Bradfordville

Sing Food Store | Deli

6706 Thomasville Road

Tallahassee, FL 32312

Revisited: March 10, 2022 | Original Publication: September 16, 2021

Back during the waning days of the 20th century, the heart of Uptown was marked by the first traffic light to greet travelers once they entered Florida from a northern wilderness. Commuters along U.S. 319 were limited to the offerings of a Sing store/gas station for a last-minute gift or a quick bite to eat.

“I lived out there when all that was there was that Sing store,” said Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge with a laugh. “It’s come a long way and it’s coming together.”

Today, the intersection of Thomasville and Bradfordville is the gateway to a new development of swanky and casual restaurant and boutique shops – 38,000 square feet of retail space known as the Bannerman Crossings

- "Uptown, becoming a place to be", The Tallahassee Democrat, August 26, 2016

To continue our journey through Sing's final 12 Tallahassee Stations, we will visit the heart of an unincorporated community eight miles north of the city called Bradfordville. This station is unique in the history of the area because it was alone, and was initially surrounded by miles of pine forests in all directions - no businesses, no houses, not much of anything. Some thought Sing was crazy to build a store in what seemed like the middle of nowhere but time would reveal that the station would have one of the best locations in the soon-to-be booming community. Today, there is a Target, Publix (soon to be two), Walgreens, large high school, multiple restaurants, and nearly 50,000 people within a five-mile radius; however, in the early '80s there was nothing more than an old country store at a misaligned crossroads.

Built in 1984, the Bradfordville Sing Store was the first in the Tallahassee area to use the large-format square prototype and was the first store in the area to be built from scratch with a Deli. This prototype was only rolled out a year earlier in Mississippi (Jackson #4 & Columbia) which also would have been some of Sing's first attempts at serving hot food in convenience stores. At the time of its opening around July 4, 1984 the station was one of three in the Tallahassee area to feature a Deli, with more to come in the following years. More information on Sing's foray into hot food can be found in the article on Tallahassee #12. This station's final manager under Sing operation was Pete Cuddy, who had been employed by Sing since 1971.

The picture above was taken around the time of the station's grand opening along with the rare interior shots I have of Sing stores in the '80s. One thing I find interesting about this station is that it was built with analog pumps featuring the ca. 1964 Sing logo while Port St. Joe was already using the newer Gilbarco Highline pumps in 1982. The first trace I can find of Sing's new '80s logo is from 1986 so it had probably not rolled out yet; however, the color scheme of this station matches that new logo well.

Courtesy Newspapers.com - Tallahassee Democrat - October 13, 1997; Colorized 2022
Amoco-Sing #5054 (Bradfordville Sing Store)

I found the picture above in a section of the Democrat describing how Bradfordville has changed over the years. As I mentioned in another post, I never expected I would find one of these rare looks at an Amoco-Sing station.

Just a note of continuity, Amoco referred to this station as Sing Food Store #2 in an ad on December 24, 1993 but this station was never given a number during the days of Sing management. The original Tallahassee #2 was a service station located on West Carolina Street in downtown. According to Leon County Property Records, Sing leased this and several other service stations from Bay Petroleum on August 8, 1959.

Exterior Photos

While looking through my pictures, I found these two I had taken back in 2017 while passing through Tallahassee. I think I had seen Circle K rolling out their new station livery at other locations so I wanted to capture a glimpse before the old one went away. Back then, I didn't know I would have a blog dedicated to these gas stations; I guess sometimes life prepares you for times to come, even when you don't realize it!

Bradfordville Circle K Exterior - June, 2017 - Sing Oil Blog

Bradfordville Circle K - June 2017
The front entrance to the store, facing the corner of Bannerman & Thomasville Roads

This shot shows the front of the Bradfordville Sing store, featuring Circle K's early-'00s livery. The look is definitely showing its age with all of the mildew running on the white paint. After all, it would have been installed in 1999 after the station's purchase from Amoco — and the subsequent death of the Sing brand. Looking through the window, I can see Circle K's previous interior décor package featuring diamond-plate metal on the walls and red perimeter lighting.

Bradfordville Circle K Thomasville Road Sign - June, 2017 - Sing Oil Blog

Bradfordville Circle K - June 2017
Thomasville Road monument sign for Circle K and Shell

I also took a picture of the monument sign by the road, which uses the old Circle K logo and the old Shell sign design. All of this was replaced fairly soon after I took these pictures. Interestingly, this station used to have a tall road sign but it was replaced with this smaller one when the store started selling Shell gasoline around 2008-2009.

Interior Photos

While I have only visited two stores of this prototype, both this store and Tallahassee #12 were nearly identical 35+ years after they were built so I would assume that they were identical when constructed as well. Circle K recently remodeled this store but the layout remains largely the same as it did in 1984. I apologize in advance for the mediocre pictures but most store attendants don't appreciate pictures being taken by a stranger walking into a store. Luckily, The two working in this store seemed to be distracted by other things which allowed me to get several from throughout the entire store.

Bradfordville Sing Store - July 1984
A Store overview from the front door

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Rear of store overview: candy aisle and drink coolers

When comparing the pictures above, it is easy to see that the drink coolers have retained largely the same configuration as they had in 1984. A beer cave has taken over the wine section and some new drink categories have been added but there are still six coolers on the back wall and three on the right wall.

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Dairy cooler, cooler access door, and rear exit

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Beer Cave and cooler, drink coolers

The beer cave occupies the old wine cooler section while the three beer coolers to the left take part of the snack space.

Bradfordville Sing Store - July 1984
The left side of the store, from the front door

On the left side of the store, the Froster section ironically takes up part of the old Frozen Food section while the Polar Pop absorbed the balance of the freezers and Snacks. The Drink Center was converted to a roller food island that was also moved a bit toward the center of the store to allow easier access to the Polar Pop drink machines. It looks like there was a chest freezer on the front side of the white structural column in the picture below.

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Fountain drink dispensers, roller food, and beer coolers

As for the right side of the store, Garden and Hardware used to reside on the walls between the back cooler hallway and the restrooms. Automotive supplies occupied the partition wall that separated the main floor of the store from the seating area and restrooms. It is crazy to think about finding a garden rake in a convenience store today but Sing had to carry a lot being the only store for miles.

This store also had a large selection of L'eggs pantyhose on the end cap in the left of the frame which were very popular at the time.

Bradfordville Sing Store - July 1984
The right side of the store, from the front door

The bulkheads were removed from this side of the store during one of Circle K's renovations leaving an empty white angled wall. This section of the store is now used for random displays of temporary items or bulk soft drinks. Honestly, it seems like Circle K could have made better use of the space without making it feel crowded. The automotive section and partition has been removed entirely and is now open floor space.

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Miscellaneous goods on right side of store

This photo was taken nearly 180° from the perspective of the one above. I don't have any 1980s pictures of the seating area or the automotive section, but seating would have been under the "Simply Great Coffee" sign. The automotive partition wall would have been a few feed in front of there, toward the camera.

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Right side of store and coffee counter

Back on the left side of the store, the cashier counter is largely in the same place as it was in 1984 but the blue bulkheads were removed. The hot food counter was shrunk and shifted to the right as less emphasis was needed due to the numerous restaurants in the area.

Since this station was built before the "pay-at-the-pump" days, all gas transactions were held at this counter. Sing also added a convenient window next to the cashier so customers didn't have to come inside.

As will be noted in future posts, some former Sing stations still use the grey Formica cabinets with the red counter top as shown below in 2021. Some of these stations haven't even changed the paint on the walls in 30+ years!

Bradfordville Sing Store - July 1984
The Gas Pay counter and Fresh Daily Deli along the left of the store

Circle K seemed to cover up most of the windows behind the cashier stand during the last renovation but part of the big window (with a red tint) can bee seen behind the cigarettes. The smaller windows are behind the "Nice to see you" phrase. There were a lot fewer people in the store the day I went when compared to 1984 but that is to be expected. It is also interesting to note how cigarettes used to be available for customers to grab off the shelf, as seen in the left of the shot above. Film was available in the peg boards below the counter.

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Cashier counter along the left of the store

Here is another angle of the cashier counter, hot food section, and fountain drink section, taken from the back left corner of the store.

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Left side of store overview, from the rear

Finally, we have a view of the front of the store from 1984 with the cashier counter to the right. Interestingly, we can see the analog pumps that were installed which are adorned with Sing's ca. 1964 diamond logo.

Bradfordville Sing Store - July 1984
The Gas Pay counter, front door, and gas pumps

It isn't quite the same perspective, but the picture below shows the front door of the store in 2021. An ice cream cooler and sunglasses have replaced the magazine shelf of ye ole Sing Store.

Bradfordville Circle K - September 2021
Right side of store overview, from the rear

To wrap up this post, I will share a picture of the Bradfordville store in the sunshine. It is unfortunate that this photo was taken at the end of a roll of film because it looks like a pretty day! I believe it was taken some time after the one at the top of the post from the grand opening because the "Now Open" sign had been taken down. Some of the interior pictures above could have been from the same day.