Sunrise Pantry #25
Scroll Down for my Marketplace Madness post on Food Lion #2820
Flyover States (noun):
1) the name of a 2012 Jason Aldean single
2) the descriptor of US Midwestern states, like Kansas or Oklahoma, that I've never stepped foot in yet have been 34,000 feet above many times
I suppose there will come a time when I can set my watch back to Tulsa Time, but today's journey has me whirling through the air at 441 miles per hour nonstop to the Mile High City.
That's right, while this post will cover our third and final Sing convenience store in Albany, GA, it is my first ever post authored from halfway back, aisle 29(B). Man, I wish that I could fly this thing; give a little more gas, little more speed. This 747 A321 can't go fast enough, fast enough.
Well, every minute I keep making song references is just wasted time in this post – the outcome of my mountain adventures will have to wait for another day. Likewise, it is Rocky Mountain High time I discuss one of the funkiest Sings I've witnessed. Let's first get some background info before I glide too far off course.
The land Albany residents know today as housing Circle K cemented its destiny on August 7, 1978, when Sing Oil Company purchased the 1.5 acre parcel on August 7, 1978. This convenience store presumably commenced construction that same year and was the second ever second "small format square" station built by Sing. We've seen several other buildings of this design in the past, such as the long-lost Sandy Plains store, Columbus #8, or the nearby Albany #8, all of which provided valuable insight into the operation of Sing in the late-1970's and early-1980's. This location is no exception, and even holds an interesting surprise not found elsewhere.
But first, we must get through our obligatory newspaper clippings.
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| The Albany Herald (Google Newspapers) - June 13, 1984 |
I feel like a story on a convenience store wouldn't be complete without some sort of mention of crime! While I'm not sure if gun brandishing bandit was intercepted, the article seems to indicate that he wasn't exactly a professional at covering his tracks.
"First the lights will flicker on and off . . . Next, the phone will ring and there will be nobody there . . . Then, a red-and-white pickup truck with large tires will drive up carrying . . .
The sash ringing, the flash singing, the bash pinging, the hash slinging slasher!"
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| The Albany Herald (Google Newspapers) - December 19, 1979 |
The above incident also wasn't the only robbery to happen at an Albany Sing; back in 1979, there was also mention of a hold up at Woodall's Sing on Slappy Boulevard.
I'm not entirely sure how the Woodall's / Sing agreement was structured, but I'd imagine these outlets functioned more like some of the dealer stations where an independent owner / operator simply purchased gas from Sing while the Thomasville company had little to do with the management. Regardless, thanks to a recent update to the Google historic newspaper archive, one is now able to use plain phrasing to parse what was once a problematic database and find all sorts of goodies.
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| The Albany Herald (Google Newspapers) - January 2, 1986 |
By 1986, this Sing was lucky enough to gain a full delicatessen despite being smaller in stature. I wonder if other older stores would have received had Sing not sold to Amoco, similar to how the Port St. Joe and Jackson stations did.
Anyhow, this location was sold to Autry Petroleum in September 1992 following the merger and again sold to Flash Foods in July 2004.
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| Courtesy Dougherty County Property Records - Sometime between 2004-2007 |
Autry decided to make improvements of their own because in the mid-1990's, the pump island was overhauled to use the layout seen today and a car wash was constructed on the west end of the property.
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| Courtesy Dougherty County Property Records - Sometime between 2004-2007 |
We are also fortunate enough to see some nearly two-decade old photographs of the convenience store and car wash courtesy of the Daugherty County property records. Isn't it nice when municipalities hold onto outdated photographs?
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| Courtesy Dougherty County Property Records |
Also in that database was a picture of the Krogveys / SuperX double greenhouse on the other side of town. This picture even predates the one I shared last time I mentioned that store, so who knows how old it is.
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| Courtesy Dougherty County Property Records |
The property records also have a more recent photo of the East Albany Marketplace which was consolidated with the Krogveys across the street. I wish that JJ's Flea Market was still open because I'm sure it had quite the décor.
As for today, this station no longer sells bp gas and also isn't a Flash Foods. It should, however, remain quite recognizable.
What makes this location so unique, as I alluded to earlier, is that Sing retrofitted the building to include a deli. Had this store retained its original small-format square layout, we would be staring directly at the left side entrance. Instead, all we see now is some herringbone paneling obscuring the old window walls.
On the opposite side of the store, Sing added a solarium to serve as a seating nook for the new deli. Port St. Joe is the only other place I can think of to have received a similar treatment.
Stepping inside, we are immediately greeted by Sing's hallmark terracotta-colored tile from the 1970's. It's especially interesting to compare the back half of this store's layout to LaGrange #4 considering how most of it remained intact despite the added amenities.
On the other hand, it appears that the front end of this store was rearranged to match the mid-1980's store designs like we saw in Bradfordville, etc. That would mean this space probably looked something like this before Amoco took over.
Continuing on, we find a familiar sight in convenience stores of the 2020's: gas station gambling machines. You know, what an entertaining pastime to sit on a rolling mop bucket next to the wonderful aromas wafting from the restrooms while you press your luck with a round of bingo. I'm invigorated just thinking about it!
Inching closer to the fateful corner, we see a picture that I honestly have no idea why I took. I'd have to assume that the restrooms were added at a later date based on the mismatched tile (and what we saw in this corner in LaGrange post I linked to earlier). Nonetheless, I have to wonder why Circle K placed the lottery kiosk all the way back there. Maybe that's where luck abounds? I'm going to stop before I get myself in trouble with what I could say next!
Leaving that slush behind, we'll take a look at the fountain drink machines situated roughly where Sing would've had them on the back wall. We can also see the bottled drink coolers off in the distance.
I could use a drink right now; got my head in the clouds, thinkin' about how I have to confess that I photographed this store on two occasions over a year apart: it seems that the price of a Polar Pop went up by a whopping 10¢ and Circle K had to replace all of its signage. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this picture is from my 2021 visit (and that a Froster was a bit more appealing on my second visit).
Moving on to the next wall, we find the drink refrigerators and a roller dog / boiled peanut island. It's worth pointing out how Sing's bulkhead ceiling has remained in place and likely featured a shingle-adorned awning like this when the store first opened.
In addition to the food island, this store also had a "Fresh Food Fast" counter positioned roughly where Sing's deli would have been. I also think Circle K could have done a better job of cleaning that black grime off of the tiles here . . .
Wow, more fluffy companions for our tour! Despite these taking up some prime real estate, the ones AFB saw back at Jacksonville #3 were still better organized.
The only thing I can think of that is more delicious than a hot & fresh gas station pizza is not having one – that's exactly what we have here today.
Jokes aside, this former Sing had something that I don't believe I've seen at any other convenience store: a "smart checkout" machine. This thing was bizarre: you basically place whichever items you want to purchase on the mat and the device uses a camera and/or a scale to determine what you presented. Contrary to what one would expect, it's not looking for barcode, either, which is why the lady behind the counter still had to help me ring up my pack of crackers. The more I see technology like this in action, the less fear I have of it taking over the world; while it is still impressive, it is far from foolproof!
Pack of crackers in hand, we'll head back outside to take a look at the old Sunrise Pantry sign (A remnant from the Autry days) on the left side of the store.
Surprisingly, Flash Foods left the old branding all the way until Circle K came to town in 2020.
The angled building does make sense when situated on a busy intersection like this; however, the added pumps made the space a bit more congested than it was with the island configuration.
The last mystery of the day is the old car wash off to the left and why it seems to have outlived its useful life. With it being boarded up (and the paneling painted to match the bricks), I'm surprised Circle K bothered to update the building with new car wash graphics. These small washes must not be the profit centers they used to be, especially with new "tunnels" popping up on seemingly every crossroads (like this one across the street).
We'll take one last look at the station from Gillionville Road . . .
Followed by a glance from Westover Boulevard before heading north to our next destination roughly two miles away. Keep on reading to experience a funky Food-Dixie!
Street Views
Google Street View - December 2007
Google Street View - September 2012
Google Street View - June 2023
Aerial Views
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| Historic Aerials - 1971 Future site of the Albany #7 Sing |
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| Historic Aerials - 1983 Newly constructed Sing Store |
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| Google Earth - January 22, 1993 Amoco station with extended pump canopy |
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| Google Earth - March 21, 2023 Circle K station with modern pump canopy |
Dougherty County Property Records
Something Blue
Food Lion #2820
Cross Station Shopping Center
Albany, GA 31707
Former Winn-Dixie #22 | Former Harveys #1695
Marketplace Madness 2024: Something Blue
Welcome to the More Than Convenience portion of this post, which also serves as the fourth fifth and final chapter of this year's Marketplace Madness celebration. It didn't take me long to figure out which stores to feature for the other posts in this series but finding a Marketplace store that fit the mold of "Something Blue" initially proved quite challenging. For a time, I pondered whether I should cover a Kroger Marketplace, but considered the move too much of a stretch; then I remembered Food Lion #2820.
Before we see what the lion's share of this store is about, though, let's have a quick recap of this year's other Marketplace Madness posts:
Something Old - Former Winn-Dixie #416 | Pinson, AL
Something Unexpected - It's Official: AL-DIxie is Here
Something New - Winn-Dixie #168 | Chiefland, FL
Something Borrowed - Ingles Markets #249 | Westminster, SC
I started off the series by touring one of the best preserved "Chrome Interior" Winn-Dixie stores just north of Birmingham, AL. That Winn-Thriftie held plenty of surprises and answered a number of questions about The Beef People in the 1980's despite having not been a supermarket for nearly a quarter-century.
Next, I published a quick headline piece on the Aldi / Winn-Dixie deal closing. While I'm still shocked that the acquisition has been completed, little seems to have changed at SEG stores as of April. I'm sure that won't be the case for long, though . . .
Likewise, I continued on by revisiting the first Winn-Dixie I ever covered to see how it looked with a fresh coat of paint. I'd have to presume that the "Winning" version of Winn-Dixie is the only one that Die Rindfleischleute would even consider purchasing.
The third entry in the series explored a rare Winn-Dingles that looks surprisingly similar to how it did during Winn-Dixie's 2005 bankruptcy proceedings. It's crazy how a sizable regional grocer would keep so many remnants of the past behind!
Now that we've covered that, let's take a look at some background information.
I've known about this store for a while now, but I kept putting off a visit since I couldn't churn up the motivation to stop in. That is, until I saw a recent Google Maps photo showcasing some shocking relics.
Earlier that day, I paid a visit to Plains, GA, about 45 minutes north of here to take in all of the museums discussing Georgia's only President: Jimmy Carter. It was interesting to read about how the rural farm boy rose to Commander in Chief and see some of the antics that came from the nationalized campaign.
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| Billy Carter's former service station - Plains, GA - December 2023 |
As for the Albany supermarket . . .
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| The Albany Herald (Google Newspapers) - July 31, 1983 |
Some of you may remember that the Wal-Mart was later replaced by a store just down the road when Publix came to town a decade later, but the Kmart looming in the distance above wasn't so lucky. The Midwestern discounter also presumably did not like the direct competition for both general merchandise and food staples.
The article goes on to mention that the new 30,000 sq ft WD was set to replace an older store in the Village Green Shopping Center just south of here.
Business must have been good for the new store considering how it was remodeled and expanded into a Marketplace supermarket & pharmacy which made its grand debut on September 2, 1993.
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| WALB - Winn-Dixie #22 - June 2014 |
Unsurprisingly, this store still sported the iconic Rose & Teal interior all the for over two decades, as shown through the windows in the photo below.
The really strange piece is how SEG left this store as a Winn-Dixie Marketplace until 2014 – a year that wasn't notorious for one of Winn-Dixie's bankruptcies or massive closure rounds.
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| WALB - Winn-Dixie #22 - June 2014 |
That is because this move was part of a flip where the remaining WD stores in Albany, Leesburg, and Americus were converted to Harveys Supermarkets while the Harveys stores in Valdosta and Brunswick were transformed into Winn-Dixies.
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| Courtesy Glenda B. (Yelp) - April 10, 2016 |
According R. Randall Onstead, Jr., then current president and CEO of Bi-Lo Holdings and son of the founder of Houston's own Randall's Food Markets, "We carefully evaluated the market areas around each store and made conversion decisions that we believe will work best for customers . . . Customers will not see any change to the level of quality they have come to expect from either banner."
I'm not surprised that Onstead determined that the Albany market was better suited for Harveys than Winn-Dixie, but I am surprised that the conversion brought about an installation of the Southern Farmstand interior to this store (as shown above).
Previously, I had assumed that the décor had died off with the Delhaize divestiture, but it seemed that somebody in Nashville (GA) held onto the design.
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| Courtesy cjaynes92 (Flickr) - March 5, 2018 |
Fast forward to 2016, when SEG unveiled a new concept for the Harveys brand with the Albany store serving as one of the flagship locations. Corporate executives touted the grand reopening of all 73 Harveys supermarkets as, "the world’s largest simultaneous ribbon-cutting ever." The new format included products that were "Low and Staying Low" and were discounted for six months at a time rather than being on a weekly sale model. SEG CEO Ian McLeod (wow, R. Randall Onstead didn't last very long) was quoted as saying, "The store itself has a new delivery. It’s bright and it’s fresh and it’s cleaner and we’ve invested in new equipment."
The new store design was bright, but I'm not sure how much cleaner the spaces were or how much new equipment was ever deployed. It appeared to me that the company just bought out Sherwin Williams' supply of yellow paint and called it a day.
While I will feature several of his photos in today's post, I'd encourage you to check out cjaynes92's entire Flickr album from a March 2018 visit to this store to see how it looked following the 2016 remodel.
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| Courtesy Steve Petty (Food Lion's Google Maps photographer) - February 24, 2021 |
Following Southeastern Grocers' sale of 62 Harveys and BI-LO stores to Food Lion in 2020, I saw a number of cheap and odd temporary conversions across Georgia and South Carolina. Food Lion took the approach of converting the stores in a matter of days and reopening them as fast as possible, typically only swapping out signage and the bare minimum of interior fixtures. Unfortunately, the only location I bothered to photograph in this funky limbo was Food Lion #2829 (former BI-LO) in Greenville, SC. It seems that after four years, Food Lion has finished remodeling all the acquired stores leaving behind minimum obvious traces of grocers past. Well, kinda.
(I also want to thank Henry H. for helping me to dig up some of the beef on this store.)
Fast forward to 2023, and we find that this building still maintains many references to its Winn-Dixie past (all while looking like a strange Kmart).
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| This picture may not have been taken in 1988, but it was exposed using B&W Kodak film in 2023 (who knew there were still darkrooms in the 2020's!) |
Take for example how the store's circa 1993 Marketplace façade is flanked by the iconically '80s sheet metal: it isn't hard to see that WD spent some time here before the current grocer roared in like a lion.
Walking through the automatic swinging doors, we are instantly greeted by some rose-colored vinyl tile surrounding the register lines (just as recent Google Maps photos had promised).
I promptly grabbed my miniature buggy and proceeded to walk toward the produce department.
Wow, what a Winnterior! This Hot new look still has a throwback vibe to it, don't you think?
After passing the dump bins of seasonal items, I found more pink and teal tiles scattered around the displays of fruits and vegetables.
The old Rose & Teal tiles don't really match Easy, Fresh, & Affordable 3.0, but I'd assume they look much better than they would have with Yellow Down Down . . .
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| Courtesy cjaynes92 (Flickr) - March 5, 2018 |
Oh yeah, that is quite the clash! If you didn't think the magic school bus could get any worse, just picture it with some 1990's Winn-Dixie tiles thrown into the mix. It doesn't help that SEG seemed to be struggling with basic maintenance (such as changing light bulbs) or a thing called bankruptcy back in 2018.
Do you think we could consider this store a diamond in the rough?
Past the ample display of 99¢/lb. collard greens, was the space previously used for Winn-Dixie's floral department and deli café which looked just as lost as it would have in any Winn-Dixie. Part of the area had been repurposed to display tables of baked goods,
while the gondola shelving facing the space was used for salad toppings.
The coolers along the wall were used for processed luncheon meats, and the extra space was used for pallet drops and seasonal displays. I can't really fault Food Lion for this cacophony as I assure you The Beef People were just as unsure of what to do with this space.
Since my picture turned out a bit shoddy of this corner, why don't we bring back the time machine?
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| Courtesy cjaynes92 (Flickr) - March 5, 2018 |
Oof, I can at least give Food Lion a pass for leaving the floors behind when this is the cards they were dealt. This space looked terrible! It also seems like the "new" Harveys coolers were in perfect shape to receive Ahold-Delhaize's blessing as well.
Turning the corner, I was confused as to why the current aisle markers were set so far back from the actionways – it made them very hard to peruse!
Having walked through a Haveys earlier that day, at least this Food Lion felt moderately more presentable. The SEG store had floors that were dull and cracking in places, while the AD store had floors that were much brighter and cracking in places.
Back in the school yard, most of the category signs were missing from the freezer aisles and two of the ones that were present still hailed from Southern Farmstand rather than Yellow Down Down (and then there were the post-bankruptcy wine signs that hung on). Not to mention the heinous caution-tape colored walls.
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The Harveys also lacked baseboards under the gondola shelves (well, it looks like the feline store did too), which revealed all sorts of grime, dirt, price tags, and product which had been long forgotten (that worked to my advantage, though, as that's how I got my vintage Harveys bag).
At least it appears that Food Lion installed new lights overhead and swapped out any potentially stained ceiling tiles.
One thing that wasn't replaced, though, was the infamous frozen foods aisle; it was still laid out just like a Winn-Dixie and had all of the corresponding tile & coffin coolers.
It doesn't take much to guess who originally used to live here . . .
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| Courtesy cjaynes92 (Flickr) - March 5, 2018 |
Shockingly, this space was also unchanged during the Harveys days. Don't you think rose & teal coordinate quite well with banana yellow? The hard surfaces are also complimented by the many yellow and red price tags on the freezer doors!
Jumping to the left wall of the store, we find some creamy & affordable goodness fermenting on aisle 17. I wonder if anybody has ever tried adding a scoop of that yogurt to their beer – they are both fermented foods, after all.
I'll let you simmer on that for a bit while I take a look at a HotSale on some purple Kool-Aid.
Off in the distance, we find where the wall meanders out into the salesfloor to showcase the onetime bakery corner.
What's even better is how leavened bread has simply given way to liquid bread (and the original light blue tile lacks context for either department!).
The thing that gets me most about this picture is how there still appears to be a small sliver of yellow wall between the soffit and the cooler holding the yellow six packs of Mike's Hard Lemonade et. al. Did somebody miss a spot?
Turning to the left, we see that the Food Lion also didn't have a pharmacy, and the former medicinal space is now used for treatments of a different kind.
Even will all of the old tile sticking around (in this case, the customer service pattern), Ahold determined it worthwhile to install new checkout hardware (all of which was for traditional manned lines). I thought it was odd how this store didn't receive any SCOs despite the company installing them elsewhere.
Although the walls of this store are now be white and blue, it certainly still feels like a Winn-Dixie inside. Don't you think?
In all honestly, I've been impressed by what I've seen in these Harveys to Food Lion conversions. Other than the Golden Girls-era flooring (which had been recently polished), this store appeared to be well stocked, and everything seemed to be kept orderly. Ahold-Delhaize was essentially given the pleasure to polish a turd with most of these stores and I have to say, they exceeded my expectations. For being a third-party spectator, it appears to me that "Project Sun" proved to be a net positive for both Delhaize and Southeastern Grocers as it allowed the former to expand back into territory it had abandoned at least a decade prior while it granted the latter the cash to remodel nearly all of its remaining stores and reclaim some of its tarnished image. Both companies seemed to exit the deal on a stronger financial footing, which likely means the communities who shop in these stores now (hopefully) have a better option for groceries. While neither company seems to have the prestige of Publix, they don't need to. The market needs competitors who fall between Publix and Aldi, and both Food Lion and Winn-Dixie seem to have their places here. I can hands down tell you that I'd rather shop at either of these stores over the "fat and happy" Kroger and that both seem to be making strides in the right direction.
And just as I began this post on a flight to the Rockies, I will wrap it up from the one and only Music City. I hope you enjoyed today's festivities, and make sure to check back in two weeks to see what else I've gotten into.
Until then,
- The Sing Oil Blogger
