Picked up a couple gas station shops today while road tripping in the US.
One was....interesting.
It was a small station in a rural area off a major highway.
The convenience store had a sign "Cigarette Outlet".
I don't smoke, so I don't know - maybe because it's on a state border and the taxes are different for people crossing borders?
Inside, more cartons of cigarettes than I'ever seen - stacked everywhere
And along one wall, a floor to ceiling display of locked cases with windows.
Inside the cases were all manor of drug paraphernalia.
The cashier was nice enough...he had good hair lol.
I couldn't find the restroom so I asked him if they had one, he said it was around the back of the building...
I cautiously walked around the corner of the building.
Oh my, groups of teen boys and young men, milling about.
I heard one say " did you see his collection? wow!"
I decided to make it real quick. I saw a restroom door with the "women's room" sign
and ducked in quickly.
omg, dirty and more paraphernalia in the trash can.
I quickly grabbed the door to leave and another hand grabbed the door handle on the other side.
I grabbed it open and a man stood there - with this astonished look on his face.
He kept saying "oh man, oh man!"
Like he was surprised to see a woman exiting a women's room. Very weid.
I ran quickly to the car and sped away.
Some brands of gas stations are like McDonalds - every location is about the same.
but this brand, a blue brand - oh my, you never know what you are going to get...
I probably will never do any more of these.

Gotta stay away from Valero unless you're bringing back up..

There are very nice Valeros in the midwest.

Regarding the cigarettes, the manager at one convenience next to a casino told me that they sell $10,000 worth of cigarettes every single day.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2025 02:01AM by mjt9598.

mjt, I won't argue, but I'll say that I've done Valeros in CA, TX and AL and I've only ever seen one clean, well-lit, well-maintained Valero, and it went out of business.

It's never the gas station that's the problem but the people that they attract

There are some regions where large chains used Valero and they were the best stations in the area, at least before they changed ownership, but they still have a pretty good rep there. In other areas Valeros are considered almost bottom of the barrel. One station owner was considering changing brands and I asked why not Valero and he looked at me like I was stupid. So it varies. Heck, I have even seen a smaller city where Citgos are the top-notch stations, if you can believe it.

This one wasn't a Valero.
This was Dark Blue, common brand

The border between IL and IN is loaded with smoke shops and signs about "lower taxes". A lot of people from IL head to IN on weekends to grab a few cartons. I try to avoid shops in those areas on the weekends, too much traffic.