Monday, October 22, 2012

Too Much Good Stuff? ampm Leaves Atlanta


BP gas stations in the metro Atlanta area stripped off their ampm branding last week, marking the end of a four and half year run in Atlanta.  Ampm's parent company BP withdrew the brand from multiple eastern United States' cites including Chicago, Cincinnati  Cleveland and Orlando in addition to Atlanta.  A BP spokesperson said that the eastern withdrawal was a "strategic decision"  so that the company could focus on the western U.S. where ampm was started in 1978. Ampm was purchased, along with its creator Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), by BP in 2008. Currently there is a sale of ARCO to San Antonio, Texas-based Tesoro pending, at which point BP will retail the ampm brand.  

When ampm came to Atlanta in 2008, it replaced BP Connect and the accompanying Wild Bean Cafe in many of the newer locations.  When I spoke to an employee of a local BP over the weekend, I was told that  neither BP Connect nor the Wild Bean Cafe would be returning to Atlanta.  Instead, in many locations, the cafe area will re-branded as Subway, and Krispy Kreme will be brought in to supply doughnuts.

The decisions to sell ARCO and pull ampm from the eastern  U.S. were both made in August, but are now getting closer to reality. The ampm brand should be gone from the eastern U.S. by year end and the ARCO sale is scheduled to close by the second quarter of next year.

Locally, ampm had been a supporter of both the Atlanta Braves and Turner Field.  Their slogan "Too Much Good Stuff" was rather perfect considering the business they were in.

Will you miss ampm in the local area?  Did you like Wild Bean Cafe and want it back?  What food item are you most likely to purchase at a gas station?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks like a QT/Racetrac roller dog showdown.

Anonymous said...

Well, that explains the Subway that I saw attached to a BP in Alparetta yesterday! No big deal. I rarely stop in those places. As long as they still carry coffee, snacks, and drinks, I don't think that anyone will even notice or care.

Anonymous said...

Wow - that's an old picture. $1.88 for gas!!

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon RE: Price,

WISHFUL THINKING :)

Anonymous said...

Kind of not surprised. AM PMs around Atlanta were kind of hit or miss when it came to being clean and not run down inside or at the pump. I only would fill up at one if I couldn't find a QT or Racetrack first.

Anonymous said...

Can they strip the $0.90 per gallon premium they charge at their stations in Buckhead?

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