Hourglass District

[HankStrong]

14 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Is Wawa Top Tier gas? I know 7-Eleven’s isn’t (ironically, Citgo is).

Licensed Retail Brands
76
ARCO
Aloha
Beacon
Breakaway
CITGO
Cenex
Chevron
Conoco
Costco Wholesale
CountryMark
CountryMark PLUS
Diamond Shamrock
Express Mart
Exxon
Fast Fuel
GetGo
HFN - Hawaii Fueling Network
Harmons Fuel Stop
Hele
Holiday
Kirkland Signature Gasoline
Kwik Star
Kwik Trip
Marathon
Meijer
Meijer Express
Metro Petro
Mobil
Ohana Fuels
Phillips 66
QT
QuikTrip
Ranger
Ranger Fuel
Ranger Mustang
Ranger Stallion
Ranger Thoroughbred
Reeders
Road Ranger
Rutter's
Shamrock
Shell
Simonson Station Stores
Sinclair
Sunoco
Texaco
Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery
Valero
Value America
WOW
Win Win
 

Source:

https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

Consumer Reports article about the effectiveness of Top Tier gas:

https://www.consumerreports.org/fuel-economy-efficiency/top-tier-gasoline-worth-the-extra-price-a7682471234/

 

[spenser1058]

42 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Licensed Retail Brands
76
ARCO
Aloha
Beacon
Breakaway
CITGO
Cenex
Chevron
Conoco
Costco Wholesale
CountryMark
CountryMark PLUS
Diamond Shamrock
Express Mart
Exxon
Fast Fuel
GetGo
HFN - Hawaii Fueling Network
Harmons Fuel Stop
Hele
Holiday
Kirkland Signature Gasoline
Kwik Star
Kwik Trip
Marathon
Meijer
Meijer Express
Metro Petro
Mobil
Ohana Fuels
Phillips 66
QT
QuikTrip
Ranger
Ranger Fuel
Ranger Mustang
Ranger Stallion
Ranger Thoroughbred
Reeders
Road Ranger
Rutter's
Shamrock
Shell
Simonson Station Stores
Sinclair
Sunoco
Texaco
Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery
Valero
Value America
WOW
Win Win
 

Source:

https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

Consumer Reports article about the effectiveness of Top Tier gas:

https://www.consumerreports.org/fuel-economy-efficiency/top-tier-gasoline-worth-the-extra-price-a7682471234/

 

Yep, it was CR that made me take it seriously.

[codypet]

1 hour ago, HankStrong said:

Licensed Retail Brands
76
ARCO
Aloha
Beacon
Breakaway
CITGO
Cenex
Chevron
Conoco
Costco Wholesale
CountryMark
CountryMark PLUS
Diamond Shamrock
Express Mart
Exxon
Fast Fuel
GetGo
HFN - Hawaii Fueling Network
Harmons Fuel Stop
Hele
Holiday
Kirkland Signature Gasoline
Kwik Star
Kwik Trip
Marathon
Meijer
Meijer Express
Metro Petro
Mobil
Ohana Fuels
Phillips 66
QT
QuikTrip
Ranger
Ranger Fuel
Ranger Mustang
Ranger Stallion
Ranger Thoroughbred
Reeders
Road Ranger
Rutter's
Shamrock
Shell
Simonson Station Stores
Sinclair
Sunoco
Texaco
Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery
Valero
Value America
WOW
Win Win
 

Source:

https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

Consumer Reports article about the effectiveness of Top Tier gas:

https://www.consumerreports.org/fuel-economy-efficiency/top-tier-gasoline-worth-the-extra-price-a7682471234/

 

Texaco still exists?  I thought that banner was a non-exclusive license between Shell and Chevron and therefore just a banner.  Also interesting not to see Speedway there given that it's the former HESS.  

Some heavy hitters notably absent: Circle K, 7-11, Wawa, Bucees, Racetrac

I wonder if the aforementioned chains just buy up gas from the lowest bidder and not from any single source.

[HankStrong]

9 minutes ago, codypet said:

Texaco still exists?  I thought that banner was a non-exclusive license between Shell and Chevron and therefore just a banner.  Also interesting not to see Speedway there given that it's the former HESS.  

Some heavy hitters notably absent: Circle K, 7-11, Wawa, Bucees, Racetrac

I wonder if the aforementioned chains just buy up gas from the lowest bidder and not from any single source.

The low bidder theory is generally thought to be true from what I've read.

[AndyPok1]

TIL... there's a lot of people that are aficionados for Shell gas.

[JFW657]

6 minutes ago, AndyPok1 said:

TIL... there's a lot of people that are aficionados for Shell gas.

TIL... that TIL stands for "Today I Learned". 

Keeping up with internet shorthand requires a bit of effort. 

[codypet]

17 minutes ago, AndyPok1 said:

TIL... there's a lot of people that are aficionados for Shell gas.

Many of us are poor and have Tmobile which gives you discounts on Netflix and Shell gas.

[spenser1058]

4 hours ago, HankStrong said:

The low bidder theory is generally thought to be true from what I've read.

Texaco is owned by Chevron and still uses it to flag stations in some parts of the country.

[JFW657]

To confuse the issue a bit more.....

https://www.copilotsearch.com/posts/7-eleven-gas-prices-what-to-know/#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C 7 Eleven gas is,and have co-branded locations. 

.

Edited May 10, 2022 by JFW657

[JFW657]

And a bit more confusion....

https://fleet.7-eleven.com/about-us/

Can we trust them, though? 

[spenser1058]

36 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

And a bit more confusion....

https://fleet.7-eleven.com/about-us/

Can we trust them, though? 

The thing is, are the name brands including the cleansing additives to the gasoline they’re selling to 7-Eleven? Not necessarily unless the contract calls for it (and the wholesale price paid warrants it). Basically, it’s a huge crap shoot. I’ll pass.

[codypet]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Texaco is owned by Chevron and still uses it to flag stations in some parts of the country.

I thought Shell and Chevron shared rights to Texaco, but I guess that changed in 2006.   I guess that explains why so many Texaco stations around here became Shell's later in life.  Like the aforementioned Circle K locations mentioned.  

In fact, this is an interesting timeline on how those sales went down courtesy of the property appraiser site.

Star Enterprise I assume is Texaco's real estate arm.

Motiva being Shell and I remember around 2006 the store portions all being turned into Circle K's.  I assume as part of the deal they must have had to carry Shell gas for 15 years at which point the stations became exclusively Circle K.

 

Well that was a fun deep dive of completely random and unrelated information.

[spenser1058]

4 hours ago, AndyPok1 said:

TIL... there's a lot of people that are aficionados for Shell gas.

I always liked the company’s full name, “Royal Dutch Shell”* - talk about class. It’s right up there with Imperial Polk County!

*I believe they’ve since shortened it.

When I was a kid, their signs actually said “SHELL” on them. Then they figured out just the pic of the shell in the background was all they needed - I like that - who needs clutter?

The yellow, red and white stations are also quite distinctive.

Their record on human rights is also good (there are others for whom that’s true), unlike Exxon, which has only recently been brought back to the table after an awful record.

Edited May 10, 2022 by spenser1058

[codypet]

7 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I always liked the company’s full name, “Royal Dutch Shell”* - talk about class. It’s right up there with Imperial Polk County!

*I believe they’ve since shortened it.

When I was a kid, their signs actually said “SHELL” on them. Then they figured out just the pic of the shell in the background was all they needed - I like that - who needs clutter?

The yellow, red and white stations are also quite distinctive.

Their record on human rights is also good (there are others for whom that’s true), unlike Exxon, which has only recently been brought back to the table after an awful record.

Lest we forget about the drab 80's gray Shell stations.

[ucfpatriot18]

Station is being torn down today. 

[codypet]

21 minutes ago, ucfpatriot18 said:

Station is being torn down today. 

I can't find permits for it from the building dept or the WMD.   That said it has a big grass lot behind it, so it makes sense to build a new building in that grass area and give the front better access with parking that isn't blind.  Looking at the old building, it looks like they had last updated the awning during the pandemic to Shell's current design.

Edit:  Oh the awning is staying standing.  Good.

Edited May 11, 2022 by codypet

[eq1974]

2 hours ago, codypet said:

I can't find permits for it from the building dept or the WMD.   That said it has a big grass lot behind it, so it makes sense to build a new building in that grass area and give the front better access with parking that isn't blind.  Looking at the old building, it looks like they had last updated the awning during the pandemic to Shell's current design.

Edit:  Oh the awning is staying standing.  Good.

They had a fire 10 ish (?) years ago and the awning and store facade were rebuilt/replaced with the store design at the time.

[spenser1058]

21 hours ago, codypet said:

Lest we forget about the drab 80's gray Shell stations.

I didn’t pay much attention to those - like most good Southern boys, I only had eyes for Gulf until Chevron did a white knight in the ‘80’s to keep Gulf from being swallowed up by corporate raider Boone Pickens.

I also had personal connections - my cousin was an accountant for Gulf; at Evans, my journalism teacher’s dad was the last Gulf CEO and my sister’s boss was the liaison between Gulf and WDW* (he had two claims to fame - he was Barry Goldwater’s son-in-law and he was Melanie’s baby in GWTW ).

Chevron kept the Florida Gulf stations only briefly due to competition issues - almost immediately, they sold them to SOHIO (and, egad! I found myself with a Yankee credit card - anyway…) Shortly thereafter, SOHIO (which would merge with BP) swapped their stations here to Mobil in exchange for ones it had in the Pacific Northwest and that was that (until the next wave of mergers).

* Gulf was the Official Petroleum Products of WDW when MK opened - remember the Gulf Hospitality House (they also presented The Walt Disney Story) on Main Street and the Gulf Car Care Center by the parking exit?
 

Edited May 12, 2022 by spenser1058

[angela1117]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

 

I also had personal connections - my cousin was an accountant for Gulf; at Evans, my journalism teacher’s dad was the last Gulf CEO and my sister’s boss was the liaison between Gulf and WDW* (he had two claims to fame - he was Barry Goldwater’s son-in-law and he was Melanie’s baby in GWTW ).

 

You have the most interesting connections!

[spenser1058]

39 minutes ago, angela1117 said:

You have the most interesting connections!

I was like Forrest Gump - when I started to school, the local power families still sent their kids to public schools like Lake Silver in College Park (we had the Country Club kids and the Palomar kids - Jewish families still weren’t allowed in Country Club then so they built their own upscale neighborhood). I watched those kids and learned everything I could.

Then my sister was a tour guide at WDW on opening day ( that was a job where you got to take the VIPs on tours) and moved quickly into marketing and everybody wanted to come see Disney then. Some of the celebrities and business folks would invite her family along to dinner and off we’d go. 

Because I was in Junior Achievement and also did public speaking and politics, I got invited to a lot of stuff and met people - in the early ‘70’s a clean cut kid was a rare thing so I became a fixture (I was Alex P. Keaton years before Family Ties). I also had been raised around older folks so I loved to chat with adults.

As a result, I was anywhere and everywhere despite my working class roots.
 

Edited May 12, 2022 by spenser1058

[HankStrong]

VIPs at Disney reminds me of when I was a kid and my family had spent the day at Epcot.  We were standing around waiting for the nightly fireworks to begin in front of one of the countries.  Security came in and moved everyone out of one area  behind us right up to where we were.  Basically, everyone behind us was moved and we were the last family in the back (front meaning facing the water, back being next to the country building).  They opens some big gate and a double decker bus came rolling in and parked right behind us.  It had a bunch of curtains and you couldn't see anything.  I saw some of the curtains moving and being a kid I started trying to see what was going on.  Right as the fireworks started and everyone was looking at the water the curtain opened and it was Michael Jackson!  He waved at me and motioned for me to SHHH and to look at the fireworks.  I waved and turned around.  

[spenser1058]

20 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

VIPs at Disney reminds me of when I was a kid and my family had spent the day at Epcot.  We were standing around waiting for the nightly fireworks to begin in front of one of the countries.  Security came in and moved everyone out of one area  behind us right up to where we were.  Basically, everyone behind us was moved and we were the last family in the back (front meaning facing the water, back being next to the country building).  They opens some big gate and a double decker bus came rolling in and parked right behind us.  It had a bunch of curtains and you couldn't see anything.  I saw some of the curtains moving and being a kid I started trying to see what was going on.  Right as the fireworks started and everyone was looking at the water the curtain opened and it was Michael Jackson!  He waved at me and motioned for me to SHHH and to look at the fireworks.  I waved and turned around.  

That’s awesome!

[codypet]

I noticed in 2020 when that sign went up that there was a Circle K sign under the red box (which I assumed was because this place got a used sign from an old Circle K)

Looking at the permits and the project names for the building, Circle K has its name all over it.  

 

 

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, HankStrong said:

VIPs at Disney reminds me of when I was a kid and my family had spent the day at Epcot.  We were standing around waiting for the nightly fireworks to begin in front of one of the countries.  Security came in and moved everyone out of one area  behind us right up to where we were.  Basically, everyone behind us was moved and we were the last family in the back (front meaning facing the water, back being next to the country building).  They opens some big gate and a double decker bus came rolling in and parked right behind us.  It had a bunch of curtains and you couldn't see anything.  I saw some of the curtains moving and being a kid I started trying to see what was going on.  Right as the fireworks started and everyone was looking at the water the curtain opened and it was Michael Jackson!  He waved at me and motioned for me to SHHH and to look at the fireworks.  I waved and turned around.  

That must have been quite a "Thriller" for you!!!! 

[HankStrong]

3 hours ago, JFW657 said:

That must have been quite a "Thriller" for you!!!! 

He He