Fun fact: the camera stutter at 7:53 is because I tripped and almost ate dirt 😂 Also don't forget to check out the official Retail Archaeology Merch Shop: teespring.com/stores/retail-archaeology
My theory about the muffins is that there is no yeast in them so they aren't going to mold very quickly like bread would. Plus the lack of humidity in AZ. Great to see another video.
Mall Aholic Retail Channel Yeah I figured they dried out in the super dry air of Arizona and once desiccated they wouldn’t mold. I’m not a muffin aging expert though!
Man! That gasoline station is in fantastic shape. So how much money did you score at the pay phone? When I was a kid back in 1983 I found over $5.50 in coins inside a pay phone, majority quarters and many dimes and some nickels. Scoooore! The coin slot actually was stuck due to so many coins. But I stll got em' 😉 Also, $5.50 in 1983 money is over $13.70 today! 😎
This corner is like super super high traffic pretty much all day. It was also only closed for maybe a few years before they demo'd it. Now it's a Burger King.
I'm guessing what happened was AZ also has a state law requiring double-walled underground fuel tanks - as does FL. The owner(s) decided to try replacing the old tank then realized it wasn't cost effective to do so. So they simply closed the station and are simply seeking to sell it. I'll bet some of those cars that were parked there were being "curbstoned", as in for sale though not by a licensed car dealer. Not only is that illegal, the car(s) are about as bottom of the barrel as they get - quite possibly even stolen.
It's often hard to sell a former gas station, typically about the only thing they can be redeveloped to is something else car-related like auto parts or a car wash.
As a former MP, licensed security officer I agree its NOT wise to roam around or poke around some of these areas with a 📹🎬📺📽💻. 🙄. You might stumble on a dead body, ⚰🗑 or worse a drug deal in progress. 😧. Doing security I once walked in on a group of narcotics/MBI task force 🚔🚨💉💊⚖ agents loading weapons, put on masks, set up raid vests.
Local regulations require that they remediate the gas station prior to leaving, from my experience. I'm sure this probably entails removing the storage tanks and equipment, removing any contaminated soil, and replacing with fresh soil/fill.
Orlando FL has a few sites that are empty or abandoned gas stations. ⛽🚗⛟... Wawa a NE gas station chain swept thru central FL in 2010-2012. They make more from 🍻🚬🍔🍕🍗🥪🥨🥗 than gas! Lol...
@@DavidLLambertmobile that's not uncommon at all. QuikTrip makes maybe $.10/gallon on gas, but 5x that on a fountain soda and 10x that on a slice of pizza. However, gas is still an important part of the equation - it brings customers in.
I worked at the Diamond Shamrock at 38th & Guadalupe in Austin. I quit in 98. I went back by there in 2000 and they were tearing it down. Now it's a Starbucks and a bunch of other junk.
The tanks probably did not meet new guidelines, and were pulled. Lots of small mom and pop gas places bit it in 2016....stricter epa regs. Yes, it us expensive, tbey must be removed under supervision of hazmat.
Nice gas station! Sucks to see it abandoned. I'm pretty sure people were living there since there's a bunch of clothes all over the ground and mattress.
There was a Valero that sat empty for ages here in Tucson. It was originally an Albertsons gas station but Albertsons sold that division to Valero that then a few years later that location was closed. The Albertsons grocery store is still there but the gas station is not. Up until recently it was just sitting there no fence around it. It had a small shack for the attendant no store because you'd just go inside the main store for that. A few months ago it was tore down and they're building building something new there. Don't know what it is yet. If that food was from Walmart or Fry's then there's a ton of preservatives in it.
There is a service station near where I live, in a great location, that was almost shut down like that one. They were caught selling alcohol to minors, and per state law were denied their license to sell it at all for I think the rest of the year. It had tarps and signs over the coolers with the beer and stuff. The national chain pulled their support of it, probably because it's hard to make money off a station that can't sell alcohol. So it ran independent for a while and recently another national chain bought it.
Many people are unaware how many of these gas stations & mini marts make more profits, 💲🚗⛽, from food, beer, drinks than gas. Wawa a US chain is big in metro Orlando. They have subs & soups that many customers order. Sheetz in the north east, 🇺🇸, is big on fountain drinks, coffee, subs. 😉. Race Trac another big gas station chain remodelled many of the Florida sites.
Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. I worked for Tosco Marketing in the real estate department many years ago shortly after they purchased Circle K. Then we were acquired by Phillip's Petroleum, who then merged with Conoco. I survived all that but then got laid off when they sold Circle K to Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Scotty Kilmer of Houston Texas with a auto repair channel 🚗🛠🔧... said a few months ago only Shell & BP firms provide most of the ⛽ in US/north America places. They just market & modify the gas pump versions for each brand.
There's a channel called Franchise City that talks about what franchises are good as investments, and they often refer to gas stations as buying a job. They note that most of the major oil companies have gotten out of the gas station business, and that most gas stations the owner is very active in running the day-to-day business. And it really relies on gas prices remaining low. At high prices, people won't come inside and buy stuff.
The gravel means they did take out the storage tanks under the pumps. They’re required to remediate the soil as well before the lot can be used for anything else.
thomasgrohs13 There is another channel called Yesterday Today that uses that same music in many of their videos (photos from years past). I like the music, too. Sounds like 60s Jazz.
I worked at the quiktrip(457) across the street for 2 and a half years and lived in this neighborhood my whole life. The real reason why this place closed down was the owner was using profit from the store as personal gain and not paying/treating his employees well. Its been abandoned the entire time I worked at this QT but none of my regulars ever went to the valeo/diamond shamrock.even before it closed every time I went in or drove by it was dead. Would walk home at 11am at night and those methheads who lived in that dumpster area were always fighting and screaming at each other. My qt is notorious for being a homeless shelter. A bunch of food left over the lot and many travelers up and down power road all day.
So that payphone was potentially in use a couple of years ago? Here in the UK, payphones without a display were phased out around 1984 from what I remember. But from my visit to USA in 1989 I was surprised then at how old fashioned the 'phones were at that time.
I worked at the Diamond Shamrock at 38th & Guadalupe in Austin. I quit in 98. I went back by there in 2000 and they were tearing it down. Now it's a Starbucks and a bunch of other junk.
Quick Trip comes in and basically kills any gas station near them. The gas is always the cheapest and the store inside is nice and has cheap stuff aswell.
Here in Washington state there is a law that any gas station closed for more than a year must remove the pumps. If after two years the station has not re-opened, then the tanks must be dug up and removed.
Can you buy alcohol at gas stations in Arizona or anywhere in the United States? Noticed the beer ads on the building. Don't see service stations in Canada where you can buy alcohol.
Most States have liquor sales at convenience stores. Quebec allows c-store sales as well, at least they used to. Heck, go to some small towns and you will find liquor at the gas station.
Might of seen alcohol sold at independent small town gas stations. Liquor laws must be looser when compared to Alberta as I there isn't liquor sold at convenience stores in the big city except maybe the non-alcoholic store brand that no one buys.
Please check out Gymboree, which is going out of business, things remembered, which just declared bankruptcy, and maybe performance bicycle if there’s any around you cause they will be done their closing sales soon
Also the title max across The street was a 4 gas pump bay circle k. Wanna say it closed down around 2010. Qt opened around 2005. Surprised valeo lasted 12 years sense QT opened.
Can you do a tour of salt river front park in Tempe and Mesa, that would make some good video, I use to goto ASU, IN THE early 90s, when the river was a dry bed.
Lastly as of October of 2019 they tore it down.and opened it as a burger king. Already the first day the Burger king was poppin. Way more business than the valeo.
I'm pretty sure the ripped up concrete near the pumps indicates that the storage tanks and lines are gone. I'll bet the reason the place was abandoned was because the tanks either weren't up to code, or they started leaking. It's a fairly common story these days.
It’s not that it could not survive. It’s that it couldn’t survive the circle K buyout. This building doesn’t meet their “standards”- or lack thereof. Circle Ks are always poorly maintained, IMO.
Retail Archaeology wow, I used to stop there to buy coffee when I went to the Salt River. Wasn’t really that long ago, either. Crazy. Thanks for sharing.
I used to hate driving up and down power road before I left Arizona in 2006. It was always crazy busy. Since they finished the 202, every time I've been back, it's nothing like it used to be. Lots of closed businesses now. Even Superstition Springs Mall is on the slow road of decay.
I wonder if they ran into environmental issues. Why they had to close and remove all the gas equipment and pumps. Most closed gas stations I have seen that never happens. Unless it get converted into something else.
I thought what I saw at this location was interesting and thought others would too. Based on the comments most people found it interesting, I'm sorry you didn't. Thanks for watching my other videos though.
Fun fact: the camera stutter at 7:53 is because I tripped and almost ate dirt 😂 Also don't forget to check out the official Retail Archaeology Merch Shop: teespring.com/stores/retail-archaeology
your vids are a nice break from everyday stuff and the bs in the news
I agree
Ain't that the truth I feel the same way.
It's crazy seeing a payphone in decent shape
Most of the ones I've seen are destroyed
@hu1a121 yep! Almost vintage lol
Y4123 all the ones ive seen are just the booth
My theory about the muffins is that there is no yeast in them so they aren't going to mold very quickly like bread would. Plus the lack of humidity in AZ. Great to see another video.
They're probably petrified by now if they're outside in Arizona.
Mall Aholic Retail Channel Yeah I figured they dried out in the super dry air of Arizona and once desiccated they wouldn’t mold.
I’m not a muffin aging expert though!
Man! That gasoline station is in fantastic shape. So how much money did you score at the pay phone? When I was a kid back in 1983 I found over $5.50 in coins inside a pay phone, majority quarters and many dimes and some nickels. Scoooore! The coin slot actually was stuck due to so many coins. But I stll got em' 😉 Also, $5.50 in 1983 money is over $13.70 today! 😎
This corner is like super super high traffic pretty much all day. It was also only closed for maybe a few years before they demo'd it. Now it's a Burger King.
I'm guessing what happened was AZ also has a state law requiring double-walled underground fuel tanks - as does FL. The owner(s) decided to try replacing the old tank then realized it wasn't cost effective to do so. So they simply closed the station and are simply seeking to sell it.
I'll bet some of those cars that were parked there were being "curbstoned", as in for sale though not by a licensed car dealer. Not only is that illegal, the car(s) are about as bottom of the barrel as they get - quite possibly even stolen.
It's often hard to sell a former gas station, typically about the only thing they can be redeveloped to is something else car-related like auto parts or a car wash.
What is the point of implementing doubled walled gas tanks?
Well, how do you feel about gasoline leaking out of the tanks and into the groundwater ?
As a former MP, licensed security officer I agree its NOT wise to roam around or poke around some of these areas with a 📹🎬📺📽💻. 🙄. You might stumble on a dead body, ⚰🗑 or worse a drug deal in progress. 😧. Doing security I once walked in on a group of narcotics/MBI task force 🚔🚨💉💊⚖ agents loading weapons, put on masks, set up raid vests.
Dude, chill out with the emojis lol
0:48 An archeological relic of the 80's.
Local regulations require that they remediate the gas station prior to leaving, from my experience. I'm sure this probably entails removing the storage tanks and equipment, removing any contaminated soil, and replacing with fresh soil/fill.
Orlando FL has a few sites that are empty or abandoned gas stations. ⛽🚗⛟... Wawa a NE gas station chain swept thru central FL in 2010-2012. They make more from 🍻🚬🍔🍕🍗🥪🥨🥗 than gas! Lol...
@@DavidLLambertmobile that's not uncommon at all. QuikTrip makes maybe $.10/gallon on gas, but 5x that on a fountain soda and 10x that on a slice of pizza. However, gas is still an important part of the equation - it brings customers in.
I remember Diamond Shamrock. I even remember when they rebranded to Valero.
I worked at the Diamond Shamrock at 38th & Guadalupe in Austin. I quit in 98. I went back by there in 2000 and they were tearing it down. Now it's a Starbucks and a bunch of other junk.
They needed to update their gas tanks, And it is expensive!...
This does look like a homeless camp. It's so sad. Thank you for a great vid, very well done !
Man you always find the most interesting places to explore. Your content just gets better.
Thank you!
Good video. Thanks for filming.
Great video! This is one of my favorite channels.
The tanks probably did not meet new guidelines, and were pulled. Lots of small mom and pop gas places bit it in 2016....stricter epa regs. Yes, it us expensive, tbey must be removed under supervision of hazmat.
Nice gas station! Sucks to see it abandoned. I'm pretty sure people were living there since there's a bunch of clothes all over the ground and mattress.
In Nova Scotia the majority of the Ultramar locations were purchased last year by Circle K and rebranded as Irving.
Power and University. I got nachos here after high school a couple times.
QT is a great operation. Clean, well stocked, and friendly clerks. Not surprising that the competition killed this place.
There was a Valero that sat empty for ages here in Tucson. It was originally an Albertsons gas station but Albertsons sold that division to Valero that then a few years later that location was closed. The Albertsons grocery store is still there but the gas station is not. Up until recently it was just sitting there no fence around it. It had a small shack for the attendant no store because you'd just go inside the main store for that. A few months ago it was tore down and they're building building something new there. Don't know what it is yet. If that food was from Walmart or Fry's then there's a ton of preservatives in it.
There is a service station near where I live, in a great location, that was almost shut down like that one. They were caught selling alcohol to minors, and per state law were denied their license to sell it at all for I think the rest of the year. It had tarps and signs over the coolers with the beer and stuff. The national chain pulled their support of it, probably because it's hard to make money off a station that can't sell alcohol. So it ran independent for a while and recently another national chain bought it.
Many people are unaware how many of these gas stations & mini marts make more profits, 💲🚗⛽, from food, beer, drinks than gas. Wawa a US chain is big in metro Orlando. They have subs & soups that many customers order. Sheetz in the north east, 🇺🇸, is big on fountain drinks, coffee, subs. 😉. Race Trac another big gas station chain remodelled many of the Florida sites.
Couche Tard(circle k) acquired the Valero branded stations last year and turned most of them into circles k's. Guess they couldn't get that one?
Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. I worked for Tosco Marketing in the real estate department many years ago shortly after they purchased Circle K. Then we were acquired by Phillip's Petroleum, who then merged with Conoco. I survived all that but then got laid off when they sold Circle K to Alimentation Couche-Tard.
The one by me still has all the Valero signage and pumps in place, even tho its now a Circle-K.
@@RetailArchaeology I heard it was a great company to work for pre couche Tard. I hated every day of my six years with them.
@@mysock351C yeah circle k takes forever to get anything done.
Scotty Kilmer of Houston Texas with a auto repair channel 🚗🛠🔧... said a few months ago only Shell & BP firms provide most of the ⛽ in US/north America places. They just market & modify the gas pump versions for each brand.
Thanks for the tour, as always.
This is one of the only abandoned gas stations I've ever seen that could easily be fixed and re-opened!
There is intersection where there are 3 valero gas stations
Orlando FL USA 🇺🇸 has a few spots with 7-11s with ⛽🍔🚬🥨🥪 directly across from each other. 😁
There's a channel called Franchise City that talks about what franchises are good as investments, and they often refer to gas stations as buying a job. They note that most of the major oil companies have gotten out of the gas station business, and that most gas stations the owner is very active in running the day-to-day business. And it really relies on gas prices remaining low. At high prices, people won't come inside and buy stuff.
That station actually looks well kept, it's interesting why they couldn't make it.
The gravel means they did take out the storage tanks under the pumps. They’re required to remediate the soil as well before the lot can be used for anything else.
Dude another great video!! I love your videos!! And the music you use is amazing. The song really get me in my feels TBH.
thomasgrohs13 There is another channel called Yesterday Today that uses that same music in many of their videos (photos from years past). I like the music, too. Sounds like 60s Jazz.
I dont know why but listening to the music he uses in his videoes just bring back memories for me!!
I worked at the quiktrip(457) across the street for 2 and a half years and lived in this neighborhood my whole life. The real reason why this place closed down was the owner was using profit from the store as personal gain and not paying/treating his employees well. Its been abandoned the entire time I worked at this QT but none of my regulars ever went to the valeo/diamond shamrock.even before it closed every time I went in or drove by it was dead. Would walk home at 11am at night and those methheads who lived in that dumpster area were always fighting and screaming at each other. My qt is notorious for being a homeless shelter. A bunch of food left over the lot and many travelers up and down power road all day.
So that payphone was potentially in use a couple of years ago? Here in the UK, payphones without a display were phased out around 1984 from what I remember. But from my visit to USA in 1989 I was surprised then at how old fashioned the 'phones were at that time.
Probably because many coin operated phones are privately owned. There's no single phone company in the US anymore, although AT&T pretends.
Things don't really get moldy in the desert air.
Your voice is so relaxing.
I worked at the Diamond Shamrock at 38th & Guadalupe in Austin. I quit in 98. I went back by there in 2000 and they were tearing it down. Now it's a Starbucks and a bunch of other junk.
I love quick trip!! Maybe customer service wasn’t as good as quick trip
Next suggestion for Retail Archaeology: Gymboree and Crazy 8. Closing ALL of their stores!
Thanks for another great vid.
Big like from me. Thanks Eric.
Quick Trip comes in and basically kills any gas station near them. The gas is always the cheapest and the store inside is nice and has cheap stuff aswell.
Great video
Here in Washington state there is a law that any gas station closed for more than a year must remove the pumps. If after two years the station has not re-opened, then the tanks must be dug up and removed.
Can you buy alcohol at gas stations in Arizona or anywhere in the United States? Noticed the beer ads on the building. Don't see service stations in Canada where you can buy alcohol.
Most States have liquor sales at convenience stores. Quebec allows c-store sales as well, at least they used to. Heck, go to some small towns and you will find liquor at the gas station.
Might of seen alcohol sold at independent small town gas stations. Liquor laws must be looser when compared to Alberta as I there isn't liquor sold at convenience stores in the big city except maybe the non-alcoholic store brand that no one buys.
You should find and film another abandoned gas station
It would be really cool to have an old payphone like that for a man cave or game room
If you ever have a need to do a vanished retail chain in the midwest, Highland Appliance out of Detroit might be a suitable candidate.
nice love your videos Retail Archaeology a+
Please check out Gymboree, which is going out of business, things remembered, which just declared bankruptcy, and maybe performance bicycle if there’s any around you cause they will be done their closing sales soon
Love to see new content!
Also the title max across The street was a 4 gas pump bay circle k. Wanna say it closed down around 2010. Qt opened around 2005. Surprised valeo lasted 12 years sense QT opened.
Definitely different from the Gilbert gas station
You should give cross streets on your Valley videos.
I have closed 2 gas stations, one a Shell and one a 66. Both looked about like this.
Can you do a tour of salt river front park in Tempe and Mesa, that would make some good video, I use to goto ASU, IN THE early 90s, when the river was a dry bed.
Lastly as of October of 2019 they tore it down.and opened it as a burger king. Already the first day the Burger king was poppin. Way more business than the valeo.
They have to remove the Tanks from the ground when a station is abandoned. The Pumps and the Lines come out as well.
I'm pretty sure the ripped up concrete near the pumps indicates that the storage tanks and lines are gone. I'll bet the reason the place was abandoned was because the tanks either weren't up to code, or they started leaking. It's a fairly common story these days.
power and universiry valero, yes I used to go to the quick trip instead, so much better than valero
Nice video!
Valero was bought by Circle K I think early last year
There's barely any money in gas stations, the profit margins on the gas itself are tiny so it doesn't take much for one to go out of business.
You need to play some chuck mangione for background music lol
I had this Tom Thumb store that has a gas station, the Tom Thumb closed but I think the gas station is still open but will probably close soon
2020 update: the gas station is currently owned by a Mexican supermarket that took over the former Tom Thumb a while after it closed
What is your favorite location in AZ
Most underground tanks last about 20 years. So the timeline fits.
I haven't seen many abandoned gas stations around here.
The lack of fencing may be due to it being used as a parking lot.
There's a former gas station near me that's turned into one of those shady payday loan places
do you make videos outside AZ?
Yes, I've filmed a lot in California and New Mexico also. I plan on traveling to Utah, Colorado and Washington soon as well.
Going to be a lot more of these in the coming years as EVs take over.
Have you gone to the mall for the movie "can't buy me love" by any chance?
Not yet. I think I've filmed every mall in Tucson but that one, lol. I do plan to go there soon though.
Did you take the change from the payphone?
No, didn't need it. I left it for someone else to find.
Do they really sell alcohol at gas stations in Arizona? That would never happen in Australia (a petrol station selling alcohol)
Yes, pretty much every gas station does. Some of them have walk in refrigerated "beer caves".
Beauty in desolation
Did yu ate the Muffins
Cool 😀
Can you review Chandler Fasion Center in Chandler? It is a busy mall
Yes, I definitely plan on making a video on it 🙂
@@RetailArchaeology Thank you
You need to make friends with a commercial realtor and go with him on prospect deals...that'll give you a lot of access.
It’s not that it could not survive. It’s that it couldn’t survive the circle K buyout. This building doesn’t meet their “standards”- or lack thereof. Circle Ks are always poorly maintained, IMO.
What are the cross streets for this?
Power and University
@@RetailArchaeology I read and found the exact address on the notice of business closure. 😉
A CANADIAN company went down and bought it?! That's interesting, usually it's the other way around!
Is this on power and university?
It was. It's been torn down now and they're building a Burger King in its place.
Retail Archaeology wow, I used to stop there to buy coffee when I went to the Salt River. Wasn’t really that long ago, either. Crazy. Thanks for sharing.
A lot of the valeros turned into circle k's. Pretty soon there will only be qt and circle k gas stations.
1:18 that or just lazy assholes who decide to litter.
I recommend industrial sanitization for your hands...
Mesa seems to become a dump since I lived there in the mid-90's....
Now it's a Burger King
QuikTrip beats the pants off of Valero.
Thank me for low gas prices
Power and University?
Yup
I used to hate driving up and down power road before I left Arizona in 2006. It was always crazy busy. Since they finished the 202, every time I've been back, it's nothing like it used to be. Lots of closed businesses now. Even Superstition Springs Mall is on the slow road of decay.
👍😎⛽🚗🏡...
I wonder if they ran into environmental issues. Why they had to close and remove all the gas equipment and pumps. Most closed gas stations I have seen that never happens. Unless it get converted into something else.
I bet the newer Quik trip across the street had something to do with it along with the fact that Circle K bought Valero in 2017 or 2018.
They are putting a Burger King in place of the gas station.
mmm, muffins.
Looks like GTA
JobbytheHong
"Good to explore in pairs" -- You're living in Nevada,... go buy a gun
I'm in AZ and I have several guns.
My least favorite video of yours. Low effort. I mean, an abandoned gas station, really? -_-
I thought what I saw at this location was interesting and thought others would too. Based on the comments most people found it interesting, I'm sorry you didn't. Thanks for watching my other videos though.
Great video