Carrollton

The West Georgian - March 3, 1982

Sing Food Store | Chevron Gas | Laundry

1213 Maple Street

Carrollton, GA 30117

Similar to Port St. Joe, I originally did not think I would have enough historical content to make this post worthwhile; boy was I wrong. Since most of the photos in my collection date from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s, I do not have a picture of this station in its original form. However, thanks to the Georgia Historic Newspaper project, I was able to uncover a whole host of information about this station from The West Georgian which is the student newspaper for The University of West Georgia - or West Georgia College at the time of this station's construction. Regardless, let's dive in to some history of this somewhat full-circle Sing station and see what it looks like today.

Ad for the grand opening of the Carrollton Sing Food Store - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - September, 1978

The West Georgian - September 15, 1978
Grand opening ad for food store, gasoline, and laundry

Built in 1978, the Carrollton Sing Store is located just off the Eastern edge of West Georgia's campus on Maple Street. For those not familiar, Maple Street is the main thoroughfare from the college to downtown Carrollton and the larger business districts along US Highway 27 to the East. Since this store was located so close to a college, it had to use different marketing techniques to appeal to the 18-22 year-old students such as stocking lots of cold beer and providing a laundromat with full laundry service next door. The sign at the top of this post highlights all of the "school supplies" and amenities this Sing Store offered to the students of West Georgia.

The Battle of the Books

Editorial describing the bookstore on campus and the Sing Store - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - October, 1984

The West Georgian - October 3, 1984
Guest Editorial ranting about Sing Store having a larger selection of books than the bookstore

Interestingly, I discovered a guest editorial in The West Georgian which praises (or at least acknowledges) Sing's expansive selection of goods which could rival that of any . . . college book store? The primary focus of the article is to complain about the West Georgia bookstore having nothing more than textbooks and souvenirs with the assertion that the nearby Sing gas station has a more expansive literature section. "Because it has a magazine rack, the Sing gas station offers more current reading matter than the bookstore. In fact, it also has more books (excluding textbooks, of course)." While I am not explicitly sure this is as much of a compliment toward the Sing Store as a jab at the bookstore, it is humerus how the station would play into the politics of campus life.

Letter to the Editor describing the bookstore on campus and the Sing Store - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - October, 1984

The West Georgian - October 17, 1984
Letter To The Editor in response to claims of the bookstore being insufficient

Two weeks after the original editorial was published which bashed the bookstore, a letter to the editor from a sociology professor was printed in response. Through an academic tone, the professor lashed the editorial's statements in many regards; consequently, the Sing Store comment was also rebutted. Coates claims that this "is evidence of the lack of taste of Mr. Tierce — I mean who really reads those sleazy paperbacks. For the most part these books are only fit for the lining of either a bird cage or to house train one's dog, not for serious reading." While it is obvious that the literature department at the Sing Food Store was a contested topic, the professor did not have to relegate all of the content to bird excrement! In all seriousness, I can't imagine the novels carried in a Sing Store were written by any literary genius but they would have never been intended for more than light entertainment. I don't even see books in my 1984 pictures of the Bradfordville station but I do observe a magazine rack next to the door and several adult magazines (such as Playboy) behind the cashier. All of this goes to show the intent of Mr. Tierce in his original editorial was attempting to highlight the lack of books in a bookstore and unintentionally portray the wide selection at a Sing Food Store, all while creating "beef" with a sociology professor.

Sing Laundry Store

The West Georgian - February 25, 1981
Ad for the newly expanded Sing Laundry Store

As far as I am aware, the Carrollton store was the only location to have a laundromat run by Sing Oil Company. Rockbridge Road, Trickum Road, and Albany #3 leased space to third-party dry-cleaning services but I don't have record of other stations running full laundromats. It seems nice for a convenience store to offer a wash, dry & fold service for 30¢ a pound, especially for students living in a dorm. Presumably due to its proximity to a college is why this station was unique in that regard. According to another 1981 paper, Sing also began to operate on a 24/7 basis "For Your Shopping Convenience."

Other Services and Info

Ad for the managers of the Carrollton Sing Food Store - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - October, 1978

The West Georgian - October 6, 1978
West Ga. College Students, We Appreciate Your Business

At the time it opened, this store's staff included E. O. Bretherick, manager, and Mac Hollis, assistant manager. I don't know much about these two men but I do know that they would have been part of the influence to adapt this station to the surrounding collegiate environment. Most station managers had the freedom to carry special merchandise and tailor the experience to the local market. Although many aspects were standardized across all Sing convenience stores, the managers did take a degree of ownership in the daily operation of their store without providing any financial investment. Furthermore, many stations would participate in charitable events around their communities or donate to causes. Being so close to the college, this station would host car washes for student groups trying to raise money or provide prizes for raffles such as the one for ΑΚΨ below.

The West Georgian - February 20, 1980
Raffle for 50 gallons of gasoline (of your choice)

Snow Day!

Article describing the recent snow storm and the Sing Store - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - January, 1982

The West Georgian - January 20, 1982
Snow Melts to Icy Reality for West Georgia Students

It is typical for Northern Georgia to get 1-2 snow storms a year and the early 1980s were no exception to that rule. With snow in the south comes snow days at school and with snow days comes parties for college students. "'It was cold as Hell out, and people were buying cold beer,' said an employee at Sing Food Store shaking his head. Manager E.O. Breththick [sic] commented, 'It's the best day we've ever had. We've exceeded it by about $1500 after the first snow fall Tuesday.'" Which shows how dedicated college students are to their extracurricular activities when no school work is assigned.

Article describing the recent snow storm and the Sing Store - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - January, 1983

The West Georgian - January 26, 1983
Beer is Hot Item Through Snow and Ice Storm

The beer runs continued in the Winter of 1983 after a January storm caused another snow day for students. According to The West Georgian, "Sing Food Store probably sold more beer than any other local merchant, being the closest to the college. E.O. Bretherick, manager of the convenience store said, 'We were extra busy (due to the storm) and we would love to have one every week.' Bretherick said they were prepared for the mass quantities of beer that was sold but they did run out of bread." At least it seems like the local merchants were able to adapt and learn from the 1982 snow storm to be prepared for 1983. It seems to be hard to keep college students away from their beer!

The Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt depicting the Carrollton Sing Store - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - September, 1981

The West Georgian - September 23, 1981
"Treasure Hunt! An Innocents Guide to the Riches of Carrollton."
Sing also had an ad on page 6A of this week's paper.

While I may not have any pictures of the Carrollton Sing Store from the Twentieth-Century, I did stumble across a "Treasure Map" for new students attending West Georgia College. Probably due to its location, the Sing Store was destination #1 (I'm sure this relates to all the beer it sold) and outranked pizza restaurants, fast food restaurants, clothing shops, and a bank. While it is a sketch, the drawing does depict the Sing Store's neighbors to this day: McDonald's to the left and Domino's Pizza to the right. Furthermore, this picture shows that the Carrollton location had a shingled awing supported by the wood columns that would be seen at many other locations around; unfortunately, these architectural features were probably removed from this store in the early-90's.

The Brands

Similar to Columbus #4, this station sold Chevron gas but used the same sign hardware as every other Sing Station at the time. The sign at the top of this post would have looked like the one at Powder Springs with the exception of using the Chevron brand instead of the Standard brand to fit the local market (Oddly, the Standard name was licensed to Chevron for use throughout the state. One such station remains today). Since I have evidence that this station sold Chevron gas upon opening, there is a chance that it never sold Sing gas but only had a Sing branded food store. I also have not been able to find whether or not this station was remodeled to add a deli in the mid-80's.

Ad for the Maple Street Amoco Station - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - January, 1987

The West Georgian - January 14, 1987
Maple Street Amoco Station Now Open

While I was digging through the papers, I found an ad for an Amoco station on Maple Street that caught my eye. The only problem was that it was printed three-years prior to the Amoco-Sing merger. The other interesting part of this ad is that it is for a Morgan Oil Company station, who happens to be the current owner of the Sing Store. According to their website:

"In 1985, with the help of David Hay, a local builder, Betty and Jimmy Morgan razed and rebuilt two service stations that W.M. Smith had previously built in 1955. This time, however, they opened them as convenient stores. One was . . . H.O. Jordan’s Amoco on Maple Street. Jimmy introduced a new type of gas pump to Georgia commonly referred to as a MPD (multi product dispenser). All three grades of gas were in hands reach.

. . . After acquiring a store on Maple Street, which was later named West GA Amoco (now BBW), Morgan Oil Company went back to Douglasville to build on a vacant lot along I-20 that had promise of a new exit ramp and a Regional Mall."

I don't necessarily believe the 1985 date on Morgan Oil's website because I give more credibility to the "Now Open" ad in the paper; regardless, this shows the rebuilt Amoco station located about a half-mile from the Sing store. As the next paragraph mentions above, the Maple Street Amoco would soon be a sister station to West Georgia Amoco (a.k.a. Sing).

Ad for the West Georgia Amoco Station - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - The West Georgian - October, 1992

The West Georgian - October 21, 1992
West Georgia Amoco VIP Card

By 1992, Morgan Oil was running ads in The West Georgian for the West Georgia Amoco VIP card to help students save on gas, soft drinks, copies, and beer. The ad also shows the address of the station, which happens to be that of the Sing Store and proving the brand conversion had occurred.

Former BBW sign - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - 2015

Morgan Oil (Facebook) - 2015
Post highlighting the BBW gas station near the University of West Georgia

Carroll County Property Records state that Morgan Oil Company, the regional Amoco distributor, bought the property on August 13, 1992 for $496,000. The sign for BBW shown above was used from at least the early-2000's until 2021. There is a chance that the hardware could have been from the 80's Sing brand refresh but I don't have any evidence besides circumstance.

BBW / West Georgia Amoco Convenience Store - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - March, 2021

Carrollton Sing Store - Currently BBW/West Georgia Amoco - March, 2021
The old store has gone through some renovations since 1990 and now has a Jimmy John's where the Laundromat was until the mid-2010's

The station would remain an Amoco until at least 2000 when an ad was run in the West Georgia newspaper for a Carnival Cruise sweepstakes. Sometime in the early-00's, Morgan Oil converted the station to BBW (Braves Beverage Warehouse, in reference to West Georgia's former mascot) where it sold non-branded gas for nearly 20 years.

BBW / West Georgia Amoco Gas Pumps - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - March, 2021

Carrollton Sing Store - Currently BBW/West Georgia Amoco - March, 2021
View from the corner of Maple Street and Cunningham Drive

Returning to the full-circle comment from above, I happened to drive by this station in March and was floored to see that it was an Amoco, again. After a nearly twenty-year hiatus, the brand had made a return to Carrollton and a return to this station. For those who don't know, BP revived the Amoco brand in 2017 to serve areas of market overlap, primarily where a BP station is close by. Naturally, this station was the perfect fit since Morgan Oil has the Maple Street BP only a half-mile away. Tax records indicate that Morgan Oil may have renovated the Sing Station in 1994 but they did a full interior remodel in 2012 so few traces of the former brand remain.

BBW / West Georgia Amoco original Sing vacuum lights - Maple Street, Carrollton, GA - March, 2021

Carrollton Sing Store - Currently BBW/West Georgia Amoco - March, 2021
I see some Sing-era vacuum lights still in place

Coincidentally, I grew up getting gas from this station before I realized Sing Oil Company had ever existed. BBW was where my grandmother would always stop to fill up because it was one-of-four (then three, then two) stations in town who would accept her personal checks. I have fond memories of her driving up to the pump, stepping out of her Cashmere 2006 Ford Explorer, waving her checkbook at the cashier through the convenience store windows, and proceeding to fill up her tank. She would then fill out her check with the total purchased and walk inside to pay the attendant. It seems archaic that anybody in the twenty-first century would pay for gas with a check but somehow the management of this station remained accommodating to their customers decades after it left Sing's control. Albeit, one employee did say that my grandmother was one of three people the attendants were authorized to accept checks from because they always cleared.

BBW / West Georgia Amoco Gas Station - Cunningham Drive, Carrollton, GA - March, 2021

West Georgia Amoco - March, 2021
View from Cunningham Drive

I thought this post had enough content already, but here is an article from The West Georgian that discusses the 1979 gas crisis which would have affected this station.