Finfeather's 7-Eleven

It wasn't too long before this 2005 picture that the gas station was conveniently located. (source). I fixed it up from Newspapers.com so it looked a little nicer.
One of the posts that was added in 2010 (March 2, 2010; there were originally far more posts from 2010 and 2011 than the current Index would suggest) focused on the north end of Wellborn Road and Finfeather. Today, we're re-visiting that (a post resurrection of sorts—parts of this post are fifteen years old!) by examining a former 7-Eleven at that corner.

In the mid-to-late 1970s Villa Maria Road was extended from Texas Avenue all the way out to FM 2818, creating two stoplights, one at Finfeather and the other at the extension of Wellborn Road from F&B Road. In the days when pre-bankruptcy Southland Corporation was first on the scene with new 7-Eleven stores/Citgo gas stations on the fringes on the development, a store opened up at Finfeather and West Villa Maria Road in 1978 (3300 Finfeather Road). In 1993 it became E-Z Mart due to Southland selling off hundreds of stores across different markets. (In Houston, the stores had already been sold off to National Convenience Stores, aka Stop 'n Go; in Waco, the stores were sold to Circle K; it really depended on the market).

Despite the fact that going to Bryan more often than not meant a visit to the pediatric dentist, I always liked the intersection growing up. Maybe it was because it was unique among the other crossings on Wellborn Road that Wellborn dipped below the railroad grade by up to sixteen feet before they came together again at the light, maybe it was the fact that both signals would go down even if it was only one train on the track (for safety reasons, obviously, even though it wasn't a true "two-track" crossing), maybe it was the fact that one track curved and one didn't.



The intersection as it was c. early 2004. Click to see full resolution.
The underpass construction officially started in late 2004 (though the real construction began in 2005); around this time the convenience store converted to "E-Z For You" (as I mentioned before here). By late 2010 the intersection was complete and the gas station, rather than closing, converted its signage to electronic. I think by that time it also changed over to an Exxon. Sometime between 2016 and 2018 the "fake" E-Z Mart was rebranded as "Just 4 You", a completely different logo but still keeping the old orange-and-green theme. No doubt that the station suffered due to the construction but the apartment communities along Finfeather kept it in business, but if the gas station did poorly following its complete cut-off from Villa Maria, the shop portion facing the Villa Maria side did even worse.

Casey's Wash House was one of the oldest tenants I can find in the space, but it appears to be built at the same time as the main store. Other tenants that have come and go included The Fishman (fish market, 1990s), Omar's Upholstery (early 2000s), and a few barber shops. (It appears that there is a hair salon in the spot as of this writing).

Fuzzy's Taco Shop (Former)

This picture was taken in September 2024 by author.
Fuzzy's Taco Shop at 1712 Southwest Parkway, Suite 100 closed permanently after August 11, 2024, a victim of the economy and/or cutbacks from Fuzzy's new ownership of Dine Brands, but let's back up a bit.

Prior to 1993, we had several 7-Eleven stores in town, far more numerous than the converted Stripes stores we do now. A few of these sites have in fact been covered, like the defunct Northgate Chevron or the Citgo at Southwest Parkway and Wellborn, mentioned mostly in passing.

In 1993, Southland Corporation (the original name of 7-Eleven, Inc.) sold off its College Station area locations to E-Z Mart, another convenience store operator. Within a decade or so all those locations changed hands and I don't believe any more operate under that name. (For instance, the location at Villa Maria and Finfeather was now "E-Z For You" even as early as 2005, something I'm sure the alive and well E-Z Mart didn't take kindly to).

Despite that, most of the former Citgo/E-Z Mart sites were in good, visible locations on corners of major roads. There was only one that I knew of that wasn't like that, an odd "parking lot" location off Southwest Parkway and Texas Avenue. No gas canopy, no corner lot. While it's on the oldest Street View I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. (It operated from 1985 to 2008). Fuzzy's Taco Shop opened in 2010, about the time the rest of the strip center got an update. As of 2023 the stores here included Pro Nails & Spa, Wild Side Smoke Shop, and Haircuts by Whitney. The stores that were here included CR Nails (which Pro Nails replaced, here in the early 2010s), Mak's C Store (predated Wild Side, here 2011-2012), a dental office (dating back to the 1990s with different ownership with just a simple "DENTIST" sign, getting a real sign of "Dr. Black Dental Care"; moved in 2013 to Rock Prairie), and Prestige Cleaners (later Aggieland Cleaners, ultimately absorbed into Whitney's space).

Most of the other spaces around here we've covered. To the immediate east is Shipley Do-Nuts, then Arby's, which shares the parking lot with Red Roof Inn, NailSpa, what used to be Kettle, and connecting to that is Days Inn.

Smetana Grocery

Picture from May 2021. It's hard to capture this building in one shot.

Smetana Grocery is one of those old rural Exxon stores with the store name in a large red rectangle on the building, and originally opened back in 1972. It didn't become an idea for a post until I noticed an ad copy in a 1989 phone book. I didn't scan it (no logos, just text) but it is reproduced below:

SMETANA GROCERY

SPECIALIZING IN HORMONE FREE BEEF B3-R BRAND

• HOMEMADE POLISH SAUSAGE
• PARTY TRAYS & BEER KEGS
• BIODYNAMICALLY GROWN ORGANIC VEGETABLES (IN SEASON)
• WELEDA HEALTH FOOD PRODUCTS
• CAFE ALTURA COFFEE

775-9337

EXXON & OTHER MAJOR CREDIT CARDS
2 1/2 Miles West of Loop 2818 W Hwy. 21.....775-9337

Well, I was intrigued. Who knew that some rural gas station was selling a bunch of organic health foods and products that regular groceries at the time wouldn't touch? And this gas station is still in business today at 7700 Highway 21? And it's a 12-sided building with two stories? I had to check it out.

With the relatively recent passing of Brazos Natural Foods (mentioned over at this post which is in need of a re-do one of these days), there's no dedicated store for "natural" and "upscale" foods, but even before the situation last year, those types of stores were dropping off, with Earth Fare and Lucky's Market both closing in high-profile bankruptcies.

Sadly, but expectedly, this is not the case here. The merchandise mix is very much ordinary convenience store fare. The few notable exceptions are some bulk items that I'm not sure were meant to be sold as retail, like frozen Hunt Brothers Pizza, but there's no gourmet items, no produce. It also is no longer an Exxon, transitioning to Citgo between 2012 and 2016.

It's dark and dusty up there. The big white glow is sunlight coming in from a window above.

The mysterious upper level only seems to include storage. It doesn't look like living space...or anything finished at all. The current building was built in 1986 and appears to have added the gas station. (The older building pre-dated 1972 and may have a different name originally as it still had a parking area). Oh, and one more thing--it's not great, but here's my attempt at stitching two photos together to make a more panoramic view.

UPDATE 10-05-2023: As for the older one, I believe I correctly ID'd it on Vintage Aerial.

West Villa Maria Shell

The station following "renovations" in 2013. Picture by author.

I snapped a few pictures of this gas station recently (as of 2013). First off, it's old, from 1982, with one of the earliest references with the food mart (at 1439 West Villa Maria Road) being Nash's Food Store in 1984, and by 1989 it was a Zip'N, which it remained until around 2006-2007 when it just became "Villa Express" (which is there in the pre-renovation picture, albeit quite faded). There was a minor upgrade in 2003-2005 as well, where it kept the Shell station designation but upgraded logos to keep the brand.

Also originally, it did not have access to 2818 at all, the west "exit" to the gas station just went onto a power line right of way, which was unpaved and just dumped you on back on Villa Maria. The snow cone/smoothie shack was there as long as I can remember, and the gas station has two other spaces, including 1437 and 1435. From archives, 1437 was Beetle's BBQ (though occupied 1435 as well), and I've hear people tell me that there was a "music/drum shop" at one time as well. In the picture below, you can see Xtreme Hitz, which is at 1435 and according to Facebook, opened March 2012 (but I never saw them going to summer classes at Blinn that summer), so maybe they opened in October. They appear to carry hip-hop related clothing and clubwear. In any case, I don't remember anything in my travels about a clothing store co-habitating with a gas station (mostly banks, restaurants, and aforementioned dry cleaners).

Early 2013 car shot. Because it was taken out the car window, it reflected my shirt. Oops.

For years, the Shell has had for years a billboard near the Exxon at La Brisa announcing the prices. Over the years, I've sadly watched the prices climb (and the sign fade, get repainted, and fade again until vanishing for good).

After a few years running under the "new" facade, the gas station closed up shop for good by 2018. However, the Shell signage still towering over the station. In 2019, it slowly started changing over to a Citgo station and reopened.

UPDATE 03-31-2021: Minor updates. I should mention the new convenience store is "Pit Stop".

Northgate Chevron

She cleans up nicely. There's even a canvas-covered area on the University side for the taco truck that hangs out here.
When I went to college at A&M in the early 2010s, I always had seen this strange pile of bricks on the corner of where a run-down gas station sat at 301 University and wondered what, if any, grander building was once there. Turns out, there wasn't one. There has always been a gas station structure here since the 1970s or 1980s, and before that, it was a residential house with a yard.

Sometime around the late 1960s or early 1970s, the house was torn down and a Philips 66 gas station was built, but after that things got a bit murky. In the very late 1970s it was enclosed to be a bar. Two of the comments from the older version of this page seem at end with each other: "Around 1979-80 the owner enclosed the old service bays, remodeled and turned it into the Thirsty Turtle" and "I bought the Thirsty Turtle and remodeled it and reopened it as the 12th Man & Co. in 1978. The Thirsty Turtle was indeed a bar. It had a small but loyal clientele. Some of them actually blamed me for closing the Turtle and were somewhat threatening at times. But we got opened and survived until Texas changed the drinking age laws."

Others seem to remember 12th Man & Co. came first. Regardless, sometime during the mid-1980s (likely 1986, which would make sense with the "drinking laws" time frame) the building was torn down for a gas station again, a Citgo with a 7-Eleven (as Citgo and 7-Eleven built stores together in that era). In the spring of 1993, the 7-Eleven name vanished from the area as they were sold to E-Z Mart (by this point, the stores in Houston had also since been sold to National Convenience Stores where they obtained the Stop N Go name).

While I'm sure E-Z Mart still had the Slurpee machines (until they all broke like the rest of the former 7-Eleven stores in town), over time, the E-Z Mart just got more and more run-down, with the nickname "Sleazy Mart" as it continued to deteriorate (though to be fair, it was in very close to proximity to the bars). The earliest reference I could find is from this 2004 posting but who knows how far it really goes back.

By the time I got to A&M, the E-Z Mart name had disappeared, having sold their stores to other owners around the mid-2000s (I seem to remember the Citgo at Southwest Parkway and Wellborn became Zip'N around 2004, but don't quote me on that). The store had been renamed to "Aggie Food Mart" but A&M's lawyers don't want private businesses using "Aggie" or "A&M" for anything anymore, so it was just removed. The canopy was literally falling apart, the pumps didn't really work properly, and there was a trash-filled alley in the back where a faded mural was (now painted over), but I imagine that it was probably meant to be used for additional retail adjoining the 7-Eleven. Today that space (space is valuable in Northgate) is just wasted.

Sad thing is, ALL the gas pumps had looked like that.
The Boyett stoplight installed in summer 2012 made the intersection a more prominent "entrance" to Northgate (compared to the east side of Northgate, where large attractive campus buildings co-mingle with fast foods and the Rise at Northgate) just made the eyesore intersection more obvious, sharing it with the ruined Campus Theater across the street.

Sometime around 2016, things started to change. The Citgo branding completely disappeared and the gas station went unbranded for a time as it morphed into a Chevron, and finally, came the "Gig'Em Food Mart" name, complete with a shiny new Chevron canopy and pumps (interestingly, this came right at the time as the Southgate Chevron lost its branding), but I haven't been inside since they redid it since I have no idea if it's just window-dressing or the inside was done as well.

UPDATE 01-13-2023: This post was last updated in April 2020 but as of late 2022 the gas station has permanently closed for redevelopment of the lot.
UPDATE 01-25-2025: The station was demolished a year or two ago. Redevelopment is still pending. Some new labels have been added to the post.