Troy - Troy, AL
Troy
Sing Food Store | Deli
Troy, AL 36081
A Hidden Gem: A Companion to This Week's My Florida Retail Blog Post
I'm writing this post as I begin my last week of my current job. This marks a bittersweet moment, as the job is what has allowed me to have so much time to dedicate to the research required for my efforts, but this has also come with some drawbacks. I am naturally a person who thrives on staying busy, which is part of the reason I enjoy visiting and documenting various stores – just another excuse to travel! However, my job offered me too much free time which forced me to find something different if I wanted to be happy in the long-term. Only time will tell if my new role provides me the variety and fulfillment I crave from work, but I can't ever know until I try something new. I just came to the point where I realized I could not stay where I am long-term. All the time that I ended up devoting to blogging (since I had nothing else to do) led me to the edges of burnout. It is one thing to be burnt out from a job you don't care for, but something entirely different to realize you are becoming burnt out on something you'd typically enjoy. I knew at that point I needed to take a step back from the blog which led to my July vacation.
That being said, I intend to continue the efforts of this blog because I'm not a person who likes to leave things half-finished or start a new hobby every two weeks. I still have plenty of former Sing stations left to cover and more fun supermarkets / retail outlets in my sights to visit or write about. I also intend to continue my in-depth research for each location I post about (well, maybe not for every MFR post as some of those stores can be pretty conventional) to provide an accurate historical representation of the site. Local history is one of my passions, and I only want to write a post which I would enjoy reading. I also love sharing the history of places familiar to me with others while offering locals an entirely new perspective of their hometown. All of this can be accomplished by looking at the businesses which operate there and by attempting to piece together some of the reasons why they exist in their current or past state. Many people don't pay attention to that run-of-the-mill store down the road, which may happen to tell a fascinating story just waiting to be heard.
It is also a thrill to uncover a living time-capsule along this journey. Several that come to mind are the former Publix #520, the LaGrange Pig-Dixie, and the LaGrange #4 Sing Store. Most don't think of these as time-capsules, but instead treat them as the rundown store you only visit if you have to. One of my goals is to document these places before they are wiped away into oblivion and raise awareness of how important preservation of commercial buildings can be. We've come a long way with preserving historical residences or cultural sites, but people still need to see the merit in preserving this crucial American History from the last 75 years. Hopefully I can inspire others in this way as well. I once heard someone say, "If you see something interesting, never hesitate to photograph it because it may not be there the next day." This statement is so true, and you wouldn't know how many times I have rejoiced, or languished, in my decision to snap a picture or not. The store tour which immediately comes to mind is Winn-Dixie #168 in Chiefland, FL. I had previously visited this store and thought it would always remain as a relic of the past. I finally decided to photograph it in November 2021, and discovered that it was totally remodeled only a few months later. Every retail historian will have stores which they visited and regret not photographing (I have several), but they also have plenty which they are glad they documented when they did.
Needless to say, I enjoy this hobby and I don't plan to stop anytime soon; however, my new job will likely force me to adopt a slower pace for posting. I still have over 50 albums from store tours in my archives and will continue to add to that collection, but I may need to scale back my posting schedule from its previous cadence. We shall see how much time I have in the end. Anyway, that's enough of a philosophical rant, let's tour some stores!
Some Background
Welcome to Pike County, Alabama! I've spent many days in the Yellowhammer State, yet this is the first opportunity I've had to share one of the elusive Sing Stores from the Heart of Dixie. Although Sing had a number of stores in Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi when they merged with Amoco in 1990, they only retained one location in both Alabama and Louisiana. It wasn't until I was well into my research when I discovered the former stations in Enterprise and Opp, AL, which had been sold off several years before the merger, but it wasn't until May when I received an email (shameless plug, feel free to email me if you have any information on a former Sing Store) notifying me of this former Sing's existence. I quickly plugged in the coordinates and confirmed that it was a Sing in remarkably original condition (Thanks Henry H.). On to the list it went!
The Store
I've driven through Troy several times before, but I never realized Sing had built a station there. Luckily, I found myself passing through the area recently and decided to pay the store a visit.
Similar to several of Sing's other former markets, I unfortunately don't have digital access to The Messenger or any other Troy, AL, newspaper. I suppose I could visit the library to look through microfilm, but that would take hours, if not days, to sort through all of the papers in a single year because I don't have a specific target date. Anyhow, the Pike County Property Records indicate that this store was built in 1986, which lines up with the timeframe for the other Sing Stores of this style. Tallahassee #12 was likely under construction at the same time as this store, so it is interesting to see how their looks have diverged over the last 36 years. On the other hand, the Bradfordville store was two-years older, but I'd imagine the historic pictures on that post largely reflect how this store looked when it was new.
I've found that many of the stores sold off before the merger retained a larger number of their original characteristics compared to the stores Amoco purchased and converted. Our first example of such is the Sing sign hardware standing out front. The sign and price board look a little worse-for-the-wear, but both of those would be slightly newer and likely date back to this station's days as a Shell.
The signage might not be original, but the pitch on the mansard roof looks to be! The original shingle roof finally gave way to this metal one between 2016 and 2018, but at least the current owner left the original shape in place. We can also see the slots around the perimeter of the eve where Sing's florescent lights were mounted. A yellow banner was hung behind the lights as part of the branding as well but was replaced by a red one at some point and removed all together when the new roof was installed.
It still shocks me to see how little this station has changed over the years. Yes, it has received some paint (it originally sported the bare corrugated concrete walls) and a new roof, but all of the architectural details look to be mostly the same.
I think the canopy is original too, especially since it looks like it has a similar slot for florescent lights around the perimeter as the building awning does. I do believe that the current column encasements are from Shell though.
This station looks to have retained its original Gilbarco Highline gas pumps until some point between 2008 and 2013, when they were swapped out for the same, if not similar, Gilbarco Veeder-Root multi-product dispensers as we see today. It's shocking to see how long those old pumps lasted, especially considering how Sing was installing newer MPDs at their high-volume stations only a two years after this station opened.
Now that I've pumped you up for this station, let's check out the inside, I'm sure we'll have a whale of a time (or is that a fish wine rack). Our first shot was taken just inside the door, looking toward Sing's old dining area. The current owners have blocked off our access to that part of the store and seem to be using the area for storage, but the restrooms are still located in their original location just beyond (think back to our tour of Laurel, MS). Automotive supplies would have been located along the partition wall, with hardware and garden supplies where the drink coolers are off in the distance.
Here's a different angle than we saw before, but as a recap, the wine racks block the passage way which previously allowed customers to walk to a booth or the restrooms, and the H&BA products are located along the partition wall where automotive supplies were. The front door to the store is just off to the right in this picture.
Turning further to the right, we see the cashier counter which looks to have maintained the same setup as it had in the 1980's; the biggest exception being the lack of a deli. I'd imagine that this store had one when it opened, and if so, the display case would have been behind where the ice cream freezer is.
This is the one corner of the store where I wish I had taken a better picture, but the drink fountains were located just to the right of the cashier counter in the back left corner of the store. Bradfordville used this space for frozen foods, but Laurel seems to have an identical setup for its fountain drinks, which makes me wonder if Sing changed the layout of this portion of the store in these later iterations of the design. I forgot to check if this store had old electric lines cut off in the floor which would've been for the drink island.
I also forgot to mention that this tile is almost certainly original.
The tile may be original, but I doubt the bright yellow cabinets are. Then again, I have been wrong before! Sing typically liked to use grey cabinets with red countertops, but that yellow (what a hideous shade) could've matched their logo!
Stop N Go #9 must sell a lot of beer! It's crazy to think how this store doubled its beer capacity compared to what Sing would've carried. I believe all of the built-in coolers in this store sold alcoholic drinks, while all of the soft drinks and water were sold from the movable coolers in the old hardware section. This picture was taken looking at the back right corner of the store, and the hallway to the storage space and cooler access.
Now we'll see a nice overview shot of the left side of the store
before we peek through a shelf to see the hallway to the restrooms (there was a man stocking the refrigerators to the left who I didn't want to see me taking a picture). This alternate restroom access is original to Sing and provided customers an easy path to relieve themselves without dodging hordes of hungry customers sitting in the booths off to the right. This opening also separated the automotive section from hardware.
And that concludes our tour of the former Troy Sing Store (sorry, no restroom shots today). We'll close out with a picture of the road sign which was presumably installed during the station's Shell days, behind which we see the iconic pair of Sing vacuum lights. The light fixtures themselves look like they could have been replaced, but the location and mounting poles are most certainly original. This station also maintained its Sing parking lot light fixtures until sometime in the last three years.
Next up, we'll head a couple of blocks south to the former Winn-Dixie #423 for the More Than Convenience portion of this post.
Street Views
Aerial Views
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| Historic Aerials - 1981 Future site of the Troy Sing Store |
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| Google Earth - January 1993 Former Troy Sing Store (Likely a Shell station) |
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| Google Earth - April 2019 Former Troy Sing Store as Stop N Go 9. |
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| Google Earth - April 2019 Piggly Wiggly #134 in relation to the former Troy Sing Store |
This Little Piggy Went to Marketplace, Too
I stumbled upon this store by happenstance as I was planning a last-minute road trip through Alabama. As I was planning my stops, I decided to see if there were any interesting grocery stores along my route to various Sing Stores. This store was a winner, since it provided an interesting contrast to Winn-Dixie #500 (which prompted my trip in the first place).
You might've read about my first trip to a Pig-Dixie a few weeks ago (if you didn't, now is your chance), but independently run grocery stores like Piggly Wiggly have a habit of "hermit crabbing" locations of long-gone supermarkets and making the space their own. While the LaGrange Pig-Dixie left some obvious traces of its Marketplace past, the store we'll be looking at today was a bit more subtle in its execution. Part of the reason is because this little piggy used their own style for this store's department signage, but the main factor is because Winn-Dixie left behind a rare early-2000's variant of Marketplace décor for the Pig to play with. You can see how Winn-Dixie intended for this store to look in this week's companion post, but stick around here to see the Troy Piggly Wiggly's unique adaptation whose look will outlive its sister store in Pinson, AL.
Piggly Wiggly #134 / Former Winn-Dixie #423
Troy Marketplace
Troy, AL
This store looks to have been built in 1988 and likely replaced another Winn-Dixie in town (that is total speculation, but the chain has been in Alabama for a really long time). The 1988-1989 timeframe also puts it in line with other first-generation Marketplace stores which came up for remodel in the late-1990's. For some reason, it seems this store likely held onto its 1980's look longer than others, but it did remodel, nonetheless. I'm going to assume that this store finished its remodel around March 2001 because Winn-Dixie had its pharmacy license issued to this location at that time. That same license database also indicated that this store was part of the chain's massive 2005 bankruptcy closure round since WD let said license expire in 2006.
I'd assume that this location then sat vacant for a number of years until the Garrett family decided to open their third Piggly Wiggly store in 2009. Business must've been good since the store seems to still be in the family over a decade later.
I've got to say, if you couldn't tell by the façade that this store was a Winn-Dixie, that sign and the name of the shopping center should provide all the hint you need! The Pig's sign also seems to be in much better shape than the one for Burkes Outlet (the name Bealls Outlet operates under in states west of Florida and Georgia).
No Winn-Dixie buggies here, but these carts are still stored in the same spot WD would have kept them (that is, to the right of the entrance).
Just beyond the carts and the checkout lines are stacks of sale items. These are a bit more invasive than The Beef People would have preferred but seem to use the same configuration. I also wouldn't be surprised if Winn-Dixie had their photo counter in the alcove to the right.
Next time there's a run on paper products, I know where to go!
Now this is where stuff gets interesting: the walls of this store have been painted since WD left, but the department signs are refaced versions of the rare Marketplace package I mentioned! They would have originally looked like this, but the current signs look to have retained their original placement and trim work.
Winn-Dixie also loves having their produce department in the front right corner of their stores, and this seems to be no exception.
Looking toward the back of the store, we see the former bakery space off in the distance and the remainder of the produce department.
I'm not sure I would've picked red for the accent color of the décor, but I like what the store did with the signage. Each department received its own "pig" holding an item from that section of the store – our first example is a basket of produce.
Looking down the front speedway, we see the same Kmart-style air diffusers we saw in Chiefland. We also see many more drinks on special filling up the otherwise empty space in the store.
Heading toward the back of the store, the former bakery space comes into view along with the department sign for Luncheon Meats. I'd assume that the Piggly Wiggly used to operate a bakery in this store at some point since we can see a pig holding a baguette, but the bakery must've been unprofitable since the bakery sign is now covered by a banner.
We'll take one last look over the produce department before proceeding to the rest of the store.
If it wasn't for the pig waving around some bread (or the fact that I've been to too many Winn-Dixies) I never would've guessed that this was the bakery! Also, all of the flooring in this store dates back to Winn-Dixie's Marketplace remodel when all of these signs were installed.
Turning to the left, the seafood counter cooler comes into view, along with the meat department. Even though this store and the Pinson store both received the same limited-edition flavor of Marketplace, it is worth noting that this store also got neon signage for its service departments. The fisherpig was obviously added after the fact, but the "Fresh Seafood" sign and accompanying trim is from the Marketplace remodel.
The first aisle we'll take a look down is aisle 4. It seems that I must've caught this store in the middle of restocking based on all of the boxes scattered around. Not much else to note here, other than the aisle signs being installed by Piggly Wiggly (the packages original ones probably looked like this).
Back in the meat department, we find our friendly pig holding a platter of steak(?) and chicken. At least he doesn't have a rack of ribs or a pork chop!
Aisle 7 seems to offer cereal and other breakfast items.
I believe I've mentioned this before (probably during my tour of the LaGrange Pig-Dixie), but split-aisle grocery stores are one of my pet peeves. I end up getting so confused when I am looking for an item and have to read two different aisle signs to figure out if it is on that aisle. I can't necessarily fault the local Piggly Wiggly for inheriting this trait from WD, and it seems like they at least put products from both halves of the aisle on a single sign. This shot was taken looking back toward the right side of the store, with prepackaged lunch meats off in the distance.
Split aisles also create confusing traffic patterns. Take for example aisle 11, home to frozen foods, it is located in the middle of the store and prevents customers walking down the split aisle on one side of the store from walking directly to the split aisle on the other side. For some reason, WD didn't think it was necessary to continue the split through the frozen department (again, I don't like the split in the first place, but at least be consistent).
I do find it odd that this store doesn't have a coffin cooler running down the freezer aisle, and instead opted for standard freezers throughout. I've seen these same freezer handles in at least one active Winn-Dixie, so I'd imagine that this configuration is original. The category signs are also from the Marketplace package.
They may thank us for shop'n the "PIG", but we aren't done yet! Also, why is this pig supposed to look like he broke through the wall while waving his "jazz hands" but all of the others are happily standing in front of a sign?
Just to the right of the checkouts (or to your left as you walk in the store) is the customer service desk, featuring a super pig. This store certainly feels like an old Winn-Dixie!
Past the customer service desk is the old pharmacy space. According to the Alabama pharmacy licensing database, Winn-Dixie was issued a pharmacy license for this location on March 1, 2001, and it was allowed to expire in 2006. It doesn't look like the pig had any interest in reviving the service, so they decided to block off the space and put a banner over the old department sign.
I do wonder if this store lacked a pharmacy when it was first opened in the late-1980's; in-store pharmacies certainly weren't as popular then and I doubt the license would show an issue date from 2001 if this store previously had the service. I wouldn't be surprised if Winn-Dixie even added on to this store during its (presumably) 2001 remodel.
Next up, we'll head back to the back of the store while taking a look at aisle 14: soft drinks and such.
The dairy department and restrooms also look to be where WD left them: in the back left corner of the store.
Dairy continues along the left wall of the store until it runs into the refrigerated beer section. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be too inclined to drink orange milk like Mr. Pig is! Maybe the sign should have been labeled "Fresh Juice" instead?
I think one of my favorite department signs is the one for cold beer. It isn't the particular design, but it is the fact that this store put a Troy University football uniform on the pig! I think it is cool when stores integrate some local flare to their décor, and this seems to be the perfect place for it (after all, many college students love beer).
The fine sign for wine happens to be the only department which doesn't use an original WD sign for its structure, and it also happens to be in the front left corner of the store. Winn-Dixie likely had their wines line the aisle across from cold beer and dairy; therefore, it wouldn't have needed a department sign with the former tenant.
We'll take one last look at the former pharmacy space before we visit the checkout.
Unfortunately, this store didn't have any lane lights, but the pointing pigs still look pretty cool!
One final relic I discovered was this vintage cart "coral" in the parking lot. I've seen other 1970's-1980's Winn-Dixies feature these posts in the parking lot advertising the cart return, and it looks like they are just as disorganized in practice as one would imagine! The actual sign was likely installed after WD left the space, but the intent of the space dates back much further.
I'll close out this post with a look at the rest of the shopping center. Update (9/1/2022): It turns out the other anchor was Troy's Wal-Mart for a time before it moved to the current Supercenter building further south on US 231. This store was actually Troy's second Wal-Mart, and was built to replace a smaller location across Highway 231 which was built as a Kuhn's Big K. (Thanks again to Henry H. for that tidbit).
Retail Regents went on further to say, "I wouldn't doubt the store on the other end of the shopping center was the old Wal-Mart #723 - they moved to the Supercenter on 1420 US-231 S. The current Burke's space was formerly a Goody's, and was a replacement for a store next to the Piggly Wiggly." – so there you have it!
All in all, I had a fun trip through Alabama and I'm glad I was able to share part of it with you! Be sure to check out the companion post covering Winn-Dixie #500 if you haven't already.
I can't guarantee I will be back in two weeks with another post on The Sing Oil Blog, but I do have a special surprise in store for next Saturday on My Florida Retail Blog – you won't want to miss it!
Until then,
- The Sing Oil Blogger
Additional Resources:
Sing Parcel ID: 55 10 09 32 4 007 006.000, 55 10 09 32 4 007 005.000, & 55 10 09 32 4 007 004.000