Tallahassee #9 - Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee #9
Sing Food Store | Chevron Gas
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Frankly, this post may seem a bit dry compared to the other Tallahassee stores I have documented. Historic photos? Not quite. New photos? Not really. True Value franchises (and their subsequent demise)? Nope. Customers driving through the doors? I don't think so. Classifieds? Boring.
I will admit that some of my posts are factually dense, but the goal of this blog is to throw any-and-everything that I find on these stations in one place. I guess that is just par for the course. Maybe some of you will like this shorter post; for those who don't, it won't be long before I will be writing about a very juicy find I had a short time ago. I also uncovered a host of information on the one-and-only Sing Fast Food Mall while researching this store that I can't wait to share. Meanwhile, I decided to cover Tallahassee #9 in anticipation of another blog I will be featured on next year (more details forthcoming). I have typically brushed aside the stations that I don't have a strong connection to (or enough content on) but here is my exception for good 'ole #9. I'm sure I will visit the inside of this store at a later date, but after photographing three other Tallahassee stores and two supermarkets, I was too tired to step inside on my last visit to the area. Regardless, I'm sure it looks like most of the other Circle K's in the market.
This is the second Tallahassee store I have covered that is on the same block as a Publix. Interestingly, there are eight such store pairings in the market, with the remaining three Publix being within 2.5 miles of a Sing Store. (Maybe it is cheating to include Sing's lot at the US 90/I-10 interchange. The land was purchased by the Thomasville company in 1989 but never developed until 1996, after Amoco sold it to a private distributor. I'm sure Sing would have built a store here had they not begun merger discussions.)
 |
| Sing Store on Cedar Lane in Knoxville, TN - ca. 1972 View of typical 1970's Sing Food Store configuration |
I'm nearly certain the two historical photos I've included are not of Tallahassee #9; instead I believe they are from Sing's short venture into the Knoxville, TN market. The reason why I tagged them on are because the station looks resoundingly similar to a picture from a grand opening ad I found here. The actual location of this station may forever remain a mystery, (update: this store is located at 121 Cedar Lane, Knoxville, TN) but at least it will give us a good idea of how Tallahassee #9 looked when it opened.
The station above was the last unidentified picture I had in my collection, meaning I have now accomplished another phase of my project! Now that all of the photographed convenience stores have been identified, I can focus on bringing more content to the blog, and branching out to other retail categories . . .
 |
| Courtesy Newspapers.com - May 29, 1975 - Tallahassee #9 Grand Opening |
Built in 1975, Tallahassee #9 is located on the busy corner of Capital Circle Northeast and Centerville Road; however, the intersection used to look a little bit different. I believe both Capital Circle and Centerville roads were two-laned at the time, and it would be many years before that would change. The Centerville / Blairstone expansion project wasn't complete until the mid-2000's which brought about the current split-traffic alignment.
It looks like this store, along with Tallahassee #8, opened in May of 1975; I found an ad in the Tallahassee Democrat on May 29th listing both of the stations having a grand opening sale. It also lists Mike Morris as the manager and the station hours as 7 AM to 11 PM (fairly standard). Interestingly, I found a separate article from April that lists Jerry Morris as the manager of a different Tallahassee Sing, so I wonder if they were brothers.
 |
| Sing Store on Cedar Lane Knoxville, TN - ca. 1972 View of typical Sing pump canopy configuration |
This station would have likely been laid out like Columbus #4, Redan, and its sister store Tallahassee #8 upon completion. Similar to many Sing stations of the era, it used Sing's late-1970's awning design that does not include cypress paneling and had a gabled pump canopy. Only one of these pump canopies is known to have survived to the 2020's and is located at a pool store in Knoxville. Bizarre, huh?
Circle K / Shell - November 2021 |
We will now Circle (K) back to 2021 to conclude this post with a picture I have from Centerville Road of the North side of the station. As with every other Sing Store in Tallahassee, Circle K purchased this location from Amoco in 1999, in the final market carrying the Sing name. Since the purchase, it pumped 76 gas for a few years before Circle K converted all of their Tallahassee stores to their private brand in 2006. It wasn't long before these stores were swapped to the Shell banner because the first Google Street Views in late '07 already show the Dutch company's branding.
Street Views
Google Street View - April 2021
Aerial Views
 |
| Historic Aerials - 1951 Future site of Tallahassee's Sing Store #9 - before Capital Circle was built! |
 |
| Historic Aerials - 1983 Our first look at Tallahassee #9, in the Southwest corner of the intersection |
 |
| Google Earth - February, 1995 Amoco-Sing Store #9 with a new pump canopy and newly-widened roads |
 |
| Google Earth - December 2002 Circle K / 76 & our last look at the Centerville Road intersection before the new alignment |
 |
| Google Earth - April 2021 Circle K / Shell & the current configuration of the intersection |
 |
| Google Maps - 2021 The former Tallahassee #9 (Circle K) in relation to Bruno's #184 / Pubno's #689 / Publix #1427 |
This post includes a separate feature covering Publix #1427, from my series Sing Oil Blog: More Than Convenience, which can be found on The Albertsons Florida Blog. To check out my other posts from this series or to learn more, click on the logo above.
Additional Resources:
Parcel ID: 1121202060000
Comments
Post a Comment