Thomasville #1 | Sing Oil Co's Hometown | Bob & Jeff's IGA - Thomasville, GA
Sing-Wilkes
Thomasville #1
Thomasville, GA 31792
Welcome to today's post. As a disclaimer, I'm going to go ahead and apologize for my many tangents; it seems like when I don't have one large topic to discuss, I end up uncovering 10 small ones and lose my focus. On the one hand, I could easily whittle them down to a manageable amount, but on the other, I want to discuss them at some point and don't know when else I'd have the chance: what a pickle!
Long before retail blogs and supermarkets caught my interest, it was a box of scattered photos that would captivate my attention for hours on end while I categorized and cataloged what I was examining. I sorted through hundreds of black and white prints, first by size, then by characteristics, until I landed on having binder full of photographs which I could then scour for any clues about a location. From there, I labeled and tagged any photos I could (in 2013) before scanning and cataloging them on a computer (in 2020). There's always something about flipping through the physical book, though, that takes me back, and there's always some new detail I find even after having seen these images countless times. (Today's new find was an A&P store in the background of a still unknown locale.)
We've previously seen a couple of examples of these images with my posts on Albany #3, Camilla #2, and Thomasville #2, and today we will continue that look into the past with another unique former Sing: Thomasville #1.
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| The wooden building just behind the Sing was the old Thomasville library |
Those of you who have paid attention to my rants over the last 3+ years may be thinking, "Thomasville #1, wasn't Sing based out of Thomasville? Was this the first Sing?" While the answer to the former is yes, the two questions still remain mutually exclusive. Remember, Sing Oil Company traces its roots back to the small town of Pelham just to the north of Thomasville, meaning that the latter's Sing #1 wasn't the de-facto original station, much less the second or third. Despite this, Thomasville #1, or better known as Sing-Wilkes #1 back then, still has quite the history with the company which would eventually call The Rose City home.
The exact date for this station's opening remains a mystery, but I'm inclined to say that the original structure dates back to the 1930's based on its primitive nature. Just imagine fueling up at what looks like a modern-day junkyard! The "shed" has long since been demolished; however, it isn't hard to place where it stood based on the giant "Thomasville" water tower in the distance (see the photo at the top of the post) and the numerous surrounding brick buildings which still stand.
Today, the original Sing-Wilkes station is a mere parking lot surrounded by a handful of oak trees from yesteryear. (I'm also guessing that Anonymous in Houston is going to say something about the Chevrolet HHR panel van centered in this picture.) While Thomasvillians can no longer fuel up here, they can still charge their electric car for free at one of the city's chargers just out of the frame to my right.
By the late-1950's, Sing-Wilkes had outgrown its shack on the West corner of Remington and Crawford, so the Wilkes decided to construct a new building on the north side of the crossroads.
The structure was designed using Sing's common style for late-1950's and early-1960's dealer stations, but there was one thing that caught my attention while flipping through the photographs: a yellow piece of paper with red letters spelling "SING" taped atop the roof. My initial thought was that this "embellishment" was added by a child attempting to colorize a picture; however, upon reflection, I began to wonder if the new Sing-Wilkes was a prototype for later station designs. After all, the 1965 reconstruction of Thomasville #2 brought about a similar building design complete with a yellow roof and red block letters.
I can't tell if the roof on this building was yellow or if it was just a light grey, but I can tell you that at a minimum it is one of the earlier examples of this design. The biggest clue is from the fact that this photo features Sing's old sign design.
I really wish I knew whether or not one of these signs still existed because I cannot for the life of me tell what that bird graphic looked like. At least the block letters of the logo would be easy enough to reproduce.
It's also worth noting that Sing Oil Company and the Wilkes family continued to work together until Sing was dissolved in 1990. I know I've found record where the two parties had several joint ventures with convenience stores and car washes in the Atlanta area, and I believe Ted Wilkes went on to manage a Sing Store in Tallahassee or something along those lines.
I guess I should have changed that title block to read "The Station". Oh well.
Ag-Pro Fuel
Thomasville #1
Thomasville, GA 31792
Jumping to today, we find the building in a bit different shape than it was in the late-1950's. Regardless, the tax records still state that the year of completion was 1959 and allude to some remodels happening as recently as 2005.
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| Wow wasn't gas quite expensive back in 2022! |
Surprisingly, the sign out front still appears to use the Sing hardware – quite possibly the only former station to still do so. The current occupant, Ag-Pro Fuel, just opted to recycle most of what was left behind by Bain's Auto Service. The local tractor dealer purchased the station from Dan Bain in 2017 and seems to be content with the building as it is; I still have no clue why the latter has an interest in running a service station, though.
Speaking of things being status quo, I noticed this old yellow "AUTO DIESEL" sign hanging on to the bottom of the price board when passing by the station a few years back. I'm inclined to say it, too, dates back to Sing Oil Company; this would explain the yellow and (faded) blue color scheme as well as the fact it includes the "auto" descriptor that I've seen Sing use elsewhere.
Those inklings are also the reason why this sign motivated me to photograph it before I even had the idea to start a blog: it's crazy how things work out sometimes. My other big motivation came when I saw the old service station had closed and feared it may be demolished, or at a minimum, have the sign taken down. Thankfully, neither of those came to fruition!
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| Is that some chipped Sing blue paint I see on the attendant hut? |
The pump islands may not be new, but they don't quite date back to Sing Oil Company. The numbers mounted to the columns came from BP (with yellow numerals having been installed by Ag-Pro), while the columns themselves were installed in the early 1990's as part of this station's conversion to Bain's Exxon. The city directories I referenced listed this as "Morris Sing Service" (Managed by Fox Morris) as early as 1971 and continue with the Sing name through 1990. Bain's Auto & Service Center was first listed in 1991, followed by a confirmation of the Exxon conversion in 1992. It's convenient how both Exxon and Sing used the same shape of road sign!
The building may look a bit bland without a major oil company's livery, but at least it looks well-kept.
I still have to wonder how much business it does being an independent (with likely higher prices). Maybe the fact that it's one of the rare stations to still offer "full service" helps?
Anyhow, I don't really care about the financials as long as this former Sing lives to see another day!
Since this post is already a bit unconventional, let's take a quick look at some street & aerial views before continuing our walk.
Street Views
Google Street View - January 2008
Google Street View - January 2016
Google Street View - February 2024
Aerial Views
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Historic Aerials - 1952 Corner of Remington Avenue & Crawford Street |
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Historic Aerials - 1957 Newly constructed Sing-Wilkes can be seen on North corner of intersection |
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Historic Aerials - 1974 "New" Sing-Wilkes gained a canopy at some point |
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Google Earth - 1993 Bain's Exxon service center seems to have expanded the original building |
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Google Earth - 2019 Ag-Pro Fuel in its current state (with the parking lot to the left being the site of the 1930's station) |
I'd normally close out this portion of the post with my blue "Sing Oil Blog" logo, but I figured I'd change things up since Ryan B. was kind enough to create some new graphics for me. Below you'll see three different versions, and I'd like for y'all to vote in the comments for the one you like best!
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| Option 1 |
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| Option 2 |
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| Option 3 |
Now that we've seen all there is to see about the former Sing, let's continue on to the next portion of this post.
I had some time to kill, considering how I didn't have a convenience store to walk into, so I decided to wander around Downtown Thomasville to see what else I came across. I'll just say that Sing Oil Company's hometown is quite fascinating; there's a reason why this post was delayed!
First up is the George & Louie's restaurant next door to the former Sing. The building looked relatively modern, but the sign post out front has to be recycled from an old Burger Chef. My guess is that the rectangular frame around the top was just built around the old pentagon piece, leaving behind the diagonal supports below. At least the satellite view from 1993 makes it look like a Burger Chef was building was here!
It turns out that the original structure burned down in Summer 2001, with Thomas County issuing a demolition permit in August of that year.
Continuing down Remington Avenue, we find a fancy looking Courtyard by Marriott hotel. It mostly looks like a normal hotel (that was built to comply with historic zoning laws), but the space was used for something entirely different in recent history: a Roses discount store.
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| Courtesy Andy Callahan (Flickr) - January 23, 2010 |
As recently as 2016, a mid-century Roses building stood at the corner of Remington Avenue and Dawson Street, reminding residents of the bad decisions people made in the 1960's. Let's just say that the structure looked a bit out of context.
Flickr user Andy Callahan, whom we've seen mentioned in several other posts, described his own photo with the caption, "Evidently Roses is patronized by the local pimp," referring to the orange Lincoln Continental above.
He goes on to say that, "Roses is a regional discount store that is trying not to fade into obscurity, as its market has been nearly decimated by Walmart. The exterior of this place makes Walmart look like Saks Fifth Avenue."
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| Courtesy Andy Callahan (Flickr) - January 23, 2010 |
The outside was quite rough (look at how the logo is just a shadow of its former self), and I'd dare to presume that the inside (a glimpse of which can be seen here) wasn't any better. In 2017, Roses moved to the newest former Winn-Dixie across town, which I discussed in this post, after deciding to call it quits on the building Henry H. says was originally a Clarks (a smaller regional discount chain).
Since we no longer need a visit from Xzibit, lets head back east to see what Broad Street has to offer.
Wow, a Subway – how boring.
Yeah, that's what I thought a first, too, until I realized it is housed in a 1920's KYSO station on the corner of Broad and Remington. This building even predates the original Sing-Wilkes!
If you look closely, you can see how the front wall was just built on top of the old pump island, and the canopy previously covered the drive-through bound on either side by the black posts on the right wall.
This style of station is still relatively commonplace for how old the design is, and many are still easy to recognize after all of these years.
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| Courtesy Thomasville History Center (Fulford Collection | Instagram) - 1962 |
If you still don't believe me, take a look at this picture the Thomasville History Center shared to Instagram several weeks ago. It shows a Sunnyland Foods chicken float in the annual Rose Show parade driving along the 200 block of South Broad. Gazing off in the distance, we can see the current Subway in its original, unaltered form as a Standard Oil filling station. Isn't that neat!
Speaking of Sunnyland, I've noticed this old semi-trailer that bears the forgotten brand rotting away in the brush off US 19. Maybe one day I'll stop by to take a picture of it while I'm passing through the area because I suppose it won't be there forever.
Continuing across South Broad, we find a row of historic brick buildings lining the 100 block, most of which are tenanted. Oh yeah, and there was also the exposed brick street!
I wonder what store used to be in the building on the left . . .
Despite the local Belk moving to Gateway Shopping Center in 1975, the terrazzo inscription in front of the old department store remains to this day. I wonder why this logo uses the possessive form of the name, when I presume this store would have also been branded as Belk-Hudson.
While all of these shops look nice, I just love the detailing and trim work on the SouthLife Supply building to the left.
It turns out that the South Life building (130 S Broad) began its life as Jerger Jewelers in 1885. The adjacent Mode building (128 S Broad) was originally a twin to 130 before having its façade rebuilt in 1925 by Commercial Bank (whose name is still inscribed in the marble just above "Mode", and whose business we will discuss a bit later).
That article I linked to goes on to say that Jerger's lasted until 2014, which had to have made it one of the oldest businesses in the area when it closed.
To the north of Mode (a women's clothing store), we find The Bookshelf (an independent book store), Al Dixon (a men's clothing store), The Hare And The Hart (a gift shop), and Grassroots Coffee Company. I know I've seen ground coffee from the latter in Publix stores throughout Georgia, so it must have a decent following; if only I drank coffee, I could likely tell you a bit more about it.
Back across the street and next to Subway is the Sweet Grass Dairy Cheese Shop. Similar to Grassroots, Sweet Grass is another local Thomasville business that I've seen in most Publix stores and on menus at distant restaurants. It even received the praise of Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox while they were in town filming a movie, for what it's worth!
To the north, we find more classy historic structures, including the Pringle Block building (currently housing Kevin's Fine Outdoor Gear and Apparel), the former Thomasville National Bank building (housing The Wright Group realty), and another storefront (housing Relish kitchen store).
According to Flickr user Onasill, the Thomasville National Bank building, "was constructed in 1886 as only a one-story structure for Isadora Popper Wholesale Wine and Liquor. When the owners decided to add a second story, they raised the original first floor and added a new first level underneath. Because this was once Thomasville National Bank, a large hole was left where the large vault had been. A very clever thing was done with that hole in the ceiling … a skylight was created. The architectural style is exuberant Queen Anne. Asymmetrical constructed with a variety of building material (brick, stone, stained glass and wood) to give it added texture."
I'd say that the Victorian Era called and asked for its building back, but I'm not sure I'd let them take it. Isn't the green Gift Shop building so cool! I'd say this had to be one of the more unique façades I saw. To the right of The Gift Shop (behind the tree) was the space for Salon Rob, while the building to the left appeared to be vacant. It, too, was another former location of Commercial Bank based on the façade inscription.
Commercial Bank eventually moved one block over to a free standing building next to the Sing and has since rebranded to Synovus.
Skipping back across the street, we find Thomas Drug Store sandwiched between several other businesses.
According to a plaque on the wall, Thomas Drug Store is the oldest continuously operating drug store in Georgia, and it looks like it has been in this spot since 1881 – pretty neat!
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| Courtesy Thomasville History Center (Ed Kelly Collection | Instagram) - October 14, 1957 |
The Thomasville History Center Instagram page again gives us a glimpse into the past with this 1957 photo of the pharmacy. Other than the neon Rexall sign being taken down, the building looks remarkably unchanged. If only the former had survived like the sign we saw back in Columbia.
We'll continue our walk across Jackson Street (former US Highway 319) to the 100 block of North Broad Street (former US Highway 19 / Dixie Highway). The building in front of us is the former Mitchell House, a Victorian-era (late-1800's) hotel that was constructed during the height of the city's resort boom.
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| Courtesy Thomasville History Center - 1885 - Mitchell House Hotel, from the North |
The building has changed over the years and new structures have been added to the North, but one can still recognize the prominent former hotel that once welcomed Northerners seeking the healing powers of the fresh pine air.
Thomasville had several other large hotels around this time, with most tourists choosing the town as their final destination since it resided at the terminus of the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway (completed in 1861) and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Albany—Thomasville Line (completed in 1869). The railroad brought about a boom in the economy following the Civil War as large agricultural plantations could now be sold off to wealthy individuals from the North. The massive tracts of land were then used as hunting destinations to escape the perilous winter weather. Many of these 1,000+ acre tracts of land remain as hunting plantations to this day, with several of the properties even being open to the public for tours. Those many quail plantations are what attracted celebrities such as the Vanderbilts, President Eisenhower, Jimmy Buffett, and Vice President Cheney to the area and allow Kevin's to stock several $35,000 shotguns or a $150,000 engraved 20 gauge double barrel. If I spent that much on a shotgun, I doubt I'd ever want to go quail hunting with it, much less take it outside!
Unfortunately, the resort era came to an end around the turn of the Twentieth Century when the railroads were extended to South Florida. Florida!!!
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| Courtesy Thomasville History Center - February 1960 - Former Mitchell House Hotel, from the South |
Unfortunately, Thomasville wasn't able to escape the grip of the mid-century modernist era and many of the downtown buildings became unrecognizable during the 1950's and 1960's. Isn't it amazing how an architect thought a bland white building looked more visually appealing than such an ornate brick structure!
This photo also depicts Neel's Department Store while it was still in business.
In an unexpected twist, I discovered that Dan Bain, the same man who operated the service station at the former Sing, began working at Neel's in 1975. His obituary notes that, "Eventually he assumed the responsibility of President, CEO, and finally owner of the Broad Street institution." Property records indicate that he sold the building in 2000 which seems to roughly coincide with the time frame that Neel's went out of business.
Although Neel's has closed, a plaque commemorating "the iconic shopping mecca for the region" remains on the corner of Broad and Jackson to this day.
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| Courtesy of Thomasville (Garden & Gun Magazine) - Broad Street circa 2005 |
It was astonishingly hard to find a picture of what the old Mitchell House looked like in the 1990's or 2000's, but I managed to uncover this oddly-framed shot from Garden & Gun. While the Neel's portion of the building to the left arguably looks better than it did in the 1950's, the rest of the building looked forlorn and in need of repair.
The upper floors of the property were converted into condominiums beginning in 2006 which is when the façade received the red stucco look we see today. The downstairs remains home to several shops and restaurants with the main two-story Neel's space serving as the Imagination Emporium toy store.
Our last look at Broad Street will be this image I spotted in the window of the Dyess-Tidwell photo studio on Jackson Street. It depicts the 100 block of North Broad (with the Neel's sign barely visible to the left) under a light dusting of snow – a white Christmas, more specifically. I'm sure children were jumping for joy back in 1989 because it is already an extremely rare occurrence for a city 15 miles from the Florida line to get show, much less on Christmas day.
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| Is that Snow? I think so! |
Notably, the Broad Street photo was taken on the last time South Georgia or North Florida received measurable snowfall until January 2018. I never thought I would see such events, but Florida's Capital City received a whopping 9-minutes of snowfall from Winter Storm Grayson on that fateful day. This brought an end to the nearly 30-year drought and even closed down Interstate 10 for a time. Ice accumulation from the storm was seen as far south as Bronson in Levy County, Florida.
I'm sure I only managed to scratch the surface of all the historic buildings and businesses in Thomasville. Despite this, I still had fun doing a bit of all-over-the-place research compared to my typically focused missions. I didn't have the energy to look further into the Municipal Auditorium after all of this, but a plaque on the building said it was constructed as part of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930's. If you zoom in on the right side, you can also see the sign indicating that there is a nuclear fallout shelter inside.
The last featured business in this portion of the post is The Plaza which claims to be Georgia's oldest continuously operating restaurant. That's quite the legacy!
If you do need a break by now, remember that you can always circle right back to this spot in the post with this handy link. If you don't need a potty break, let's march on!
Harveys, Is That You?
Bob & Jeff's IGA
Smith Avenue
Thomasville, GA 31792
The supermarket we'll be exploring today may not feature any notable brand-worthy architectural features, but it continues the longstanding tradition of Harveys being the wet rag that mops up other chains' old stores.
According to the Thomas County property records, the grocery store was built in 1960 when it would have fallen under the Colonial Stores brand. By 1974, city directories indicate that this location had converted to a Big Star discount store. That same year, the area's other two grocery stores were Harveys (at 216 South Broad Street) and Winn-Dixie (at 440 Smith Ave).
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| Courtesy Thomasville History Center (Ed Kelly Collection | Instagram) - 1956 - Washington St Winn-Dixie |
Although I had easily spotted the Smith Avenue Winn-Dixie building, I was surprised to learn that in 1973, The Beef People were in a different location at 108 West Washington Street. That building appears to have been demolished sometime after 1993 because the headquarters for Thomasville National Bank (opened in 1995) now stands in its place.
While I don't know what the outside of the long, narrow building looked like, the Thomasville History Center shared this picture of "Lovett's Winn-Dixie Harvest Day Sale" from 1956 showing the inside.
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| The Warrior (Brookwood School Yearbook) - 1977 - Thomas Plaza |
I can at least get a better idea of how the 1974 store looked based on a few other photos I uncovered. The first, from a yearbook where I was hoping to find some Sing Oil ads, shows Thomas Plaza's iconic Winn-Dixie "tuning fork" sign. If you ever see a shopping center with a road sign like this, then you should know for a fact that it once housed a Winn-Dixie!
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| Courtesy Thomasville History Center (Instagram) - January 7, 1981 - Relocation of All Saints' Episcopal Church |
In addition to the road sign, I also found this collage on the Thomasville History Center's Instagram page showing the future All Saints Episcopal Church building being moved to its current location on South Hansell Street. Formerly St. Augustine Catholic Church, the structure welcomed Jackie Kennedy during her 1963 visit to The Rose City following her husband's assassination.
In the background of the middle two photos, we can clearly see Thomas Plaza while Winn-Dixie and TG&Y were the current tenants. If you look at the red mansard roof on the right, you can even see where "The Beef People" is spelled out – isn't that neat! What's even better is how the original façade remains on the building to this day. We can also see a bit of the orange pump canopy and sign for the Pack & Sack convenience store next door.
In the top right corner, you may also recognize the letters "HAR" from Thomasville's original Harveys market.
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| Courtesy Thomasville History Center (Ed Kelly Collection | Instagram) - February 1967 |
Located just across Broad Street from The Plaza, this store's size pales in comparison to the former Big Star it would eventually move to. At least it had its own small parking lot surrounding the store.
Once Harveys moved out, Rite Aid set up shop in the space and reconfigured the front of the store to what we see today.
In addition to the original-to-Rite Aid corner vestibule and storefront, an old Rite Aid cube sign continued to grace Madison Street well into the 2010's. Wigs & Things, the current tenant, eventually decided to install its own sign as part of an exterior remodel, yet still has Rite Aid's 1980's décor on the interior walls. The only problem is that I am absolutely not walking into a wig store to photograph it because there would be zero reason for me to be in there without sticking out like a sore thumb. I guess I'll just have to find another former RA . . .
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| Courtesy Andy Callahan (Flickr) - January 23, 2010 |
Rite Aid #1629
Downtown Thomasville
Thomasville, GA 31792
For today, that will be this particular Rite Aid's replacement just across the street. I told you this post would just keep rambling on!
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| Courtesy Thomas County Property Appraiser - February 22, 2018 |
Our friendly property records indicate that this free-standing pharmacy was built in 1999. What's particularly shocking is the design of this building – I've never seen another Rite Aid that looked like it. During the time when most Rite Aids featured diamond-shaped windows and a blue tarp sign, this store looked markedly classier with a much statelier appearance. I wonder if local zoning laws had an influence on the architecture since it is directly across the street from a historic district.
This building is so unique that a friend who glanced over my shoulder while I was writing this remarked, "that doesn't look like a Rite Aid, that looks like a liquor store." I guess I can see where he is coming from considering how his local liquor store is housed in an old Eckerd.
This Rite Aid was part of the 2017 deal where Walgreens acquired most of the former company's stores in the Southeast. The Downtown Thomasville pharmacy was lucky enough to be across town from the nearest Walgreens, meaning it was spared from closing.
What it wasn't spared from, though, is somebody driving their SUV through the wall. Just as I was pulling up to this store, crews were finishing the cleanup of where a teenager had accidentally driven her parents' car into the brick wall. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but we can see where sheets of plywood had been set up to cover the damage. It also looks like a group of bricks closer to the entrance had been repaired from a prior accident.
Stepping inside, we find what seems to be commonplace in these Rite Aid to Walgreens conversions where the latter simply swapped out the aisle markers while leaving everything else as it was.
I can't really complain because I'd much prefer to see Rite Aid's "Wellness" package (or is it called "Wellbeing", I always get confused) live on compared to whatever boring thing Walgreens has been into lately.
At least the Rite Aid look has some warmth to it and was a welcomed upgrade to the horribly dated designs I was used to seeing.
The curved actionway is an interesting feature of these stores. I also hadn't previously realized that the accent floor tiles alternated between rows of tan and reddish brown.
I wonder if these individual tiles were replaced during the remodel while the remaining white ones are original to the store's construction.
Back up front, we find the checkout lines just where they've always been. At least Walgreens hasn't been on a kick to roll out self-checkouts like CVS has.
If you need more evidence that things haven't changed, our flashback will be a photo I found of the checkout counters while this store was still a Rite Aid. Things still look largely the same, except for the absence of the "Milk Eggs Juice" sign and the Wellness + Rewards banner.
Our parting shot of the pharmacy is of an old floorplan I found in the back corner of the store. Despite not being the best picture, we can still get a good idea of the layout. Note how the store originally featured a "Y" configured actionway that funneled shoppers toward the milk coolers and then boomeranged them back to the pharmacy. At least the divisions and misaligned aisles make sense because I presume food products were in the bottom left third, housewares, greeting cards, seasonal items, and photo products were in the bottom right third, and pharmaceutical products, H&BA, and cosmetics were in the top third. Rite Aid ended up reconfiguring the actionway into the "S" design we see today during the last remodel.
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| Courtesy Charles Burgess Jr (Flickr) - April 20, 2012 |
Let's head back over to the former Harveys and see what we can find.
Thanks to Charles Burgess, we can see how this store looked during its Delhaize days and probably for most of its life.
By the time 2017 rolled around, SEG had transformed this store to align with the "new" Harveys format which basically means it just got a new paint job. It's honestly sad that Southeastern Grocers spent the money to repaint all of these stores only to close most of them within two years.
Meanwhile, Bob & Jeff's seized the opportunity of opening a bigger store (I can't believe I'm calling a 20,000 sq ft grocery store "big") and decided to move from its former location on West Jackson Street. The old store was signed as "Bob & Jeff's Super Market" at the road but "Hendrick's IGA" on the building which presented a fascinating dichotomy.
In addition to the new Thomasville store, Bob & Jeff have scooped up several other SEG properties in recent years. We've already toured the Hendricks & Hays IGA in Camilla; additionally, I've found Bob & Jim's Fresh Market in an old Harveys store in Madison, FL, and a former Bob & Jeff's IGA in Dawson, GA, which has recently reopened as a Cost Kutter after being sold off. The group also operates Bob & Jeff's Neighborhood Market in Monticello, FL, Bob & Jeff's Grocery Outlet in Bainbridge, GA, and Cairo IGA in Cairo, GA, in buildings that don't appear to previously have been part of a chain that I recognize.
While all of the stores listed above were hard to piece together without a common name, brand, or website, there are two threads that they all shared: common sales flyer designs and a common décor package.
Bob & Jeff's Neighborhood Market
If you don't believe me, click through the links above for the sales flyers I found on the respective stores' Facebook pages. All of them use the same general formatting, feature the same fonts, and most importantly, are all poor-quality screenshots that show a scroll bar on the right side of the image. Interestingly, I could find neither a flyer nor a listing on the IGA store locator for Hendricks & Hays in Camilla which makes me wonder if that store silently closed earlier this year. The Hendricks & Hays Facebook page now redirects to the Cairo IGA listing.
From the outside, this place still mostly looks like it did as a Harveys (complete with the Delhaize-era cart corral), just with a new paint job. We can also clearly see the vestibule and left side addition (the portion of the façade with the lower wall) that Harveys tacked on at some point.
As for the common décor, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that it is simply Harveys' Southern Farmstand package that we saw in Camilla. The produce department in the front right corner of the store still looks like it is in a Harveys, with the exception of the exposed concrete floors and the neon price tags (which I've told you before that I cannot stand – along with center cut-through aisles). Even the register to my left is original to Harveys!
But wait, something seems off, and it isn't the fact that this store still sells bundles of greens . . .
It's the fact that I was able to dig into my mysterious photo archives and uncover a single photo from inside this store while it was a Harveys. Wouldn't you know, this store had remodeled to Yellow Down Down – the package which replaced Southern Farmstand. How could it be that a Harveys closed with Yellow Down Down but now has an older décor scheme on the walls?
That's where Bob & Jeff come into play. My guess is that when the group acquired the 3+ former Harveys stores from SEG, they liked what they saw in the Camilla store much better than the knockoff Home Depot look in Dawson or the banana vomit in Thomasville. Since Camilla was also the newest, it likely needed the least amount of interior work to bring it up to some kind of standard. With that, B&J probably hired an industrious design group to imitate what was already installed in Camilla and create what we see today. That would explain the single wine sign I saw at the other store which didn't match the rest of the departments!
I have to give it to them that they initially fooled me with this store: until I realized the font was all wrong. And when I say wrong, I mean they didn't even come close! Needless to say, I much prefer the original Jimbo version of these signs.
To add to the strange nature of this place was the fact that it still had the Yellow Down Down category signs and aisle markers in places, just with the yellow number cards swapped out for tan ones. Oh, and did I mention that the concrete floors in a 1960's supermarket should never be exposed for public viewing?
Bob & Jeff don't care, and they also don't care about jamming up the left aisle of the store with pallet drops of cereal.
As for the "hometown pharmacy" that's "now open", that used to be where Harveys had its deli and prepackaged bakery goods.
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| Courtesy Kelley Mickell (Google Maps) - March 2018 |
It's shocking how a store this small still had a hot food deli, but at least they didn't try to cram a cold cuts counter or full bakery in here. Also, more Google Maps photos of this store as a Harveys can be found here.
Despite the store lacking a formal seafood department, it still had fish hanging on the wall next to the pharmacy. It also received a Yellow Down Down "Prescription Pick Up" sign that I can't figure out where it came from. None of the stores, at least that I'm aware of, which Bob & Jeff's purchased had a pharmacy, so I presume they picked up this sign from an equipment auction. I just don't know why they needed to go to an auction since it looks like they took over this store with all of its old fixtures remaining in place.
Right here we can see the seem in the concrete where the building was expanded from its original footprint. We also see all of those existing Harveys fixtures with their tell-tale green bumpers.
Okay, I'm tired now. Let's call it a day with this wonderfully blurry picture while I go find a place to lay down and take a nap. I hope you enjoyed all of the sightseeing today, and don't worry, my next post will only cover a single store.
Also, if you haven't checked it out yet, make sure to read my post covering the first Winn-Dixie set to be converted to an Aldi.
Until next time,
- The Sing Oil Blogger
Additional Resources:
Thomas County Property Records
Sing Parcel ID: 005 020001
Digital Library of Georgia: Thomas County Images
Vanishing Georgia: Thomas County Historic Buildings
Forgotten Georgia: Thomas County
City of Thomasville: Our History
I suppose yellow is the theme color for this post! Before we get to Jay & Silent Bob's IGA, or something like that, I was quite intrigued by that Sing-Wilkes photo with the 'Sound Your Z' Pennzoil sign up front. Pennzoil was, and still is now under Shell ownership, based in Houston. Granted, a lot of oil companies are based in Houston or at least have significant presence here so it is hardly that Pennzoil was/is the official motor oil of Houston. Still, while a Yellow Down-Down Harveys might be a disaster, there is something pleasing about the yellow bottle of Pennzoil...or at least the yellow cans as was probably the case when that Sing-Wilkes photo was taken. I guess people in Georgia weren't afraid of Pennsylvania's waxy oil or whatever old husband's tales existed about Pennzoil motor oil back in the day, lol.
ReplyDeleteThe Chevrolet HHR was an interesting car in that it, and the Chrysler PT Cruiser, were both quite popular (mainly because they were cheap), but then both GM and Chrysler decided not to replace those models. I guess GM figured that customers should try to get a car modeled like an old Chevrolet Suburban and they should buy a much, much more expensive modern Chevrolet Suburban instead. Typical GM.
As much as the Lincoln Continental pimpmobile caught my attention, the 1990s Kia Sephia next to it almost seems more remarkable! While that generation of Kia Sephias were based somewhat on the Mazda 323/Protege, which was a reliable car, those Kia Sephias didn't age well and were mostly off the roads by 2010. I suspect the people buying Kias in the early days didn't maintain them very well, as was often with buyers of first-generation car brands sold at cut-rate prices like Hyundai and Daewoo, and so they burned up pretty quickly. The one in the photo looked pretty straight so who knows, maybe it's still puttering around. It is a possibility, I saw a Rodney King-edition 1980s Hyundai Excel puttering around Houston about 5-6 years ago!
While I am relieved that Bob & Jeff had the good sense to get rid of the Yellow Down-Down and replace it with even older Harveys decor that does look better (I would say that is bizarre, but we've seen grocers here in Houston put in 1990s Food Lion decor in locations that were never even Food Lions before so I guess it isn't too unprecedented), but that floor! Oh, that floor! That tile scar is even worse than what I think Kroger would deem to be acceptable. Now that's saying something! Oh, Bob & Jeff, tsk, tsk, tsk. What a shame! Oh well, at least above the floors, the store doesn't look too bad. I'm not sure if I'd trust a pharmacy called Bob & Jeff's, especially given the floor, but at least they have pharmacies unlike The Beef People!
I have to admit that I had to look up who Jay and Silent Bob are; it doesn’t help that I am neither a movie buff nor a subscriber to weed culture. I’m sure that knowing about them would have helped me in a trivia game I went to several weeks ago, though!
DeleteAnyway, I’m glad you liked seeing the vintage Pennzoil sign in front of the old Sing station. That’s interesting to hear how long Pennzoil has been based in Houston because the name would imply that it still has some ties back to Pennsylvania. I know that’s where it started, but I suppose most American oil companies have moved to Texas. I also agree that yellow is a better color for a product, like oil sitting on a shelf, than it is for an entire store’s paint scheme. Furthermore, I wonder if Pennzoil eventually supplied the bulk oil to Sing once the latter opened its own oil cannery in Thomasville.
I’m glad you brought up the PT Cruiser because I remember thinking it, along with the HHR, was an ugly car even when it came out new. The notion that they were cheap probably didn’t help the stigma. It’s also shocking how expensive a modern Suburban costs ($59,200)!
That’s also an interesting point about the Kia Sephia and makes me wonder whether that little thing is still sputtering around. It does seem like people buying a cheap first-generation car probably aren’t the most likely to keep one well maintained, either. I know Kia has also had to put in a lot of work to improve its image over the last few years.
I was completely caught off guard by Bob & Jeff’s decision to create their own version of a Harveys décor that this store never even had! You’re right that it looks much better than Yellow Down Down or the aging Harveys Grid package this store would’ve had previously. I also knew you’d just fall in love with this store’s floor – isn’t it spectacularly shiny! The high gloss really helps to bring out the 60+ years of blemishes, don’t you think? I’m not sure if that tile scar is beyond something Kroger would do, but at least Kroger has the decency to stain the floors too. You’re also right that a B&J pharmacy is better than no pharmacy – and they have free delivery!
Kind of an odd spec for that replacement Rite Aid - the way it was designed makes it straight out of the 1960s! And as for the flooring job, it was fairly typical for Wellness and early Wellbeing remodels. I would guess this one was done around 2013-14. I also do not know how old the interior pictures are, since it still has the modern no-name Rite Aid carts, and Walgreens has been fairly aggressive with updating their fleets in recent years.
ReplyDeleteI’d really love to know how Thomasville ended up with such a unique replacement Rite Aid. I’m not sure if I’d say it is straight out of the 1960’s, but it does look much more historic than most of the Rite Aids from that era.
DeleteBased on the street views, the remodel happened between 2013 and 2016, so your remodel estimate is plausible. According to the tax records a remodel permit was issued in March 2015. I will ask since I always get confused, do you refer to this interior as Wellness or Wellbeing?
Most of the interior pictures were taken in 2022, but the one while the store was still a Rite Aid is probably from 2018 or so. I know I was in a Walgreens in the last six months that still had old blue Rite Aid carts with just a piece of tape over the old RA logo.
It seemed like a lot, but this was a nice overview of downtown Thomasville. I've done Google Street View through the downtown area before, and Thomasville does have a charming downtown with a lot of historic structures. It was interesting getting to learn a little more about them, and learning that Thomasville is home to Georgia's oldest continuously operating pharmacy and restaurant.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite interesting that Bob & Jeff's took the effort to replicate Harvey's Southern Farmstand decor in a building that had Yellow Down Down. Thinking about it, I can't think of any grocers that reused Yellow Down Down in any Harvey's for Fresco y Mas that's closed - even the low-budget type stores that are known to recycle decor took the effort to get rid of Yellow Down Down! (I think that says a lot about what people thought of that decor!) Maybe there's a former Harvey's somewhere in South Georgia you've seen where Yellow Down Down got recycled, but that would certainly be a rarity if so. The faux Southern Farmstand decor looks much nicer in that building than Yellow Down Down, and even with the font discrepancy, the replication still looks pretty good (especially for a package commissioned by a small chain). Those floors though - would it have been that terrible to recycle the old tile?! I think old beat up tile would have looked better than that scarred concrete floor!
As for the Sing logos, I liked option #2 version with all the text in the diamond - it looks like something you could put right into an old Sing sign frame.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post! There were certainly a number of interesting buildings to see downtown, and I especially enjoy it when a town is able to restore old buildings to their historical look. I’m sure having the state’s oldest restaurant and pharmacy helps matters!
DeleteAs for Yellow Down Down, I’ve found a single former Harveys which still has some significant (aka yellow) form of the décor in place. Also, the old Moultrie store looks like it still has some of the lettering on the wall, and several other stores have recycled the aisle markers. Otherwise, the closest thing to seeing the package being recycled is when Food Lion was slowly rolling out its remodels of the 2021 acquired Harveys and BI-LO stores. Most of those Harveys stores were remodeled within a matter of months, but some of the BI-LO stores were just getting fully converted as recently as last year. It’s no surprise that Southern Farmstand has fared better in its afterlife than Yellow Down Down! I agree that Bob & Jeff did a decent job of replicating the package, and their flavor looks more authentic than the "Country Fresh" Piggly Wiggly variant I’ve seen in a few places. And I know, why couldn’t Bob & Jeff simply leave the old vinyl tile in place?! It had to have looked better than the bare concrete!
It's starting to look like I’m going to have to find a use for all three of those logos because I haven’t been able to get a consensus!
Interestingly, the Yellow Down Down paint color seems much more appropriate for a clearance bargain bin store than a supermarket, as bright yellow goes well with the chaotic atmosphere of one of those stores quite well. At least the Moultrie Piggly Wiggly added the different colors to the walls to neutralize the effect of the yellow paint in the few places it was left behind too, giving us Rainbow Down Down now!
DeleteInteresting stuff with all the Thomasville sights. I'm also going to cast my vote for Option #1. All of the options are great, but I think I like that one the best because it most clearly shows the unaltered Sing logo on a standalone basis, drawing attention to the separate text on the right that indicates this is a fan blog related to the topic.
ReplyDeleteFor the MTC2 part of the post (which gave me nasty flashbacks to the MCT2 standardized tests I had to take growing up!), you are correct that the white tiles in the Rite Aid are all original, with only the accent color ones having been swapped out in the remodel. And speaking of remodels -- it's always fascinating to see a major chain's décor package replicated anew by an independent!! Love scenes like that, great attention to detail.
Thank you! That’s a good point about the first logo keeping the original Sing design fully in-tact. At least in defense of the other three, Sing no longer exists as a company and any outstanding trademarks have expired.
DeleteIt’s funny how standardized tests always use some sort of acronym; however, I’ve never heard of one including a number! When I searched the acronym online, it just returned a type of protein – I suppose there are several meanings for that alphanumeric combination.
Anyhow, I’m glad that I wasn’t crazy in thinking that Rite Aid cheapened out by only replacing the blue floor tiles. At least the white ones still appeared to be in good shape. I agree that it is cool to see a chain’s package replicated, and this reminds me of Nam Dae Mun claiming variants of Publix’ old Wavy Pastels as its own. Of course, some replications involved much more attention to detail than others.
You're welcome! And ha, trademark consideration wasn't the reason I was saying that, but I guess that logic does also apply and make sense. I just liked that aspect design-wise.
DeletePretty sure the MCT2 was called that because it was a redesign of the original MCT (Mississippi Curriculum Test). If you Google it with "standardized test" in the search bar it should come up. I think they have changed the test yet again since I was in school, but I think they renamed it entirely rather than going with MCT3, lol!
Yep, Nam Dae Mun definitely came to mind for me as well. Also very good point on some replications being better than others.
That's fair!
DeleteYes, the MCT2 test results came up when adding the proper search criteria. At least they decided to be a little creative and invent a new nonsense name rather than just adopting MCT3!
Agreed!
I thoroughly enjoyed this post about changes seen in Thomasville over the decades. I'm going to attempt to give some clarity about the Bob & Jeff "chain" of stores. Jeff (the owner located in Thomasville) currently operates the former Grocery Outlet in Bainbridge, a former Piggly Wiggly in Monticello, a former Piggly Wiggly in Milton (FL), a former Oxley's IGA in Moultrie, a former Harveys in Thomasville, a former Harveys in Camilla, and a former Food Lion in Madison. The Cairo store has always been an independent IGA since the Ira Higdon Grocery Company has been headquartered in Cairo for 125 years. Unfortunately, the Piggly Wiggly became so fiercely competitive in Dawson that Jeff could not make a go of it there. One of the top people in the Harveys chain was hired by Jeff when Southeastern Grocers gutted the Harveys leadership. His connections helped Jeff acquire some of the Harveys locations that SEG were no longer interested in. The Southern Farmstand décor was well liked by this former Harveys exec and a modified version of it was implemented in many of the Bob & Jeff locations. The Thomasville location had the tiny deli/bakery removed and seafood department installed in the space during the grand opening. The seafood department did not work out and a pharmacy was built in the space after the closure of the Harveys pharmacy on Jackson Street. They never took down the seafood decor for some reason. I bet the prescription pickup sign came from the Jackson Street store as well. The tile was removed as a floor maintenance cost cutting measure. Looks terrible but saves time and money. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about Harveys, Winn-Dixie, or the Bob & Jeff chain of stores as I have worked for all three. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteI’m glad that you enjoyed this post! If you didn’t know, I have thoroughly enjoyed clicking through the many pictures you have posted to Flickr over the years. It’s an honor that you took the time to read the blog!
DeleteWell, I’m glad that I was at least able to piece together some of the Bob & Jeff “chain”! While Oxley’s in Moultrie makes sense, I never would have guessed that he owned the store in Milton – I’m glad that Jeff seems to have found a niche in Southwest GA and North Florida. When I saw that Bob & Jeff’s in Dawson had closed, I wondered what the story was. I’m not sure how many of my supermarket posts you have made it through, but that Dawson Piggly Wiggly is an interesting specimen since it is part of a small outpost of Oklahoma-based Homeland Foods. I’ve previously written about the Homeland "Food World" in East Dublin, and the confluence of a former Bruno’s brand, a recycled Bruno’s / Southern Family Markets interior, and a unionized Oklahoma grocer just makes for a bizarre blog post. There are several other Homeland stores that I plan to cover in the future, as well.
It’s interesting to learn that Jeff hired a former Harveys executive and how the move influenced his expansion. I’d also have to agree with that exec. about how Southern Farmstand is probably the best Harveys interior design from at least the last 20 years.
Now the fish on the wall make sense! At least in the long run, I’d imagine that a pharmacy which pulls from the former Harveys customer base will be more profitable than a seafood department. I just wonder how they managed to get the prescription pick up sign from the Jackson Street store!
You’re right that bare floors do save money!
Anyway, I’d love to further discuss your time at Harveys, Winn-Dixie, and Bob & Jeff’s (and I’d also love for you to pass along to Jeff the tip to try and use the "Jimbo" font next time he remodels one of his stores). Feel free to shoot an email over to the address found on this page, or I can try to reach out via Flickr over the next few days. Thank you for the kind words and for all of your insight!