Year Two of The Sing Oil Blog
Year Two of The Sing Oil Blog
Click here for today's companion post covering Publix's store models
Howdy, and welcome to another year of the Sing Oil Blog! Year two has brought about a lot of changes for this blog, and a lot of changes for me personally. After changing jobs, I wasn't sure how well I would be able to keep things rolling but I feel like my house of cards hasn't completely collapsed yet. With that being said, I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to resume my normal schedule with a post next Saturday but there are no guarantees (regardless, I think I'm "seeing red" for that one).
If there are any stores featured on my "Publix Store Models" page that you would like to see a full tour of, let me know in the comments! I have enough content on each store to write up a full post but I may never get around to writing about a particular location unless you let me know you want to see it.
Speaking of the store models page, now would be the perfect time to reveal my completely revamped coverage of nearly every Publix prototype to have existed over the last four decades. I've spent a lot of time refining and adding new content the blog's most-visited resource so I'd love for you to check it out! Even if you have looked over the page before, you need to check out the changes I've implemented today because I've added some incredible new resources. Furthermore, I have hyperlinked each individual prototype so all you have to do is add a "#<prototype name>" to the end of the page URL to scroll directly to that design. An example would be https://singoil.blogspot.com/p/publix-store-models.html#55D scrolls directly to the 55D prototype. This is similar to what I've implemented with my MTC posts (where you can add "#MTC" to the end of any post URL to scroll to that section) so I hope you like it!
In addition to the store models page, I wanted to shine some light on a few other directory pages that you may not know about:
First up is the Station Architecture page. Here I have a list of all the standardized Sing convenience stores I'm aware of categorized by the building design. What's helpful about this page is it provides a link directory for every post I've written (and can even give you an early preview of which store I will cover next).
Second, is the More Than Convenience page. This page provides an up-to-date link directory of ever non-Sing Store I've written about, regardless of which blog it was published to.
Finally, is the Contact page. This should speak for itself, but feel free to reach out if you have pictures or information regarding any long-lost Sing Stores or have an idea you would like me to implement.
The Year in Review
Over the last two years, I've photographed over 85 Publix stores with the bulk of those happening in 2022. I've traveled far and wide to bring you content from Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, and of course Florida & Georgia. Next year, I'll plan to cover even more states across the Southeast as I have now been to a Publix in 6/7 of the states they operate in! One of those states happens to be loaded with surprises! Furthermore, I already have a post on the books for December which will make you question which blog you are reading.
Year two provided me the chance to cover some fascinating former Sing Stores, like the largely untouched station in Bogalusa, LA, or Sing's failed forays into hardware, groceries, and fast food. We also got to read the blog's first guest post, authored by The Albertsons Florida Blogger, which was exciting for me to see what details he picked up on.
Statistics
No year-end review is complete without statistics, so let's dive into some of those and take a look at the readership graph provided by Blogger.
That large spike on March 20th happens to coincide with the day my first guest post on The Albertsons Florida Blog went live. We can see where views have steadily increased since then, with the two following spikes likely resulting from my first two My Florida Retail Blog posts (covering Winn-Dixie #168 in Chiefland, FL and Publix #720 in Atlanta, GA). What really intrigues me is the spike which occurred on July 23. I'm assuming that the increase resulted from people reading my post on Publix #1363 (which was published a day earlier) but I'm not sure what was so special about that store to drive that much traffic. Maybe somebody had my blog open and just kept refreshing the page?
Beginning this year, I decided to pilot a series called More Than Convenience where I tour a store near the Sing station I covered. I was inspired to start this when I heard about the three former Publixes I covered in March and April, and I knew I had to find a way to incorporate them on the blog. That resulted in the realization that many of the Sing Stores I covered also had interesting stores nearby that I personally wanted to learn more about. Hopefully y'all have enjoyed this addition since I have many more MTC stores in my backlog!
Let's reflect upon the Sing Oil Blog posts from the last year in addition to their MTC counterparts. Here is a comprehensive list:
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Post |
Location |
Publication Date |
MTC Topic |
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Tallahassee, FL |
2/12/2022 |
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Perry, GA |
2/26/2022 |
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Tallahassee, FL |
3/12/2022 |
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Dunwoody, GA |
3/25/2022 |
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Stone Mountain, GA |
4/09/2022 |
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Lilburn, GA |
4/23/2022 |
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Smyrna, GA |
5/07/2022 |
Kroger #451 (Rev: 8/12) |
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Thomasville, GA |
5/21/2022 |
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LaGrange, GA |
6/04/2022 |
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Marietta, GA |
7/02/2022 |
Publix #33 (Rev: 8/12)
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Troy, AL |
8/20/2022 |
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Columbus #7 (Revisit) |
Columbus, GA |
9/17/2022 |
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Thomasville, GA |
10/01/2022 |
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Bogalusa, LA |
10/29/2022 |
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Albany, GA |
11/12/2022 |
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Thomaston, GA |
11/26/2022 |
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Fort Myers, FL |
12/10/2022 |
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Jacksonville #3 (AFB) |
Jacksonville, FL |
12/24/2022 |
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Tallahassee, FL |
1/08/2022 |
Most Popular Posts
1. Memorial Drive Sing | Former Publix #535 | Former Publix #790
Although I'm not totally surprised, I'm still a bit confused as to why this post garnered the most views out of everything I've written on the blog over the last year. While in theory this was one of the most interesting topics I've covered, it was also hands down my worst experience photographing a store. For starters, my better judgement told me to not even try to go inside the former Sing station, and on top of that, the phrase "That man took picture of me" will forever haunt my dreams after my first visit to former Publix #535! I will say that I never wanted a picture of that man!
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| Former Publix #535 - 55N - Classy Pastels (?) |
Of all the stores I have photographed in the last year, this post probably bothers me the most because I can't figure out what the deal is with those signs! Publix 100% closed the store while it had the Kiwi ("Classy Market 1.0") décor, but I can't figure out how Nam Dae Mun got those Wavy Pastels-style department signs. In retrospect, I know that the signs in this store were manipulated by Nam Dae Mun to fit in the allotted spaces, but I just wonder how much of these signs are actually original. I know for one, the purple part of the sign above does not seem to match the blue color I've seen in other pictures and the letter spacing seems off. That being said, the 3D elements of these signs look impeccably convincing.
2. Trickum Sing | Former Publix #520 (209)
In contrast to the #1 post, Publix #520 was probably my favorite store to cover this whole year; who knew that AFB's comment on my Publix #1427 post would lead me to photographing a mostly intact Wavy Pastels Publix! You could probably tell that I was much more enthusiastic about the Publix store in this post than I was about the former Sing, but it is hard to get excited about a station that I have no pictures of and was torn down two-decades ago!
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| Former Publix #520 - 47N - Wavy Pastels |
Meanwhile, the Norcross Nam Dae Mun gave me the chance to relive long-lost memories and photograph a long-lost décor pieces which I'm certain date back to 1995. I've photographed several Winn-Dixies from this era, but the fact that Publix instructs their remodel crews to destroy any signage once it is removed from a store should speak for itself, on top of that is the fact that the last Publix to actively use this interior closed in 2014.
3. Winters Chapel | Former Publix #477
The first post on my "When Publix Waves Goodbye" series covered former Publix #477, and also happened to come in at #3 for my total page views this year. This post also covered the former Winters Chapel Sing Store, but I'm sure the Publix-turned-Hispanic supermarket is what garnered all of the attention.
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| Former Publix #477 - 55D - Usedtabe Pastels (?) |
I really don't like photographing crowded stores, but at least this location was above to provide a good look at some original design traits of Publix's 55D stores. Since this Publix closed in 2005, a lot has changed in the building, but a lot of traces can still be found if one knows what to look for.
4. Publix #1331: The Afterlife
My fourth most popular post of the year covered the afterlife of Publix #1331. This was by far the most exciting (and exhausting) journey I took last year for the blog, but it resulted in me owning a complete collection of Invigorate décor pieces!
I will say that "looting" a closed and hurricane damaged Publixsons is a very strange and unforgettable experience. I'm insanely glad the Publix Pirate was willing to help me on this adventure, but I think it will be a long time before I try to do something like this again. AFB, you'll have to hook me up whenever Publix #172 decides to close!
5. Sandy Plains | Publix #33 | Former GreenWise Market #1689
My fifth most popular post covered the former Sing on Sandy Plains Road in Marietta, GA in addition to Georgia's only GreenWise Market and Georgia's oldest operating Publix (which all happened to be within two miles of each other).
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| Courtesy Newspapers.com - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - December 19, 2002 |
Thanks to a 1990's-themed marketing campaign which was launched by Publix a few weeks after this post went live, I got to share even more perspectives of how Publix #33 looked when it first opened. This store is a stark contrast to the paltry performance of the GreenWise Market across the street. At least I managed to make it to that store before it closed!
Posts on Other Blogs
In addition to the new content on The Sing Oil Blog, this year presented me the opportunity to be a contributor on a number of other blogs. Below I have listed and linked those posts, along with some other information about the covered store.
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Post |
Location |
Publication Date |
MTC Topic |
|
Tallahassee, FL |
3/20/2022 |
Bamboo (CM 2.5) |
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Chiefland, FL |
3/23/2022 |
Rose & Teal Marketplace |
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Atlanta, GA |
4/06/2022 |
Sienna |
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Prattville, AL |
4/19/2022 |
Bamboo (CM 2.5) |
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McDonough, GA |
4/27/2022 |
Bamboo (CM 2.5) |
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Tallahassee, FL |
5/01/2022 |
Sienna / Evergreen |
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Montgomery, AL |
5/18/2022 |
Purple / Maroon |
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Greenville, SC |
6/01/2022 |
Green Down Down |
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| Publix #599 |
Atlanta, GA |
6/18/2022 |
Bamboo (CM 2.5) |
| Target T-1106 |
Marietta, GA |
7/02/2022 |
P-97 |
| Publix #1363 |
Brookhaven, GA |
7/22/2022 |
Evergreen |
| Publix #1798 |
Crawfordville, FL |
8/04/2022 |
Evergreen |
| Winn-Dixie #500 |
Pinson, AL |
8/20/2022 |
"Filmstrip" Marketplace |
| Publix #172 |
Naples, FL |
8/27/2022 |
Kiwi (CM 1.0) |
| Harveys #1671 |
Lake City, FL |
10/15/2022 |
Rutherfordton |
| Winn-Dixie #435 |
Birmingham, AL |
11/19/2022 |
Transformational |
| Publix #1331 |
Fort Myers, FL |
12/06/2022 |
Invigorate (CM 2.0) |
| Publix #1343 |
Pensacola, FL |
12/18/2022 |
Bamboo (CM 2.5) |
| Johns Creek, GA |
1/1/2023 |
Bamboo / Evergreen |
All but three of the stores listed above (including my MTC posts on the Sing Oil Blog) were photographed in 2022, and three of them symbolize the last known example of that complete interior to exist. Four of the stores above have since been remodeled or demolished, while nine of those stores have what I consider to be endangered or extinct interior packages (where fewer than 10 are known to still exist and the store will likely be remodeled within the next 1-2 years). In addition to these stores, I would consider my posts on Kroger #451 (Olympic Spirit), former Food Lion #947 (Futuristic), Former Publix #520 (Wavy Pastels), and possibly Kroger #407 (Kroger Spirit / Millennium) to have endangered interior packages which brings this year's endangered post total to thirteen. I think that's a pretty cool statistic, in my opinion, and is particularly special to me since my primary goal with this blog is to preserve and share otherwise forgotten history. I especially want to thank my readers who have brought many of these stores to my attention; without you, these packages could have been relegated to memory and lost to time.
While the endangered or extinct packages may be much more flashy or interesting today, it's also pertinent to not downplay the importance of documenting current or seemingly "mundane" stores. Sometimes, those can still reveal a whole host of clues relating to the space's past, or provide a good baseline for how the average store looked in 2022. I've already begun to notice differences between an Evergreen Publix which opened in 2021 versus one that opened in 2022, and those nuances will only be magnified through the lens of additional and consistent data. I can also guarantee that the Evergreen stores which like likely exist in 2032 will look different than they do today.
Most Popular Posts
1. Publix #1427
Everybody loves a good Pubno's! Publix #1427 / former Publix #689 / former Bruno's #184 was a fascinating store to dive into, and it looks like y'all thought the same! Well, there is good news for you: this won't be the last Pubno's you will see me cover.
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| Bruno's #184 recreation using Adobe Photoshop - 2022 |
As my first guest post on another blog, I went all-in on the history of this store and Bruno's larger presence in the Capital City. I encourage you to check out this post if you haven't already!
2. Publix #1306 | Former Albertsons #4428
Number two on this list happened to cover Publix #1306 / former Albertsons #4428 / former Kmart #7203. This post was also my second guest post on The Albertsons Florida Blog.
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| Albertsons #4428 recreation using Adobe Photoshop - 2022 |
If you want to learn about the history of a funky Kmartsons which was torn down for a Publix which was built using a prototype which had been inactive for nearly a decade (and hasn't been used since), then this post is for you!
3. Winn-Dixie #168
Y'all seemed to love these old Marketplace stores, as did I. The higher metrics for this post could result from it being the first post on MFR in 4 months, it being my first post on MFR, or the fact that people love to look at these Winn-Dixies which seem frozen in time.
We saw a similar former Marketplace in LaGrange, but I have a few more of these active stores up my sleeve that we will hopefully take a look at next year.
4. Publix #172
This next store doesn't come as a surprise to me based on the fact that it is likely the only Serif Classy Market 1.0 Publix to have existed in the last 5-years.
The best part about Publix #172 is the fact that there still aren't firm plans in place (as far as I'm aware) to remodel or replace this store. Better yet, Classy Market 1.0 has officially outlived its younger sibling, Classy Market 2.0!
5. Target T-1106
I'm happy this store made the top 5! As far as my posts go, they typically center around gas stations or grocery stores. I can't resist a nearly extinct Target décor though!
I believe P97 is extant in fewer than 10 Target stores across the country so if you like 1990's neon then I've got your fix!
Feedback
I'm always looking to improve the blog, so now would be the perfect time to ask for some feedback. Which changes did y'all like, and which changes did y'all dislike? Am I too wordy or can I be too vague? Do you like fewer, more detailed posts or more short posts? Is there something that drives you crazy about the blog's web design? Is there a particular store you want me to cover? The only way for me to improve is to hear people's thoughts, so let me know!
With that, all I have left to say is, "Cheers to another Year!"
- The Sing Oil Blogger
Congrats on two years! I'm really glad you decided to join the online retail scene, and yours is one of my favorite blogs out there. I regret that I'm a little late to reading and commenting sometimes, but don't take that as a sign your posts are too wordy or anything -- rather, I just want to make sure I have enough time to get through the whole post in one sitting! (Similar reason as to why I haven't published any of my own posts in a long time...) I really like the hyperlink aspect as well -- you are much more tech-savvy with Blogger than I am, lol. I've enjoyed seeing all the fun places you've documented, especially the rare or endangered ones, across the three blogs. If you ever find yourself in the Mid-South, you're welcome to hop on to a fourth, haha! Really excited to see what's ahead in year three, and happy to be along for the ride :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of the kind words and thank you for welcoming me into the "club". You may be later sometimes, but you were very prompt to comment on this post! I understand being limited on time as work has certainly picked up for me as well and left me with a lot less time for the hobby. If you ever want to implement hyperlinks in your blog, I can give you a crash course on the HTML you need to add (it’s much easier than it sounds). Haha, thanks for the invitation! I’d say the closest I have to something from the Mid-South are some more photos from my trip to Hattiesburg. That isn’t quite the right part of Mississippi, but I’ll likely include one of the two stores with my Columbia Sing post (I think you’ve also been to the other store I photographed, which could be a fun tie-in to a different Pensacola location I plan to cover). I’m excited to see what adventures I get into as well!
DeleteCongrats on a fine year of blogging! I'm relatively new to the blog as I only really learned about it via AFB's blogs. I'm not on any of the non-blog retail social media venues, ones not related to Houston at least, so sometimes I don't learn about new retail sites until they are mentioned on one of the blogs I read. I'm glad to have found this sit though. It is regular reading for me now and I enjoy our conversations in the comments here and elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Pig-Dixie post and some of the Food Lion stuff you've posted. Winn-Dated photos are really neat as well. I share them with retail enthusiasts I know and they've really liked those photos. Some of these might have been on MFR and not here, but still. Also, the combo posts from you and AFB are interesting.
Houston and the areas you cover are not far apart, but the retail scene here is quite different than the Southeast. I guess Kroger is the common link between GA and Houston, but your Florida readers know little about Kroger other than of closing sales, lol. It is interesting to see the stores you cover since they aren't stores I would otherwise see in-person. It's funny, but Northwest Retail and I have a lot more in common in terms of retail than I do with the Floridians!
I think the blog design is just fine. The length is fine. You and AFB have a fairly standard post design. My guest posts at HHR vary quite a bit depending on what is available to me in terms of historical information. My February The Year of Kroger post, for example, is super long. It was about seven pages long, single-spaced, on my word processor before I entered it into WordPress! That doesn't even include photos or the photo captions. It'll probably take most people a couple of days to read it...if they even read all of it. Future The Year of Kroger posts will be shorter though like January's post. HHR has a pretty diverse set of readers and not everyone is interested in the same things. Some people want more of a historical approach, some want more of a modern approach, some just want photos, some want meaty posts. It can be a challenge to find something that works for everyone, but I try to balance detailed text with shorter photo captions. WordPress makes it easy to do captions.
Thank you! You may be one of the newer readers, but you are always prompt to respond whenever I publish a new post! I’m also surprised at how you find my new posts so fast considering you aren’t on Flickr or anything. Anyway, I’m glad you find it as well since it is interesting to hear the perspective of somebody in a different region. I still have your February 1st Kroger post on my reading list and hopefully I will have time to take a look at that later this week.
DeleteThe Pig-Dixie was a fun store to cover, and I still have several Winn-Dated stores to post about in my backlog. It will be a sad moment when all of those “Golden Girls” stores are gone because they are so fascinating to explore – almost like a retail time capsule. I have a feeling that my remaining Winn-Dated posts will be on MFR, but I do have a more modern store in the works for a future Sing post. I also have an extremely dated former WD that I’m hoping to photograph sometime soon. As far as the AFB collab posts go, I can think of at least two other stores we have both photographed which could wind up in a similar format. None of them have the same degree of dated decors, but one is particularly interesting in a different regard.
While I’ve never been to Houston, the retail scene does appear to be much different than what I’m used to (the lack of Publix is probably one of the biggest things). At least I can relate to some of the Krogers in Houston and could tell a good bit about the former Winn-Dixies too. It is funny how Houston has more in common with Northwest Retail! Just wait until I get into some of my Tennessee posts though because things will get really funky; I’ll just say that a single store can relate to Florida, Alabama, and Idaho!
Similar to AFB, I really like consistent structure so I try to keep the format of most posts the same across the board. It also helps that AFB helped influence a lot of the aspects of my posts. Diving into the history of a store is probably one of my favorite parts of writing up a post, it just also happens to be the most time consuming! I can easily take 40-50 pictures of a store in 15 minutes but spend several hours trying to research one or two details on a place. I think most of my posts hover around 4,000 words (I’m not sure how many pages that would be in Word), but my recent Publix Store Models page update came in around 14,000 words! It would be nice to have more of the flexibility in the web design that WordPress offers, but Blogger works okay most of the time. Although many of my posts can get lengthy, I try to write something that I would enjoy reading and the part of this hobby I enjoy the most is piecing together context clues from the past in order to paint a holistic picture of a location.
Congrats on 2 years! I only found your blog shortly before your first anniversary post, and it certainly has evolved a long way since. You've certainly found your rhythm in the retail blog world with your posts, and I've enjoyed reading them! I'm also amazed at how much territory you've managed to cover too. You've been to a Publix in 6/7 of the states they operate in, yet I've never been to a Publix outside of Florida! I'm also impressed that you've made it to 85 Publix stores too - you're getting close to the joining the Publix version of the 100 Club! (Who knows, you may be reaching that benchmark this year at the rate you're going!).
ReplyDeleteThe "When Publix Waves Goodbye" posting series had to be my favorite posts of the last year. The remnants in #520 were crazy to see, as I haven't seen some of those signs in years! I'm glad I was able to point you in the right direction with visiting those stores, as #520 is for sure the last of its kind in the wild. It's also been fun doing our crazy collaboration posts too, and I'm sure it hasn't been the last of those we do either. Thanks for the help with covering some of the far-flung Panhandle Albertsons stores too - you've been doing a good job with those! (Much like I've learned a lot about Sing over the last year, you've picked up a lot about Albertsons too!)
I'm glad you decided to join us in the retail blogging world, and I'm excited to see what new adventures you bring to us over the coming year!
You are right, my blog has changed a lot over the last year or so (my posts have become much longer than they used to be). Thank you, and I’m glad to have my “mentor” of sorts in this realm enjoy all of the work I have put in. I’m also surprised at how much territory I have covered in the past year, especially considering I would’ve visited all six of those states without this blog. On the other hand, I know I wouldn’t have gone to Naples, Fort Myers, or Pinson had I not gotten into this hobby either. I have a feeling that 2023 will be the year I join the Publix “100 Club”, I’m just interested to see which will be the next 15 stores that inspire me. Most of the stores I have left that I really want to see are all in Florida! Anyway, I can still make it a goal to join the club and you should make it a goal to visit a Publix outside of Florida!
DeleteI’m glad you enjoyed my "When Publix Waves Goodbye" series too because former Publix #520 is a once in a blogging career kind of store to see. Maybe I can go back by there sometime for posterity’s sake, and maybe you can make it up to Norcross sometime to see it for yourself! I’ve enjoyed the collaboration posts too as it has been interesting to see somebody else’s pictures and perspective on a store that I’ve been to. I’m also glad that I could help out with those Panhandle stores and I hope I can find some time to work on my next post (we’ll see which of those locations inspires me). I have certainly learned a lot from you about a chain that I knew virtually nothing on previously and all of that was solidified by my trip to Pensacola where such a diverse set of stores is in such a close proximity.
Thanks for all of your kind words and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings too!