Are there brands that have gone away in your area?

[y_p_w]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Years ago we had many of the big names - Chevron, Shell, Mobil, Union 76, Texaco, Arco, etc. However, over the years names have come and gone. I haven't seen a Texaco station in years. There used to be one holdout - a Texaco station on the Stanford University campus, but that switched years ago. I hadn't seen a Mobil station in maybe 20 years, but recently a few gas stations in my area have been rebranded as Mobil. Exxon also went away in our area, but now I see a few of them. BP also disappeared from our market, which was a little bit of a problem for me since I had a BP Visa card. I got credits I could use at BP stations, but they started disappearing. Once I even got a $20 BP gift card which I couldn't use. I sent it to someone I knew in Southern California where they still had BP stations.

I guess the oddest one is Sinclair. I knew what it was from trips to Nevada, but it was really weird seeing that sign around here (there are a few stations). My kid thinks it looks like the Dinoco logo from Pixar movies.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Of course. Brands get shuffled around constantly. I well remember DX stations, Vickers, Conoco and Skelly stations, Sinclair, Enco, Coastal, Flying A and a whole host of others, the names of which are relegated to history's refuse pile.

 

[Chris142]

We just got our first Sinclair here. I have not seen an Exxon station or oil bottles here in years.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Of course. Brands get shuffled around constantly. I well remember DX stations, Vickers, Conoco and Skelly stations, Sinclair, Enco, Coastal, Flying A and a whole host of others, the names of which are relegated to history's refuse pile.

It seems to happen in waves though. I remember when Exxon stations went away here, it was almost all at once.

Of course there are names that went away pretty much forever, like Mohawk and Gulf. There were a few Citgo stations around here, but mostly at 7-11 stores.

 

[Red91]

We don't have a Citgo in my county, but they are plentiful in surrounding counties. Never seen a Mobil station(I don't think) in person, but we have several Exxon's around. Still have quite a few Texaco's as well. We also have quite a few Pure stations, and the most common is a local brand, Jet Pep. There are not many Phillip's brands at all.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Exxon and Mobil merged...all the stations in this area are Mobil now, though I saw plenty of Exxon when I went to North Carolina over the summer. Same for Texaco and Shell...all the stations in the area are Shell, though I recall Texaco is common in the south.

Getty vanished...local discount brand Merit was bought by Hess...which is now gone, bought by Speedway. One regional brand I haven't seen outside New England and NY is Irving.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
We just got our first Sinclair here. I have not seen an Exxon station or oil bottles here in years.

Strangely enough, motor oil seems to be sold nationally or regionally even where the branded gas stations are gone. Mobil motor oils have been available readily since I bought my first car. I saw Exxon motor oil at a regional auto parts store. Same with Havoline motor oil, although there was a time when it was distributed by the Equilon joint venture with Shell.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
...local discount brand Merit was bought by Hess...which is now gone, bought by Speedway. ...
I saw a Hess in Tennessee in December, 2016. They used to be common in Jersey.

DX became Sunoco.

 

[Boczech]

I remember Sinclair as a kid in the Austin area and even had the green plastic dinosaur coin bank. Here about two weeks ago I noticed a Sinclair in Sacramento so that's the first one I have seen in this area. Looks like BP has moved out of the area along with Exxon.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: CR94
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
...local discount brand Merit was bought by Hess...which is now gone, bought by Speedway. ...
I saw a Hess in Tennessee in December, 2016. They used to be common in Jersey.

DX became Sunoco.


there were a ton of Hess stations up in New England too. Speedway bought them all out.

Another gas brand I saw disappear in our area is Texaco.

 

[Jarlaxle]

They rebranded as Shell after the merger. Texaco is still around in the south.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
They rebranded as Shell after the merger. Texaco is still around in the south.

Which "merger"? I remember the Equilon joint venture that Texaco pulled out of. Chevron basically bought out Texaco.

 

[JHZR2]

It seems to come in waves. Gulf went away somewhat, then came back. Conoco, 66 and 76 have been showing up aggressively, after the last conoco going away in around 2004. Shell is disappearing from many stations. Ive seen some Mobil stations coming back.

 

[y_p_w]

One brand name that's barely holding on is Standard Oil of California. Apparently Chevron has several station owners use the old name so that they can say they're still using the trademark. If it's not used someone might be able to claim the trademark has been abandoned.

 

[sgtrockjoe]

Boston area; Sinclair disappeared in early 70s, Arco disappeared sometime in the later 70s. No more Texaco,Chevron, Getty. Very hard to find are BP, Valero. Exxon/Mobil very plentiful as well as shell, Sunoco, Speedway, Gulf and Irving. No Conoco. Very small handful of Phillips 66.

 

[jhellwig]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
One brand name that's barely holding on is Standard Oil of California. Apparently Chevron has several station owners use the old name so that they can say they're still using the trademark. If it's not used someone might be able to claim the trademark has been abandoned.

Must be a different standard oil. The standard oil I know of was merged with amaco a long time ago.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
They rebranded as Shell after the merger. Texaco is still around in the south.

Which "merger"? I remember the Equilon joint venture that Texaco pulled out of. Chevron basically bought out Texaco.


When Chevron bought Texaco, they sold most of their franchise stations to Shell.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
It seems to come in waves. Gulf went away somewhat, then came back. Conoco, 66 and 76 have been showing up aggressively, after the last conoco going away in around 2004. Shell is disappearing from many stations. Ive seen some Mobil stations coming back.


Gulf never left New England...Cumberland Farms convenience stores sell Gulf gas.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: sgtrockjoe
Boston area; Sinclair disappeared in early 70s, Arco disappeared sometime in the later 70s. No more Texaco,Chevron, Getty. Very hard to find are BP, Valero. Exxon/Mobil very plentiful as well as shell, Sunoco, Speedway, Gulf and Irving. No Conoco. Very small handful of Phillips 66.


I think Valero's stations (many of which were DB Marts) were bought by Hess, which is now Speedway.

 

[Bear]

We've had many brands come and go in the western NY area. I do miss Chevron though. I used to get the best mpg with their regular gas. Granted this was on carbureted engines back when.....