Columbus #7 - Columbus, GA


Columbus #7 - Warm Springs Road - Sing Oil Company Blog - Columbus, GA

Columbus #7

Sing Food Store

5155 Warm Springs Road

Columbus, GA 31909

Revisited: September 17, 2022 | Original Publication: August 4, 2021

Scroll Down for the MTC Post Publix #650

As you may have seen me do before, I decided this post deserved an overhaul since it previously didn't include a tour (or much personality).  I finally got the chance to visit this location for myself in June 2022, and really wasn't too surprised by what I found.  I was, however, surprised by what I found in a nearby Publix which was undergoing an Evergreen remodel when I visited.  I'll share that part below for the More Than Convenience portion of this post, but first, let's learn some more about the Columbus #7 Sing Store.

Columbus #7 is located on the corner of Warm Springs Road and Schomburg Road in north Columbus.  The area developed in the late 1970s through 1980s as suburban growth extended into the Northeastern reaches of Muscogee County.  Prior to the suburbanization, this Sing was known as the last outpost for people leaving the developed part of Columbus to head further out into the rural areas of northern Muscogee County and southern Harris County.  This location's history dovetails very well with the newspaper article which features this store, which I will discuss below.

Some History

Built in 1979, Columbus #7 was one of Sing's two small-format, offset square stores in the Columbus market (Columbus #8 being the other).  These convenience stores were often built at intersections where the "front" of the store would face an intersection corner while the two sides with entrances would face each road.  Often, the front corner of these stations would include a payment window (Under the Pepsi - 39¢ banner in the photo above) to provide a quicker option for motorists who didn't need to purchase goods within the convenience store.  

This photo above was taken in August 1988, and provides a rare glimpse of a Sing station in the late '80s – including the yellow and blue livery of the time.  I happened to find this photo last summer on eBay, which originated from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer for an article describing "convenience store clerks who work late at night," entitled "Convenience Store:  Is it risky business?" (alternate cover | page 2)  Before I was able to locate a copy of the article, I understood how this photo portrays the mood of a lonely convenience store attendant helping a customer in an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, but I didn't get the whole "picture" as to why it was taken.  The photographer definitely captured a "moody, isolated shot," that doesn't "show faces and/or store name;" I highlight the last point because a keen eye can notice white-out over the convenience store canopy under the three fluorescent lights (If anybody knows how to safely remove white-out from a photo, please comment below).  The sign that is covered would have likely read "Sing Food Store" like an architectural drawing I have and a photograph of the Sandy Plains station from 1977.

Columbus #7 Photo Rear - Warm Springs Road - Sing Oil Company Blog
Reverse of image above, providing rare context of the motivations of the photographer in 1988.
Notes from Mike Haskey, photographer for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

I say "before I was able to find a copy" because the "why" led me to the Columbus, GA library during my trip to photograph the inside of this store.   

A box containing The Columbus Ledger on a roll of microfilm for May 1983

It was on this adventure when I got my first exposure to the wonders of microfilm.  I've got to say, I'm glad the photo I bought on eBay had the date "8-9-88" written on the back or else I would have likely spent days looking through the library's microfilm collection.  At least I now know how to use microfilm, but this process made me appreciate Newspaper.com's OCR capabilities.

The microfilm scanner setup at the Columbus Library

The microfilm I was looking through in these pictures was in regard to a strong thunderstorm which toppled the Columbus #4 canopy.  Thankfully, both pictures I was looking for made the front page of The Ledger, but searching for those images required slowly scrolling through each exposure while checking the computer screen for my desired picture.  This video provides a good overview on the process of using microfilm.

Much to my chagrin, it wasn't two months later before Newspapers.com uploaded scanned and indexed copies of The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and The Macon Telegraph which were included as part of my subscription; that would have saved me a lot of time!  Oh well, at least I have the experience of how to use microfilm.  Furthermore, the copies of microfilm that Newspapers.com acquired were in much better condition than those at the Columbus Library, so I guess it worked out in the end.

Columbus #7 Circle K Food Store, from Warm Springs Road - 2015
(Photo from Muscogee County Property Tax Records)

According to Muscogee County property records, Sing Oil Company bought the property for Columbus #7 on May 18, 1978, for $44,000.  Under the Sing Industries branch of the company, the property was sold to Spectrum Stores, Inc. on June 15, 1993, for $538,000 by Amoco.  Spectrum would then operate this station until its merger with Circle K in 2006.  During the mid-to-late '90s, Spectrum would add a car-wash, an additional storefront, and more gas pumps to prepare the station for the twenty-first century.  Circle K would maintain Sing's parking lot lights (like the one shown at the top of this post) until approximately 2015 when they were replaced with more efficient LED Fixtures. 

The Store

The former Columbus #7 Sing Store is located in a primarily residential area (shocker) in Northeastern Columbus. As mentioned above, Warm Springs Road served as the primary means to access the more rural areas of northeast Muscogee County and southern Harris County prior to the construction of Alternate US 27, known to locals as Manchester Expressway, which parallels Warm Springs Road. 

Interestingly, Manchester Expressway was built as a limited-access, four lane highway out to the community of Ellerslie in Harris County with the intent to serve as Columbus' connection to the Interstate Highway System while planning the construction of I-185. There were many changes to the alignment of the interstate to connect Columbus to Atlanta, including an ultimately successful grassroots campaign to route the interstate around, rather than over, Pine Mountain.  The final selected alignment of I-185 ended up entering Columbus west of Alternate US 27, and this section of highway never became an interstate.  It does, however, serve as a commute artery for the many suburbs that have developed in northeast Columbus, and the highway may one day get another tie-in with the Interstate System (in addition to its intersection with I-185) according to the current plans to build I-14 through Columbus along the US 80 corridor. 

Another notable fact about Manchester Expressway is that it is home to a local landmark, Kadie the Cow (for now). The property north of Manchester Expressway and southwest of the Columbus Airport was formerly home to Kinnett Dairies, and since 1967 a large fiberglass cow named Kadie has loomed large as the "Colossus of Roads" overlooking the very busy corridor. Even after the dairy closed and Best Buy built a store on the site, Kadie the Cow remained (although the smaller calf Bebe alongside her who appeared overnight in 2003 was stolen and recovered multiple times until her most recent disappearance sometime around 2015). Upon Best Buy's departure, Kadie was apparently given a permanent easement as a local landmark, but as of 2022 there are plans that Kadie will be moo-ved to Uptown Columbus where she will be more easily accessible by curious visitors.

Coming home to the main road-subject of this post, Warm Springs Road also paralleled another thoroughfare that predated Manchester Expressway. The M Line was a rail connection completed in 1887 which stretched from Columbus to Griffin, GA, and allowed a connection to Atlanta. The route faced many financial difficulties, but it served many communities that ultimately became Columbus commuter suburbs, such as Midland, Ellerslie, and Waverly Hall. This line was also used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on his many trips to Warm Springs and carried his funeral train north, back to Washington, D.C.  Many remnants from the rail line exist in the Columbus area today, most notably the Fall Line Trace walking trail built as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the Ellerslie Depot. One final rail-themed remnant is the locally-loved Train Station Burger King, which is, you guessed it, a Burger King built to look like a train station. It includes a seating area that resembles a trolley and a creepy ticket-seller mannequin, too! For reference, Train Station Burger King is just slightly out of view from Kadie the Cow's perch next to the former Best Buy. She is probably glad not to have to look at that every day, because I imagine she would rather have hungry Columbusites "Eat mor chikin" at the Chick-fil-A inside Peachtree Mall directly across from Train Station Burger King. But enough backstory about the many transport modes that have served this corridor through the ages, we are here to talk about the Sing Store!  Since I finally got the chance (or the motivation) to photograph the former Columbus #7 Sing Store, I decided to take plenty of photographs to quench my thirst.  Let's dive in!

This store may not be in the same, mostly original condition as former LaGrange #4, but it still has retained its original wooden columns supporting the awning out front.  As I mentioned above, the station's gas payment window was originally located where the door currently is.  The windows would have originally extended past the Redbox machine, and one of the store's two doors would have been where the cigarette prices are on display.

Stepping inside, we see the typical sights of a convenience store lining the right wall: a coffee station, the cashier counter, and random trinkets. 

Turning toward the left wall, we see Circle K's extensive fountain drink machines, with the drink coolers off in the distance in their original location.

I was surprised at how large this store felt on the inside compared to LaGrange #4, so I wonder if it was added on to at some point.

Sing might've been famous for their ICEEs, but Circle K offers customers the chance to purchase a "Froster".  You can even add a creative crunch with some boiled peanuts, sort of like a modern spin on the Southern classic, "Lumpy Coke"!

We'll take one last look toward the front door before we move on.

Roller food anyone?  It looks like you may be out of luck today! I'm not sure which would be better: a hotdog which has been marinating in the warm, greasy environ of convenience store scents wafting through the air, or a Sing bologna submarine sandwich which has been made to the customer's desire and heated in a microwave.

If roller food doesn't satisfy your every desire, then Circle K also provides a selection of prepackaged sandwiches offering for you to "h-eat me!"

One thing I'm not used to seeing in a convenience store is a planogram taped to the cooler door.  I wish I had paid more attention to the stocking to see if it was accurate!

Turning toward the back corner of the store (the one opposite the door), we see the remainder of the drink coolers and the restrooms off in the distance. It looks like everything in this shot was installed by Circle K (or possibly Spectrum) at some point.

Spinning around 180 degrees, we see a different perspective of the drink coolers.

The particular tile design doesn't do much for me, but I don't mind the overall look of Circle K's current aesthetic.

Looking along the right rear wall of the store, we see the coffee station located in the "middle" right corner of the store (the strange axis of these stores throws me off when writing descriptions).  I think Sing's original coffee station was located there as well, in addition to its soft drink station.


Apparently "Purple Thunder" Mountain Dew was popular here – much more popular than some beanie babies on a string.


Today's fun featured product happens to be Beyond Meat Jerky: Answer The Growl.  For some reason, I can't imagine there is a large overlap in the Venn diagram of beef jerky consumers and Beyond Meat enthusiasts, but feel free to prove me wrong!

Well, that wraps up our tour inside the store, so let's take a look at the gas pumps outside (and what I believe is the original Sing canopy structure).  Circle K or Spectrum would've certainly added on to the canopy when MPD pumps were installed, but this perspective makes it look like the original 1979 structure still spans between the column in the middle and the column on the left.

Looking to the right after walking out of the door, we see Sing's wooden columns still in place 43-years later.

Same story with the left side too; however, we also see the entrance to the laundromat building which was added by Spectrum in the late-1990's.

Some of the awning beams are showing a bit of rot, but this store doesn't look too shabby considering its age.

On the contrary, the laundromat next door looks like it could use a nice pressure wash.

The Sing Store, shockingly, operates as Circle K #6707 as of 2022; however, there are Columbus residents who still remember filling up at Sing.  "In the late 1970s, that was the last place to stop for a cup of coffee on the way to go hunting out in Midland, which hadn't been developed into the suburbs at the time."

All these years later, and this building is still proudly serving the residents of Columbus.

Google Street Views

 
Google Street View - December 2007
View of Spectrum / Circle K convenience store from Warm Springs Road.
 
 
Google Street View - March 2014
View of Circle K convenience store from Warm Springs Road.
 
 
Google Street View - September 2019
View of Circle K convenience store and car-wash from Schomburg Road intersection.

Aerial Views

Historic Aerials - 1968
Future site of Columbus #7 Sing store.

Historic Aerials - 1981
Newly built Columbus #7 store on corner of Warm Springs & Schomburg Roads.

Google Earth - February 1993
Columbus #7 just before sale to Spectrum Stores, Inc. on 6/15/1993.


Google Earth - November 2020
Columbus #7 as a Circle K store with car-wash and adjacent storefront.




 


Pub Subs & Pastels

Many of you have commented about how much you dislike Publix's current Evergrey Evergreen interior design package.  Although I agree with some of your points, the package has brought forth many things which were previously thought to be lost to time.  Without Evergreen and its prolific spread, I never would have experienced the adventure which I will share in my upcoming MFR post on a Metro Atlanta Publix.  Consequently, I never would have started that journey had I not seen this store: Publix #650, which features décor that is about to blow out like a Candle in the Wind.

Publix #650

Parkway Centre

7600 Schomburg Rd

Columbus, GA 31909

One day, I was minding my own business, when a friend of mine sent me a picture from the Publix he stopped at as he was traveling.  My friend knows about the blog and thought I would be intrigued by what he saw:  not only was I intrigued, but I also determined that I needed to make a trip to Columbus, GA, before this Publix finished its remodel.  Thankfully, I was able to make it to the store before the relic disappeared and will get to share it with y'all today!  

Some History

Publix Parkway Centre is located on Schomburg Road, not far from Columbus #7. The area has many suburban neighborhoods such as Maple Ridge (which also features an 18-hole golf course), Shaw High School, and the adjacent Kinnett Stadium (which I imagine is somehow related to the aforementioned dairy).

Courtesy New Market Properties - Publix Parkway Centre

Unfortunately, the Parkway Centre Publix no longer sports its classic teal-and-white signage as we see above, but we will find some 1990's relics remaining on the inside. 

Courtesy Newspapers.com - The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer - January 26, 1999

Publix #650 opened on February 17, 1999, as the fourth Publix in Columbus and Muscogee County and came in the midst of a wave of new development in the city.  The article above mentions how Columbus residents would soon be able to enjoy a new Target, dine at an O'Charley's, and grab a snack from the area's first standalone Chick-Fil-A. It is an interesting coincidence that the article mentions these three other developments along with the newest Publix to serve Columbus, as they are all located very close to the first Columbus Publix on Bradley Park Drive.  

Courtesy Faith (Flickr) - October 13, 2005

Fast forward 23-years, and the store is still going strong while undergoing its (likely) third interior remodel to bring it up to Publix's current tastes.  What's even more interesting is it will soon be sandwiched between two shiny new stores.  The first, future Publix #1868, has already broken ground about 2.5 miles to the East in the Midland Commons development (which interestingly backs up to the M Line/Fall Line Trace corridor mentioned above).  The second will be located in the Old Town development about 2.5 miles to the northwest on Veterans Parkway.  Neither of these stores have been announced to be replacing #650 or the nearby #562, but I would be shocked if all four stores can survive within a 10-minute drive from each other.

The Store

To most people, seeing their local supermarket undergo a renovation means they will have some minor inconveniences for several weeks but soon be rewarded with a shiny, refreshed building. To a retail blogger, a renovation signals a rare time to catch a glimpse of some long-lost décor packages. The store we'll be touring today certainly falls into the second category and is currently undergoing its Sienna to Evergreen remodel.

What is even more interesting about this location is how I thought it would be replaced once #1868 opens next year. Publix seems to be replacing a number of 39T locations, so I thought this one would surely be on the chopping block. It turned out to be quite the contrary since this store is getting remodeled!  

The first thing I noticed when I saw this store was how it still uses the Wavy Pastels font for the Entrance sign over the door. How cool! Although I do not know what interior this store opened with, some of my findings lead me to believe it originally had Wavy Pastels.

Thanks to my friend who I mentioned earlier, we have the privilege of seeing this store during two phases of its remodel.   The first example of this is in the vestibule.

Just inside the entrance, we see the cart storage area and what used to be home to the green beans. We also see where the remodel removed the green vinyl stickers which used to cover the original checkered tile pattern. At least I know that tile pattern will be safe with Evergrey!

Our first look inside the store will be at the pharmacy counter, which looks like it was undergoing some slight modifications based on the sheetrock patch. I'm not exactly sure what was done, but something happened there (or a pharmacist rage-quit and punched the wall on his way out, who knows).

I will say, this angle makes it hard to realize that the store was undergoing a remodel.  If it wasn't for the grey paint above the pharmacy, I would've thought it still had its full Sienna installation.  Also of note is how this store underwent its Sienna remodel no earlier than 2016 based on the Publix P logo being over the customer service counter rather than the apple – that still seems like a fast turnaround!

Turning toward the bakery, we see that the wall which typically displays the department signage has already been painted white.  We can also see the track lighting grid and dropped ceiling structure which is original to the service departments in many late-1990's Publixes.

Taking a look toward the deli, we see the placement for this department which is typical for any 37N store, or most Publix stores from the last 25 years, for that matter.  The walls here have also been painted white, but something colorful was uncovered behind the counter . . .

Get back, Honky Cat, what is that I see!?!  Coral checkered tile!  That's right, folks, this fun 1990's tile pattern has been hiding behind the vinyl stickers of Sienna for the last few years and made its return just for us to see!  It's also possible that the Deli sign we see dates back to at least 2004 since another store in Forsyth County, GA had the same sign at its grand opening.

I was shocked to see this tile pattern remain in-tact for this long, considering I had not seen it in any of the numerous Publix stores I have documented over the last year.  It also looks as if Publix replaced this pattern with plain white tiles on the section of wall between the walk-in cooler and the doorway to the deli prep area.  I've got a better angle below which will really show this.

But first, let's just marvel in the moment with this vintage tile.

One last shot before we move on (and a look at some nice and crispy chicken tenders).

As I mentioned before, we can really see where Publix replaced some of the tile from this angle.  If you look just past the cooler, you can see a tiny section of the coral tile which remains before the larger white wall.  The pattern then picks back up on the other side of the doorway.  I'm not sure when or why Publix replaced the tile on this one wall, but I hope that isn't a sign of what's going to happen to the rest of this tile!  It is already shocking to consider it has survived at least a Classy Market 2.0 remodel around 2008-2009 and a Sienna remodel around 2016, but let's just hope Publix will stick some white vinyl over it this time around and call it a day!

Courtesy Yelp - Publix #650 Bakery - February 12, 2015

Thanks to Yelp, we'll get to quickly time-travel back to 2016 to see what this area of the store looked like with Classy Market 2.0 in place.  Our first glimpse may not look all that exciting, but it actually provides me with a lot of information.  The first thing is how the partition wall enclosing the dropped ceiling over the deli/bakery wasn't added until this store's Sienna remodel; meanwhile, most other 37N stores seem to have received this addition as early as a decade prior in remodels.  Also, this gives us a good look at how this part of the ceiling originally looked when the store was built (which feels a bit unfinished, if you ask me).  

Furthermore, if you zoom in to the right side of the picture, you can see a bit of the coral tile pattern I saw on my trip which tells me Publix shockingly left this exposed during this store's tenure with Classy Market 2.0 (unless this person took the picture because a remodel was pending).

Courtesy Yelp - Publix #650 Bakery - February 12, 2015

Next up, we have a look toward the produce department from the deli.  Four things in particular catch my eye, besides the obvious Classy Market 2.0 décor:

1). The hand basket on the left looks like the same style Publix was using during the early-2000's and could even date back to the store's opening.  I'm not sure when the modern ones rolled out, but they have phrasing below the Publix logo stating how they are made with recycled material.

2). I wonder if the metallic section of wall behind the large "Produce" sign is the back of a walk-in cooler or if this is just for effect.  I've seen a similar section of wall above the dairy section in other 37N stores.

3). The aisle sign off in the distance may look like it was from Publix's Classy Market 1.0 package, but it is actually much older . . . more on that in a future post.

4). I see some stainless steel covering a band of tile off in the distance; I wonder what may be behind there?

With that out of the way, we'll jump back to 2022 and take one last look at the bakery before moving on.  It's crazy to me how similar the right side of this store is to a modern 45M.  I wouldn't be surprised if the product on the grocery aisles has been shuffled around over the years, but stores built in 2022 still have sports drinks across from the deli on aisle 1.

I'm sure the produce department looks better now, but it was definitely a hodge-podge when I saw it a few months ago!  We can see the patched sheetrock above the cut produce station from Sienna's department signage, along with the orange accent coloring and unfinished white section of wall.

That particular white wall used to host our friend, the artichoke.  He and his green bean cohort have since moved on to greener (or greyer) pastures and will soon be replaced by their friends cucumber, kale, and kiwi.

This wide-angle shot really makes the deli space look larger than it is, but I know from my experience waiting for my chicken tender Pub Sub that it can get pretty crowded!

An apple a day keeps the Evergrey away?

Oh, wait, would you look at that!  Another vintage tile pattern!  You might've noticed it in a few of the shots above, but this guy was hiding behind the cut produce cooler and was previously obscured by the stainless steel panel in Classy Market 2.0.  Again, I don't know what interior this store opened with (Publix seemed to have a different variation for each store model in the late-1990's), but coral and teal tile do make a strong case for a later form of Wavy Pastels . . .

Unfortunately, I skipped over most of the floral department which was sandwiched between cut produce and the restrooms, but here we can get a nice shot of the rear aisle of the store.

Speaking of the restrooms, Publix's 37D/N and 45T-1 stores from the turn of the Millennium are the only ones I can think of which put them in the back of the store.  Personally, the setup in this shot reminds me more of an old Winn-Dixie than a Publix!

I don't typically take head-on shots of the dairy cooler (and I think my friend was actually the one who took this shot) but I figured I would leave it to show the stark difference between the off-white cooler, tan Sienna accent bar, grey Evergreen wall, and white ceiling.  I'd imagine the tan bar has since been painted, but at least this store still seems to have a bit more dimension than others with the Evergreen package. 

It also looks like whatever yogurt was between Oui and Ratio Keto was very popular with the BOGO sale that week!  It hadn't even been sold out long enough to get one of the infamous green "Our Apologizes" tags!

Now this looks more like a shot I would've taken!  We can see the majority of the dairy section, with milk occupying the enclosed refrigerators and eggs off in the distance, followed by the meat department.

Or maybe this was a shot I took?  Regardless, it looks like Publix managed to change the tan bar to green above the coolers.  I'll be interested to see if a stock photo is plastered to the white section of wall above the milk or if canvas-style pictures are just hung in front of / attached to it.

Aisle 2 will be one of the few featured grocery aisles on this tour, and it happens to be home to breakfast products.  We can also see the small floral department and restroom hallway off in the distance.

My trip to Publix #650 gave me a lot of "firsts" with regards to tile pattern sightings, but it also happened to be the first time I saw a grey powder-coated Wanzl 4140W shopping cart in a Publix.  As you can see in the edge of this picture, I still had a regular chrome buggy (as did seemingly everybody else in the store) so I'm not entirely sure why there was only one grey cart in the store.  I've since seen these used exclusively at newly-built stores as opposed to the chrome ones so it seems that they will slowly be trickling down to older ones as well.  I just wonder why this guy was here all alone (and if the lady pushing it even noticed that it was different)!

After he left several comments on other posts, I reached out to Retail Regents to get some insight into the shockingly complex world of shopping carts.  He said that Publix likely switched to the grey powder-coated carts since they have better rust resistance than chrome carts.  As far as I have noticed, Publix has 3 primary models of carts floating around their stores (not including the small ones in 28M stores): the Tote 1409G (which has the iconic white handle), the Technibilt 3340 (chrome handle with green snap on piece), and the Technibilt/Wanzl 4140W (with the plastic green handle).   I know I have seen the few Technibilt 3340s which are still rolling around are showing some considerable rust stains for being less than 10-years old.  I don't have an exact date, but I think Publix still used the white handled carts into the 2010's, and I think the solid plastic handled carts are fairly recent (with the 3340 sandwiched in between). 

Anyway, I managed to look at the grey cart after the lady went to her car and it looks like it was manufactured in May of 2022 (as evidenced by the 5 NEWTON NC 22 in the picture above).  That's pretty recent!

On the flip side, what isn't recent is this COOLer.  This style of endcap cooler is as much of a Publix staple as anything, but it seems like they are becoming rarer.

We'll continue my trend of photographing the pet food aisle (since there wasn't anybody on it, as usual) and take a look at a slightly out-of-place sign for aisle 8.

Over on aisle 12, we catch a glimpse of the fish counter with its accompanying water-colored tile. 

This was the same color of tile as we saw in the produce department, and it seems to fit in swimmingly with the seafood department.  This design also hearkens back to the one Publix used in their restrooms during the 1980's.

I have seen remnants of this tile pattern before since Publix typically leaves behind the grey line of tile underlining the checkered pattern, but this was the first and only time I have ever seen the blue variation on full display.

Stepping back on aisle 12, we see this store's cold beer and chip selection.  Interestingly, it seems like Publix has rearranged many of their stores to offer both of these products on the same aisle.

Our final department to examine is the meat department in the back left corner of the store.  Wouldn't you know that it also gave me one last chance to see the coral tile pattern!

Just as a recap, meats, along with the deli and bakery all utilized the coral and grey tile pattern we see here while the teal and grey pattern was installed in the seafood and produce departments.

I feel like this pattern is a bit more subtle than the earlier Wavy Pastels design, but I think I like the change.

Aisle 13 is where shoppers can find a combination of frozen foods, breakfast meats, and cheese.  Does this combination seem odd to anybody else?  I feel like stores don't typically devote half of an aisle, lengthwise, to frozen foods but rather would devote half widthwise.

A similar, but less extreme example can be found on aisle 14 where the meat department gives way to the rest of frozen foods.

We'll take another quick look back toward the meat department before we jump forward a couple of weeks to see where more painting was completed.

I do think the lower ceilings and air ducts in this store help Evergreen look more visually interesting and less washed out.

However, the wine department still looked pretty washed out on this trip.  Hopefully Publix has since hung some stock photos on the walls so that the blank look doesn't give their shoppers anything to w(h)ine about while perusing this area.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think this "Notice To Publix Public" sign dates back to at least this store's Classy Market 2.0 install – or before.  


Our parting shots will be of this store's checkout lines before they had received their new Evergreen veneer or checkout cubes.  I'm not sure when it was removed, but this store also originally had a large section of dropped ceiling over this area of the store.

We'll also see this store's pair of mini checkout lines which are typically only found in Publix's smaller 28M stores.  I'd be curious to see if these survived or if they were removed in favor of NCR self-checkout units.

This artsy picture was my attempt to get one last look at the vinyl sticker covering the tile in the exit vestibule as it proclaims "Don't let the sun go down on me!"

So, what did you think about Publix #650?  Do you think the original tile will survive another day?  Or will it say Goodbye to the yellow brick road, just as many other stores have?

I'll close out with a map highlighting the placement of Sing Stores in relation to Publix locations in Northeast Muscogee County.  I would like to note that Sing Oil Company merged with Amoco before the planned Columbus #9 and Columbus #10 stores could be developed, but both lots had been purchased and architectural plans had already been drawn up for #9.  Just like we saw in Tallahassee, I find the placement choices of the two companies curious, to say the least. 

Until next time,

- The Sing Oil Blogger

Additional Resources: 

Historic Aerials

Google Earth Pro

Parcel ID: 100 008 003

Muscogee County Property Records

Comments

  1. Forget about waiting in line for a Pub Sub for lunch, I'm going over to the local Sing for a microwaved Bologna sandwich instead! I can pair that with some vegan jerky to make up for the calories from the Bologna, and wash it all down with my Froster with boiled peanuts drink! The new beanie baby on a string I bought approves of that lunch too! :)

    At least Columbus #7 still has some relics from Sing left behind for you to pick out, even though the building has been modernized quite a bit. Thankfully though, there weren't any leftover Bologna sandwiches still sitting out on the roller grill from the Sing days, as that would be an unpleasant relic to find! I like the train station Burger King you mentioned too, as they put a lot of detail into that restaurant.

    You certainly stumbled upon a treasure trove of tile relics at Publix #650 too. I haven't seen some of those patterns in a long time, although I did recently visit a Publix with the gray tile pattern this store has in the vestibule. That store recently remodeled to Evergreen, and the gray pattern was left behind in-tact, which I thought was fitting. However, the store I visited was just a bit newer than this one (and a 51T), and used the gray tile pattern in all the departments rather than the different colored patterns seen here. The gray tiles were left behind in all the departments, but I don't know of Publix is going to keep the colored patterns in this store around once the remodel ends, as they don't really match Evergreen as well. At least you got the chance to see all these patterns in the wild again before they potentially get covered up by the time the remodel finishes.

    I'm also trying to picture you stalking that lady in the parking lot for her shopping cart :) My only guess is another store in the area got a fleet of new carts, and that one wandered over. Typically a store will have a random old cart floating around with a bunch of new ones, and not the opposite like you saw here, which is what's so odd about the situation.

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    1. Man, you are always in the mood for quite the combination of food; I thought the PB&wine sandwiches were crazy enough! You always make me chuckle with your food comments! “I can pair that with some vegan jerky to make up for the calories from the Bologna” – I’m dead!

      Like you’ve said before, it is better to have a modernized building left behind to analyze than no building at all. The train station Burger King is also a cool place to check out if you are in the area (and the man in the video loved repeating “train station” when he was pointing to every object on his tour).

      I personally never remember seeing the coral and teal tile patterns used in this store before, so that was really a treat for me. On the other hand, I’ve even seen that grey checkered pattern survive in a Sienna store (that store has many other quirks though and I’ll post about it soon enough). I do agree that the grey pattern will be on full display in any Evergreen stores which still have it since I can think of at least two remodeled stores (a 51T and a 56N) where that has been the case. As far as I can remember, nearly every 51T uses that same grey pattern throughout its departments and most 45T-1 stores do as well. There is a reason why that pattern was installed in stores ranging from Wavy Pastels to Metallic Marketplace to Classy Market 1.0 and still looks good with Evergreen! I wouldn’t be surprised if Publix decided to slap some white vinyl stickers over the colored tile in #650 before all is said and done since I’ve seen them do that with the Sienna tile overlays in a different store.

      Haha! I don’t think I really stalked the lady out to her car; I think I just happened to notice that she left her buggy in the corral near my car as I was leaving the store. I still can’t imagine #474, #562, or #1390 getting new carts because I think I went to all of them within a few weeks of visiting #650 and didn’t notice any grey ones floating around. #1390 was undergoing its Evergreen remodel, but all of the carts in my pictures are chrome. I wonder if a random grey one found its way onto the grocery delivery truck? Like you said, even my local store has one or two older carts rolling around, and that makes sense. I just can’t figure out how one new cart would find its way to a store when it couldn’t have come from any surrounding stores.

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  2. Nice Post! I grew up in Columbus, but my Publix stores were either Bradley Park or Cross Country Plaza. I rarely ever made it up to the Schomberg Rd store...unless I wanted to check out a movie from the Blockbuster in that shopping center because I had late fees at the stores near me. But I digress.

    The original Cross Country store was a similar model to this one, but a few years older. I think It had neon around the center interior of the store. (I could be mixing it up with store 576 in Greenville. I swear one of them had neon.) The original Cross Country store is now subdivided between TJ Maxx and Goodwill. The new store was built around 2011and as of a few months ago, was getting Evergreened.

    Publix pretty much has a lock on the Columbus-Phenix City area. Winn Dixie has all of 3 stores remaining. Piggly Wiggly has a bunch of older small stores (and one shiny new one...which was built on land that was going to be the areas first replacement A&P store many years ago. But I digress again.)

    My only nitpick is that Columbus' first Chick-Fil-A was in the long-departed Columbus Square Mall. The CFA in Peachtree Mall in the food court isn't even its original location in Peachtree Mall. Incidentally, a few years ago, Chick-Fil-A tried to purchase Kadie to display outside their Manchester Expressway location down the street.

    Keep up the good work!

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    1. Thank you! I’m glad to hear from a Columbus native and especially glad that you enjoyed the post! The Bradley Park store would’ve been a bit more interesting to cover had I photographed it when it still had its Wavy Pastels awnings in place, and the original Cross Country Plaza store would’ve intrigued me more than the current one. Regardless, I’ve still been to both of those stores and even visited the TJ Maxx in the old Publix #592. It’s also funny how you would rather dodge the late fees and drive up to the Schomburg Rd Blockbuster as opposed to settling up at your local store – you had to return your tape and pay them at some point!

      Unfortunately, I’ve only found one picture of the old Cross Country Plaza store on Yelp. I’d be curious to learn more about how the inside of that store looked because that has really been a mystery to me. It would’ve had the same interior styling of #576 in Greenville because both were used the 37D prototype. #576 itself doesn’t have long left on this Earth since it is about to be replaced by #1767 next door.

      Publix having a lock on the market isn’t unique to Columbus as they have really taken over many of the markets they operate out of. Tallahassee is one good example, where I believe Publix operates 11 stores compared to Winn-Dixie’s one location. Nearly 20-years ago, Winn-Dixie had 9-or-so stores in the city. At least Winn-Dixie has been able to hold onto a few more stores in the Columbus Metro.

      Thank you for pointing that out about Columbus’ first Chick-Fil-A not being in Peachtree Mall; I’ll make sure to change that in the post. I also didn’t realize that Chick-Fil-A had a history with Kadie the cow! How fitting!

      Thank you for the kind words, and this won’t be the last time you see me cover The Fountain City!

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    2. This video takes place inside #592 so you can see a glimpse of it's interior and it's non-serif 1.0 glory.
      https://www.facebook.com/falconslocal/videos/columbus-ga/128638610520827

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    3. I'm sure people say the same about stuff I come across, but I don't know how you found that random video! At least we can now say that #592 closed with SS CM 1.0 (and therefore was last remodeled around 2008). I still find it crazy that Publix will remodel some stores 3-years before they are replaced, yet let others like #172 or #1331 go 10-15 years without a remodel.

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  3. Speaking of Tote Cart Co., they were acquired by Technibilt in 2011 and had all their models phased out, which would indicate the 3340 (with the snap-on handle insert) was a replacement for the Totes as a result of the buyout. Here's a picture I found on Foursquare from December 2011 of a Technibilt in a store in Hancock, Cape Coral (notice the three-picture warning label on the seat flap).
    https://fastly.4sqi.net/img/general/600x600/2K5L3JEGP2J22HD2JNO5YVDV3ADFVGYZGYQ5NRS3AFDJEWP1.jpg

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    1. Well that is an interesting piece of information that I didn't know! I feel like I've seen pictures from a Publix grand opening in 2011 where the store still had the old white-handled Tote carts so I'd imagine they were using up the last of the existing stock. I'll have to pay more attention to the few 3340s I see on my travels too. I recently came across a rough looking 3340 with a date of May 2012, but it seems like Publix has tried to phase out most of those in favor of the 4140Ws. It's almost more surprising to see a 3340 than an old Tote since the chrome on the latter seems to have held up better!

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    2. CORRECTION: I was wrong about that earlier Technibilt being a 3340; they are the non-Fusion 4140, which appears to have been discontinued. A 3340 would not be as wide!

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    3. You are correct! I had not paid much attention before, but I just saw one of the older-style carts from 2012 and it was a 4140. The chrome on the few I've seen has been in pretty rough shape; hopefully the new grey ones will hold up better!

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