Perry Travel Center - Perry, GA

Perry Travel Center

Sing Food Store | Deli | Truck Stop

517 Perry Parkway

Perry, GA 31069

While I don't know this for sure, I have heard rumors that one of the executives of Sing Oil Company was friends with Tom Love and that this station was modeled after a 1980's Love's truck stop.  I typically don't believe anecdotal evidence like this, but after looking at several older Love's Travel Stops around Oklahoma City (where the company is based), I'm inclined to believe this.  While they do have minor differences, the insides of these convenience stores have strikingly similar layouts, the fuel pumps are positioned similarly on the lot, and the Love's stores even feature a backlit awning design.  

Regardless, this convenience store is the only one Sing ever built to look like this and is possibly the last station built by the pre-Amoco Sing Oil Co. (Jacksonville, FL #4 was also opened in 1989).  I didn't expect much from my visit to this store, even though it is operated by the Georgia-based Jones Petroleum (and not Circle K).  Needless to say, I was shocked by the end of my visit, but first let's crack open some historical newspapers.

Some History

For those who aren't familiar with the area, Exit 138 on I-75 was built in 1988 just to the north of the original alignment of Thompson Road.  The new exit was expected to be a bastion of commercial development, with speculation of housing, restaurants, and lodging around the new Northrop plant.  Opening around that time, the factory was intended to build the Triservice Standoff Attack Missile; two years after the DoD canceled the missile program in 1995, Northrop Grumman announced it would close this plant.  Needless to say, Sing Oil Company was the only other business which decided to locate here compared to the much more popular Exit 136 / Sam Nunn Blvd.  Even today, the only advertised businesses on the exit are this station and a Publix & McDonald's which are 2 miles east on Perry Parkway.  This exit also caused confusion by originally being numbered 43A on Georgia's old sequential exit system.  The modern Exit 136 was originally Exit 43, even though it is over a mile south.  It seems like it is much easier for the DOT to add an exit now!

Courtesy The Houston Home Journal staff - The Houston Home Journal - May 27, 1989

The Houston Home Journal reported that this station would have its grand opening on June 5, 1989, and was a "new I-75 travel haven."  Such amenities included four indoor pay phones, five truck fuel bays, and deli seating for 32.  The photo above also shows Sing's late-1980's backlit awning and canopy design.  I only know of one other station which received this prototype (Gulfport, MS), and I wonder how many other stations would have looked like this had Amoco not bought Sing.

I cannot say enough good things about the staff at The Houston Home Journal.  I contacted them in an attempt to see if they still had the originals of these photos; while they did not, they were gracious enough to look through their physical paper archives and send me a better copy of the picture above.

Courtesy Georgia Historic Newspapers - The Houston Home Journal - June 21, 1989

The next article I found shows the grand opening of this station on June 19, 1989.  It seems like the date was delayed a few weeks from the original plan; regardless, Tommy Willard, station manager, and Rick Singletary, grandson of Sing's founder L.H. Singletary, were present and pictured above with a host of others. This was a big moment for the company; not only was it the launch of a new concept, but it was possibly the last store to be opened.  According to Tom Perry, Sing's former Executive VP & General Manager, Sing started to reserve resources as they began talks with Amoco about a potential merger.  No stations were built or opened in the year leading up to the Amoco acquisition.

Courtesy Georgia Historic Newspapers - The Houston Home Journal - May 31, 1989

Several ads were run for this station, with this one being the most '80s of them all. I love how they tried to look "high-tech" by using computer fonts and calling the sale a "punch card free gift program."
 

Courtesy Georgia Historic Newspapers - The Houston Home Journal - February 27, 1991

Courtesy Georgia Historic Newspapers - The Houston Home Journal - September 18, 1991

These next two ads are interesting because they show the window of time it took Amoco to rebrand the station.  The Amoco-Sing merger was finalized on October 31, 1990, but it looks like Amoco exclusively used the Sing branding on the stations for about another year (shown by the first ad).  By September, it seems like the company began to use the Amoco gas brand at Sing convenience stores before they sold off this station in 1994.  As a reminder, Perry #1 was sold off in 1993.

The Store

From the front of the store, it looks like this building has not been modified much since it was constructed in 1989.  Sing installed a similar greenhouse seating area on the front of the Gulfport store, and I believe this feature would have been more widely implemented had the company not been acquired.  

One thing I was very excited to see upon walking into the store was this structure on the awning.  If you zoom in, you can see fluorescent lights through the gaps which are part the original signage backlight!  One day, I'll get around to sharing all of my pictures of the Gulfport station that also received a backlit awning and canopy.  Meanwhile, I just was glad to see that there is a small chance this rare edition of Sing branding is still in-tact under the bland "food mart" signage.  I would love to be at this station the day those panels get taken down!  (You can see the structure in the first newspaper image I included above from 1989).

Stepping inside, we are greeted with the traditional convenience store fare and nothing that screams "Sing Oil Company" at me.  I'd imagine that the floor tile could be original since this station is only 33 years old, in contrast to some like Columbus #8 with tile that is likely from the '70s.

Turning to the right, we see the seating area that has certainly been shrunk over the years.  Last time I checked, six stools will not seat 32 people.  I'd imagine there were originally some booths in this area that would have looked similar to this, with a row of four booths on either side of an aisle.

Here is the other side of the beef jerky shelf, looking back toward the doors and the cashier counter.

Moving straight ahead from the last picture, here is a look toward the door to the semi-truck fuel pumps.  The door to the standard fuel pumps is to our left and the cashier counter and rest of the store to my right.

From there, we will back up a bit to take a look at the cashier counter.  The door in the previous picture is the one right next to the cashier, and the main door to the regular gas pumps is in the left edge of the shot.  I'd imagine that this station is still configured roughly the same as it was in 1989; moreover, several of the Love's truck stops I saw online use this same counter configuration.  These cabinets are different than the ones I have seen in other former Sings but could have been a prototype that wasn't widely rolled out.

The store seems to have installed new cabinets in the coffee / fountain drink area which leads me to believe the rest of the store's fixtures have been replaced.  I'm inclined to say the bulkhead which reads "Jones gourmet coffee cafe" dates back to Sing but I really cannot tell since this station was a one-off!  The light fixtures have definitely been replaced in the last few years.  It does, however, looks like this station has a few leaks in the ceiling that need to be repaired.

Here is a look at the drink area from a different angle, and we can see the hot food section that is attached to the cashier counter.  I wouldn't be surprised if this store still has a full commercial kitchen behind the wall with the TVs, like Tallahassee #10.  The hot food counter is home to a Subway in the Love's I have mentioned previously.

Here, we see an overview of the snack section of the store from the back left corner.  For reference, the drink coolers are to my left and the café seating area is where the bulkhead sticks out in the center of the picture.

To wrap up the tour of the store, I took a picture from the same spot using my phone's wide-angle lens.  My back is to the restroom hallway, and we can see the door is open to a storage room at the end of the cooler wall.  I wish I knew how much of this store's interior was original, but I do feel confident that the layout has not changed.

Back Outside

Wow, to think that gas was $2.87 a gallon back in September; meanwhile, I passed a station today selling the same product for $4.09 a gallon.  Is anybody else having flashbacks to 2008? It is amazing the influence that geopolitics have on the economy and how Russia invading Ukraine can cause gas prices in the US to skyrocket! 

One of the most consistent remnants of a Sing is the pair of lights at the vacuum station; this store was no exception.  I also wouldn't be surprised if the billboard sign was also original because Sing began to experiment with these larger signs in the late '80s at Gulfport and Tallahassee #7.  Similar to this location, both of those stations are close to an interstate exit and probably wanted to get the attention of drivers who were passing through.

Another unique feature about this station when compared to other Sing Stores is the presence of these truck bays.  I believe this canopy is original to the station's construction and strongly resembles this one from Love's.

The back of the convenience store and truck canopy don't look all that interesting from this angle; although, I do see a small patch of red peeking out which is reminiscent of the store's Texaco days.

Looking from one of the bays, we can see the truck entrance to the convenience store and more of the backlight structure on the awning.  

That's odd, I wonder why it looks like somebody painted over a word on the sign that says "WELCOME TO"?

Let's take another look at that sign.  It seems a bit old and faded to me.

Could it be?

A sign that still has the Sing logo on it!  In the wild!!  This is the kind of stuff I never dreamed I would find hanging around over 30 years after it was installed.  If anybody ever needed proof that this travel center was run by Sing Oil Company, here it is!  For the most part, the sign is still in its original condition except for the little bit of blue paint somebody used to cover up the Sing logo and "Sing" next to "Welcome To" at the top of the sign.  Even better, this station has five of these signs, all in largely the same condition.  I really want to get my hands on one of them before they make their way to the landfill.  Maybe one day!  I'd much rather worry about getting some 30-year-old blue paint off a logo than agonize over "the sign that got away."

The rest of the truck pumps aren't that interesting, and Sing's original Gilbarco Highlines have been replaced with some newer Wayne Ovation dispensers.  I did read a few reviews stating these pumps still don't take credit or fleet cards, which is surprising for the 2020's.

We'll take one last look over the property before we head south on I-75.  Unfortunately, between here and my next stop I had a rock fly up and crack my windshield.  I still feel like this trip was worth it.

Courtesy Houston County Property Appraiser - Perry Texaco Travel Center

Finally, here is a look at this station when it was a Texaco, thanks to the Houston County Property Appraiser's website.

But wait, there's more!  Check out my second edition of The Sing Oil Blog: More Than Convenience on Kroger #407 after this station's street and aerial views.

Street Views

Google Street View - January 2008

Sing's Perry Travel Center as a Texaco station

Google Street View - November 2018

I believe this station was converted to a Valero around 2012

Google Street View - December 2021

Jones Petro now operates station with Valero's current livery

Aerial Views

Historic Aerials - 1981
Future site of the Perry Travel Center, with the old alignment of Thompson Road

Google Earth - January 1993
Three-year-old Amoco-Sing Travel Center

Google Earth - November 2019
The current station, with the old alignment of Thompson Road in the bottom of the picture

Tallahassee #10 - Tallahassee, FL

Courtesy Newspapers.com - Tallahassee Democrat - November 2, 1979

Tallahassee #10

Sing Food Store | True Value | Deli | Chevron Gas

5012 Crawfordville Road

Tallahassee, FL 32305

"You can buy a replacement blade for your circular saw, a post-hole digger, a mailbox, screws, fishing tackle and a beach ball. So this must be a hardware store with some toys, right? Well, you can also buy fried chicken, a hot dog, or a freshly made deli sandwich and other fresh edibles, and then grab a table to eat at. You can even buy a magazine to pass the time with while you munch. But it's not just a restaurant. You can also buy fresh bananas, onions, cereal, canned goods, cold soft drinks and beer. Outside, you can fill your car or boat with gas, and, for 50 cents, vacuum the dirt out of your car. This all-in-one emporium is the Sing Store at the corner of Crawfordville Highway and Capital Circle Southwest."

  The Tallahassee Democrat - June 29, 1988 (Page 2)

Welcome back to The Capital City!  Today I'm going to dive into one of Sing's more interesting station concepts where the failure of one idea led to the success of another.  As Sing's largest market, Tallahassee had plenty of room for business experimentation, and the Crawfordville Road store was a prime, high-volume testing ground.  Located on the Southwest edge of Capital Circle, Tallahassee #10 is still in a largely rural area on the edge of town.  The main draw for this intersection is traffic traveling to-and-from the nearby Tallahassee Regional Airport (only having recently become international) and families traveling toward beaches like Alligator Point or St. George Island.  Furthermore, this intersection is another example of where Publix decided to co-locate with a former Sing Store; store #610 was built in 2000.

Anybody who has listened to the radio or watched TV in Tallahassee over the last decade will remember an infamous business also located on this intersection.  "I'm Rob Wyche, and I'm the people's car dealer."  While the used car lot is no longer "located on the corner of Capital Circle and Crawfordville Road," these commercials are still burned into the memories of many Tallahasseans.  Ultimate Image Auto has since relocated several miles away, but Rob still overwhelms the airwaves with his excessive antics.  I'm sure he will not be missed from this intersection.

Facebook Finds

While I was collecting information for this post, I came across a Tallahassee Facebook Group that regularly mentions memories of Sing Stores.  While I don't have a Facebook, I feel like a number of people from that group would have some great memories to share about their local store.  Regardless, I found a few pictures I thought I would share, and all credit goes to the original poster.  Update: it seems like this group has gone private since I originally pulled this information so some of my links may not work.  That is why it is always important to save internet content while it is available because it may be gone the next day, kiddos!

Brooke Manning - Facebook - December 25, 2021
"Found this in my dad's garage this Christmas"

The first is a 1980's Sing Styrofoam cooler in a garage.  While Styrofoam is supposed to last nearly forever, most consumer products made of it are disposed of fairly quickly after a single use.  It still surprises me to find "disposable" products of yesteryear that have been held on to but I'm glad that somebody keeps them!  I found a Sing Styrofoam cup in a crawlspace that was used to hold house paint (and wrote a short story about it).  While the cup is far from pristine condition, it is still a good find and a testament to how well Styrofoam holds up.  The inside is covered in green paint, but the outside still proudly shows the same 1980's blue Sing logo as the photo above; although, the cooler looks like it also has yellow coloring on the bird and in the lettering.

Some of the comments (copied verbatim) from this post include:

• "Sweet! Time for an Icee" - Robbie Reisman [Remember my post about Perry #1]
  
• "We still call the T’ville rd store ( just North of Betton Rd., the Sing store . We know it’s Circle K, which doesn’t come close to Sing, but prefer to call it the Sing store. It’s really good shorthand " - Michele E Ceci [This refers to Tallahassee #3]
• "Michele E Ceci I worked at that Sing store for years in the 80's. Still a Sing store to me as well." - Debra Johnson
• "Andy Durham and I pumped gas at the Killearn location lol we called the manager Grizzle obviously he was NOT well liked. Fun times Mike Moncrief worked behind the counter." - Charlie Vickers [This refers to Tallahassee #6]
• "I call all of them SING! Excellent customer service training for $1.45 an hour." - Michael S Moncrief
• "Worked at the Kilearn store. Still call it the Sing. Best friends with one of the people that worked there with me for over 30 years now Michael Beaver" - Scott Wyatt

Ryan Lawson - Facebook - January 8, 2022
"Some local legends"

Above, we can see another post in that group showing Sing's two matchbook designs used during the convenience store era.  The one in the top left was used from 1984 - 1990 and depicts Sing's last logo. Their slogan "More Than Convenient" refers to the delis and other services offered in addition to traditional convenience store amenities.     

The matchbook in the bottom middle shows the 1964 - 1984 marketing for Sing Food Stores.  The bird, sometimes referred to as "The Dickey Bird" in reference to the shirt the bird is wearing, is dressed in a gas station attendant uniform with a small Sing logo on the hat.  The reverse of this matchbook features the 1964 diamond Sing logo which is used in most of my historical station photos.  I have seen several listings for this matchbook on eBay under "Sing Food Store" if anybody wants a souvenir. (I am not affiliated with any of the sellers and make no money off any aspect of this blog; all content is purely informational).

Some of the comments (copied verbatim) on this post include:

• "My mom worked at the Sing store on crawfordville HWY back when I was a kid" - Joe Wooly [How perfect, this refers to Tallahassee #10!]
  
• "Joe Wooley I worked there to, it was in 84/85" - Elaine Griffin-Sands
• "Elaine Griffin-Sands her name was Glenda , she later owned Glendas country store" - Joe Wooly
• "Elaine Griffin-Sands my mom was there at time" - Joe Wooly
• "So funny, just the other day I told my husband to run down to the Sing store to get something. He just died laughing. What? They will always be Sing stores to me!!!" - Judy H Adams

I wish I could find more personal stories about Sing Stores, so feel free to comment below if you have any! 

Some History

In contrast to our last tour of LaGrange #4,  this store is huge!  Ringing in at over 5,400 sqft, Tallahassee #10 is almost double the size of the small-format square stores and over 2,000 sqft larger than the average Sing Store.  The only other stores I have seen come close to this one are Tallahassee #6 (5,800 sqft) and Tallahassee #7 (5,100 sqft), but all three of these monsters were exceptions to the rule.  Fortunately for us, this station was also a newspaper star.  I don't have a single picture of this store in my collection and luckily, I don't need one.  We'll get to see several eras of this store thanks to The Tallahassee Democrat.

Courtesy Newspapers.com - Tallahassee Democrat - August 4, 1977

When it was built in 1977, this station was originally around 2,600 sqft, which was typical for the time.  What makes this store unique when compared to its counterparts Tallahassee #8 and Tallahassee #9 is what happened to it in 1979.  At that time, management decided to test a new concept for convenience stores: hardware.  This store had (and still has) plenty of land surrounding it, which presented the opportunity for expansion and additional parking.  

Courtesy Newspapers.com - Tallahassee Democrat - November 2, 1979

I came across this page in the Democrat and something about it seemed different than any other Sing grand opening ad I have seen.  Consequently, something also looked very familiar about it.  I've been doing some research on the Sing Fast Food Mall for a future post and discovered graphic designer Al Cuneo led the advertising campaign for that project.  This ad immediately gave me flashbacks to that campaign and uses several elements which are Cuneo staples, including: a map of the business, creative use of typefaces, symbols (like the clock) next to content sections, and a fairly balanced layout.  Al is still in the business over 40 years later and has been in charge of some of the area's prominent advertising campaigns including the Killearn Lakes subdivision, Homes & Land Magazine, and most importantly, the initial brand launch of Nature's Own bread.  I reached out to Al, and he confirmed this was one of his ads.  What an interesting twist!  We'll learn more about Cuneo's involvement with Sing Oil Company at a later date.

In the meantime, we'll take a closer look at some of the information I found in newspaper articles about this location.  The True Value franchise located inside this store had a target audience of the many families who travel down Crawfordville Road to beach houses on the coast.  I don't know all of the nuts and bolts of the deal, but carrying a full line of hardware turned out to be too costly for all of the inventory required.  On the other hand, similar to The Happy Penny or the Sing Fast Food Mall, the company did not linger on its failures and was quick to pivot business strategies.  The full line of hardware was whittled down to a few popular items around 1983, and the True Value franchise was dropped.  Even though the hardware store concept proved to be too expensive, select hardware items were implemented in many other stores across the chain.

 Courtesy Newspapers.com - Tallahassee Democrat - June 29, 1988
We can see how the seating area of the Crawfordville Road store looked back-in-the-day

The extra space in this store allowed for another concept: hot food.  I don't know for certain, but it is very possible that this was the first Sing Store to feature a delicatessen, which would have been rolled out in '83 or '84.  The first store known to open with a deli, also the first large-format square store, was Jackson #4 on Grants Ferry Road in Brandon, MS.  Opening in 1984, this store was soon followed by Jackson #5 on Raymond Road in Jackson, MS, and Bradfordville in Tallahassee that same year.  

Sing's district manager, Jerry Marsh, discusses how this store transitioned from hardware to hot food; however, I have found a few discrepancies with the dates he gives and previous newspaper ads.  Regardless, Marsh and Frank Sullivan, the store manager since 1977, seemed to have a winning formula in place for this location by the time the 1988 article was published.

Courtesy Newspapers.com - Tallahassee Democrat - June 29, 1988
A man fills up his tank at the new, faster MPD pumps

I'm really glad I found these articles because as I have mentioned before, I do not have many Sing pictures from the '80s.  By the time this picture was taken, Sing had converted the fuel brand at this station to their private label from Chevron.  We can also see an early model of a MPD (Multi-Product Dispenser) gasoline pump and the separate Gilbarco Highline diesel dispenser.  For those of you who are too young to remember, here is a picture of a Highline pump I saw the other day.

Gilbarco Highline gas pump from the 1980's

The picture above also shows how Sing removed the True Value logo from the façade of the store and replaced it with the word "Deli." According to the article, Sing expanded the parking lot and installed these state-of-the-art gas pumps back in 1987.  You can read more about this station in the June, 1988 article where this picture comes from on my News Clippings page.

Courtesy Newspapers.com - Tallahassee Democrat - November 4, 1987

I found another article featuring this station from 1987 that gives us a clearer look at the new gas pumps and Sing's "More Than Convenient" canopy branding. It is crazy to look back at the gabled pump canopies of these '70s stores and see how different they look from the more boring ones we have today.

We also get to see another rare sight: a late-1980's Sing road sign.  Don't you wish gas was still that cheap!  Since gas prices are conveniently the topic of the report, it is worth noting this station still sold leaded "Regular" since it was not officially banned until 1996.  We have a glimpse at an irregular price inversion (in more ways than one, the "8" is upside down) where unleaded gas is cheaper than its leaded counterpart.  Dick Singletary, president of Sing Oil Company, notes in the piece how the low prices resulted from intense competition in the area, but it was not the sign of a "gas war."  This is another interesting topic I have included on the News Clippings page.

Something else I found on the tax records is that Sing purchased the property for this store on March 23, 1977 for $70,000.  Amoco in turn sold the store for $1,035,000 on June 18, 1999 to Circle K.  That's quite the return on investment! 

The Store

Circle K - December 2021

Other than the Circle K branding on the awing and a fresh coat of paint, this store is unchanged

I've only been to this store once, but I was surprised by the sheer size of it.  Additionally, I expected it to look like Tallahassee #6 & #7 on the inside and for that matter, a larger version of any other Circle K.  After all, hasn't every former Sing Store in Tallahassee been Circle K'ed?  I guess I have found the exception!  This store was still fairly clean when I went but it had not been remodeled to use any of Circle K's décor packages from the last 15 years!

Circle K - December 2021

Sing's front awning structure still supports the weight of 2021

The outside, on the other hand, looks like a larger version of any other Sing-turned-Circle K.  Painted wood paneling, check.  Red and orange branded awning, check. Columns, check.

Circle K - December 2021

Herring bone

A closer look at the cypress paneling, with the wall portion dating back to the late-'70s and the portion under the windows dating to the mid-'80s.

Circle K - December 2021

The attendants were nice enough to wrap the cashier counter as a Christmas present for us!

Walking through the front door, we see our first taste of vintage with these steel cabinets.  I'd have to imagine they date back to the Sing days because these are not very common.

Circle K - December 2021

It looks like the only snow Florida got this year was in the form of white cheddar Cheetos

Looking to the left, we can see how big this store really is; we only see half of it here!  Frozen foods and dairy used to be along the wall in the back of this photo.

Circle K - December 2021

I applaud the effort, but who buys firewood from the gas station?

If we look directly toward the back of the store, we see the built-in coolers under Sing's traditional lowered ceiling.

Circle K - December 2021

All that Andre means it is mimosa time?

Here's a different look at the coolers, toward the register counter.  I am really surprised that Circle K has changed out the lighting in this store but has not added their usual decorative signage.

Circle K - December 2021

Hydrate or diedrate? A decision was made here.

Another perspective, with my back against the wall where the dairy coolers would have been.  At least this store has plenty of room for all of that beer!  I do wonder if the wall on this side of the store has been pushed back into a former storage space.  I feel like the area where the lower portion of the ceiling sticks out would have ended at a wall, just saying.

Circle K - December 2021

Unless you like Swedish Fish or Raisinettes, it looks like there may be a candy shortage on aisle 2

A glance down the middle aisle, toward the "Polar Pop" station.  While they may not immediately decorate the interior or new (or in this case, old) stores, Circle K seems to be persistent about adding the Polar Pop branding to every fountain drink station they own.

Circle K - December 2021

I didn't know convenience stores still sold bags of flour

Finally, a view down the front aisle of the store, toward the door and coffee station.

Circle K - December 2021

Welcome . . . to the dim back hallway of Circle K

Jumping to the other side of the store, I took a peek down this hallway toward the back-office space and was surprised to see how much room was back there.  I even see some paneling in that office that I'm sure is from the 1970's.  This is in the back, right corner.

Circle K - December 2021

Orange is the new — orange

Now, the piece I was most excited I found in this store: the dining area.  At most, only three Sing Stores (Tallahassee #6, #7, & #10) had the space for this style of a seating area, and this is the only one to remain.  I had no clue what condition this store was in before I came here but I'm glad I decided to drive all the way to the south side of town after visiting some stores in North Tallahassee. 

Circle K - December 2021

Not many customers were intrigued by today's fare: roller-food

It looks to me like the stool seats have been replaced, as well as the tile and partition wall, but overall this area has the same layout as it did in 1988 and uses the same tables.

Circle K - December 2021

What else do you need on your way to the bathroom?

Turning to the right, we see some more of the vintage-looking steel cabinets.

Circle K - December 2021

"Nacho" average convenience store

Finally, we'll take a closer look at the cashier counter.  I don't know if the cabinetry is original, but Sing would've used a similar configuration to this.  Behind the wall, I caught a glimpse of the full commercial kitchen this store still has.  I don't believe it is still used, but it is a cool reminder of this gas station's historic past!  I believe I read in one of the newspaper articles that this store offered wait service for its deli, but the food counter would have been located here too.

Circle K - December 2021

I don't remember it raining the day I was in Tallahassee, but you never know with Florida weather.

Back outside, we see the new pump canopy with the intersection of Capital Circle and Crawfordville Road in the background.  I believe this canopy is in the same location as the gabled one Sing had in the 1980's, and it may even use the same structure.  These pumps were installed in the 2000's.

That will conclude our examination of the Sing Oil Company's venture into the hardware business and how it eventually led to one of the first deli's.  My next post will have us traveling back up "north" where I found something I never imagined I would see on this journey (and I still want to get my hands on it).  We'll also see the second installment of More Than Convenience before we are back in the Capital City for a real treat!  Stay tuned!

- The Sing Oil Blogger

Street Views

Google Street View - December 2007
Circle K before the station's brickwork had been painted, with early 2000's gas pumps

Google Street View - April 2016
Circle K with their old awning branding and Shell's 2000's livery

Google Street View - April 2021
Circle K & Shell's current look

Aerial Views

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 1970
Future site of the Tallahassee #10 Sing Store

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 1983
Tallahassee #10 Sing Store, around the time the deli was added

 

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 1990
Tallahassee #10 Sing Store, shortly before the Amoco merger

Google Earth - January 1999
Amoco-Sing #5063 with Sing's gabled pump canopy, just before sale to Circle K

Google Earth - April 2021
Circle K / Shell as it stands today

Additional Resources: 

Tallahassee - Leon County GIS

Google Earth Pro

Google Maps

Parcel ID: 4125202020000

Leon County Property Records