Amoco (Standard of Indiana)

[Hudsons81]

Those of you who lived in the eastern two-thirds of the country right up until the mid 2000's might remember Amoco, which was one of several descendants of the Standard Oil company that John D. Rockefeller built up and then broke up in 1911. The Amoco name first appeared during the 1920's on certain American Oil Company products. In 1956, southeastern Pan-Am stations were rebranded as Amoco, but in 1961 was now used only in international markets and certain Standard of Indiana products. Ten years later in 1971, the Amoco name was applied to former American stations in the Southeast and East Coast. Then, in 1975, the name began appearing in what was Standard of Indiana's territory-which included Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Eventually, on August 11, 1998, Amoco announced a merger with BP-initial plans called for all BP stations in the US to be rebranded to Amoco and vice-versa internationally. Only three years later, though, BP instead began closing or rebranding all remaining Amoco stations-though the name continued to live on in the "Amoco Fuels" that was featured at rebranded BP locations up until around 2008, when it was replaced by "BP Gasoline with Invigorate" and for many years following, a handful of stations retained their Amoco branding.

But following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, there were speculations that BP would be rebranding all US locations back to Amoco. Following negative criticism, some independent BP stations rebranded into other brands, including ex-Amoco locations.

Even today, few BP stations continue to use Amoco branding-most notably, the largest Amoco sign in existence continues to exist at a station in Saint Louis, Missouri, located on I-64 at the interchange with Clayton Road, Skinker Boulevard and McCausland Avenue.


A BP station in Durand, MI that retained Standard Oil signage.


A shuttered Amoco station in 2006.


An example of Amoco street signage at the now-rebranded-into-BP location in the Chicago suburb of Lake Villa.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

I remember going to Amoco when I was younger. I used to go to Amoco with my big sister to pick up some soda and snacks at their "Food Shop".

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The torch in the Amoco, Standard, Utoco, and American logos are a reference to the torch in Indiana's flag. As we all know, Amoco was previously known as Standard Oil of Indiana. Amoco used the torch-and-oval logo until 2002, four years after British Petroleum merged with Amoco and formed BPAmoco (now BP America), All Amoco and British Petroleum stations were converted to BP's new look, with BP scrapping their shield logo in favor of a sunburst known as Helios. Some BP stations previously featuring the shield switched to the new Beyond Petroleum concept, and started replacing BP-branded gasoline with Amoco-branded gasoline. Some Amoco stations too close to an existing BP would have to switch to a competitor's brand of gasoline, like Shell, Mobil, or Union 76, for example. BP would ditch the Amoco Fuels brand, except in the case of Amoco Ultimate (which was known as BP Ultimate outside the United States), and replace all the low-octane Amoco Fuels with BP-Branded fuels that had the Invigorate additive, known as BP Gasoline with Invigorate. Amoco Ultimate would become Amoco Ultimate with Invigorate.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

BP is reviving the Amoco brand for the United States fuel network this year.
https://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/media-room/press-releases/bp-brings-back-amoco-brand-for-us-fuel-network.html

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

BP Brings Back Amoco Brand for US Fuel Network
Release date: October 10, 2017
Source: bp.com

Reintroduction of iconic retail brand supports company’s global downstream growth strategy

CHICAGO â€" BP announced today that it will reintroduce its Amoco retail fuel brand, giving current BP marketers more growth options in select U.S. markets and helping BP boost retail fuel sales nationwide.

Last seen more than a decade ago in the U.S., the Amoco brand will be available to BP marketers as a complementary retail offering in cities where there could be additional growth opportunities. It also will help resolve local, competitive station conflicts in markets where there may already be one or more BP stations in close proximity.

“The reintroduction of the historic Amoco brand is an exciting step forward in BP’s U.S. retail growth strategy, and it clearly demonstrates our commitment to helping our branded marketers grow their businesses,” said Rick Altizer, senior vice president of sales and marketing for BP Fuels North America.

Amoco-branded stations will offer all of the same consumer loyalty programs as BP-branded retail sites, including BP Driver Rewards. They also will sell all grades of gasoline with BP’s proprietary additive, Invigorate®.

“BP has a very strong brand presence in the U.S., and now, with the addition of the Amoco brand, we have the opportunity to build further on this success and to give an important boost to our sales and marketing business in the U.S.,” Altizer said.

BP consumer research found that the Amoco brand still resonates with many American consumers, and that both it and the BP brand appeal to similar audiences. In light of the findings, the two brands will share a similar marketing strategy, leveraging the strengths of BP’s programs and the familiarity of the Amoco brand.

In line with its global fuels marketing strategy, BP expects to deliver an additional $1.4 billion in earnings growth from the fuels marketing business by 2021. In addition to the reintroduction of the Amoco brand, strategic partnerships with Marks and Spencer in the U.K.and REWE in Gerrmany support BP’s broader strategy of growing its differentiated and high-return fuels marketing business across the globe.

BP expects the first Amoco-branded stations to begin operating towards the end of 2017.
About BP:

BP is a global producer of oil and gas with operations in over 70 countries. Over the past 10 years BP has invested $90 billion in the U.S. â€" more than any other energy company. BP employs about 14,000 people across the U.S. and supports more than 106,000 additional jobs through all its business activities. For more information on BP in the U.S., visit bp.com/US.
Notes to editors:

   

• BP is a retail marketing leader with around 7,100 BP - and Arco - branded sites in the U.S.
• Amoco has a long tradition in the U.S. as a quality fuels brand, with the first Amoco service station opening in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1912.

[JJBers]

Uhhh...Is this going to be in Indiana/Illinois area? Or some random desert city in Arizona.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Uhhh...Is this going to be in Indiana/Illinois area? Or some random desert city in Arizona.

I think they'll start with a few test locations in Chicago, then they'll convert more gas stations to the Amoco brand in the American Midwest, where the brand resonates with more people. BP has planned this after getting a negative reputation in recent years after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Back to the Future With Amoco

By Melissa Kress - 01/23/2018, Convenience Store News

PELHAM MANOR, N.Y. — Four miles from the Bronx Zoo and just steps from the Hutchinson River Parkway in New York stands a familiar name that has been missing from the gas station landscape for some time: Amoco.

More than a decade since leaving the fuel scene, BP is reintroducing the premium brand to millions of U.S. motorists, beginning with six locations in the New York and New Jersey area. The Amoco at 4394 Boston Post Road in Pelham Manor welcomed customers in late November, just a month after BP revealed the brand was making a comeback.

According to Rick Altizer, senior vice president of sales and marketing at BP Fuels North America, the oil company transitioned the Amoco brand out of the market between 2000 and 2005. BP first acquired the brand in a $48.2-billion deal announced in 1998.

It was a gradual transition, as the company decided to consolidate under the BP banner, Altizer explained.

Still, Amoco was never too far from the collective mind of BP. When Altizer joined the company — which has its U.S. offices in Chicago — in January 2017, he inquired about the brand and was happy to hear discussions were underway to bring Amoco back to the market.

"It's a neat opportunity for us to grow with BP. It gives our customers — marketers, jobbers, dealers —another opportunity to grow with BP," he told Convenience Store News during a tour of the Pelham Manor Amoco.

At the time of the merger with BP, there were more than 9,000 Amoco locations. It was strong in the Midwest, along the East Coast and down into the Southeast — with a notable presence in the Carolinas and Florida.

So, why start its comeback in the metropolitan area?

The right opportunity at the right time, according to Altizer.

"We had an opportunity here and the timing worked out. We are very strong in New York and New Jersey. We added over 100 [BP] sites in the last two years. As we were adding sites, there were competitive conflicts where this made sense," he said.

Amoco's return is now a way for BP to grow in densely competitive markets.

"We wanted to rebrand this [Pelham Manor] site from a competitor over to a BP. But there are several BPs in the area so, from a customer perspective, it doesn’t make sense to open more BPs," the executive pointed out.

Moving forward, BP has approved additional sites for the Amoco brand in Chicago and the Carolinas. It's also approved at least one new-to-industry Amoco.

    "We are really prototyping in those three markets, doing consumer research on the branding and the messaging at the sites, and tweaking some of the branding elements based on what we are finding," Altizer said. "Then, we will be expanding it to a nationwide availability."

BP conducted consumer research and despite the years that have gone by, Amoco still has very high recall and a premium perception. Noting that it is still well thought of among consumers, he added that the brand has been refreshed for today's consumers.

"It starts with a refreshed image. We took the iconic Amoco logo and we updated it for a fresh, contemporary expression of a very old brand," he said. "We are very pleased with the way the branding and images turned out."

Refreshed image aside, the reintroduction of Amoco for motorists and BP marketers, dealers and jobbers is designed to be seamless.

"Amoco is the same great fuel, the same credit offer, same loyalty, same Driver Rewards. It is a quality sister brand of BP," Altizer explained.

Speaking about the Pelham Manor site, he said, "We provided the new commercial trade dress, the canopy has been reimaged, the pumps have been reimaged, the c-store has been reimaged. It created a nice, bright, new reimage opportunity for this dealer."

The response from BP customers has also been positive thus far, he reported.

Other Avenues for Growth

The reintroduction of the Amoco brand is just one avenue of growth for BP,  according to Altizer, who dubbed it an exciting time for the company.

Since the middle of 2017, BP has opened more than 100 new retail sites in Mexico — becoming the first branded international oil company to go into that country post-deregulation. The locations are mostly dealer sites, with some company-owned sites. All are branded BP.

"I think of it as a brand portfolio. In Mexico, it makes sense. We have a strong presence down there. Our goal is to have 1,500 sites in Mexico in five years," Altizer said. "It's a huge growth opportunity for us and we have been supporting it from our Fuels North America [division] and our team in London."

Back in the United States, BP's ampm division on the West Coast ranks among the top 10 convenience store brands in the nation. In mid-January, ampm opened its first new-to-industry build in Rancho Cordova, Calif. — marking the first BP-owned new build in over a decade.

At 3,100 square feet, the Rancho Cordova location is also store No. 1,000 for ampm.

And that is just the beginning. Altizer shared with CSNews that the company has acquired more than 30 sites that are in the pipeline for new builds. These are slated to come online between this year and next.

"We have a lot of activity in New York and New Jersey, and we will be taking Amoco to Chicago and the Southeast. We have ambitious growth targets and plans for Mexico; and Donna [Sanker, chief operating officer] and the team out west are actively growing ampm," Altizer said.

These Amoco locations are now open:
    202-06 Hillside Ave, Hollis, NY 11423
    118-11 Atlantic Ave, Richmond Hill, NY 11418
    3504 Bell Blvd, Flushing, NY 11361
    4394 Boston Post Road, Pelham, NY 10803
    6743 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Good news, everyone! In the next six months, this BP station with the giant Amoco sign in St. Louis (Stevenson's Hi-Pointe Amoco) will be converted back to an Amoco station:

https://bigamocosign.com/

I read a Facebook post from another person who talked with the station's owner. This station will get BP's new Amoco design package...soon.
Gone will be the glowing green and yellow lights of British Petroleum, and in its place, the glowing red and blue lights of the American Oil Company (AMOCO)/Standard Oil of Indiana.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The Amoco gas station in Morton, Illinois:

[shore72]

I was filling up at a BP over the weekend and noticed the credit card/rewards program brochures on display have a blurb at the bottom noting they are also good at Amoco stations. That awoke me to the fact they were coming back to life.

The story of Standard Oil, and the ways various companies keep the name alive, is pretty interesting. Chevron apparently still operates some stations under the Standard banner, & Exxon sells diesel fuel under the Esso name...all to protect their trademark rights in the states that comprise their old territories.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

I was filling up at a BP over the weekend and noticed the credit card/rewards program brochures on display have a blurb at the bottom noting they are also good at Amoco stations. That awoke me to the fact they were coming back to life.

The story of Standard Oil, and the ways various companies keep the name alive, is pretty interesting. Chevron apparently still operates some stations under the Standard banner, & Exxon sells diesel fuel under the Esso name...all to protect their trademark rights in the states that comprise their old territories.

Chevron also operates Texaco branded gas stations in Texas and a few other southern states.

[shore72]

We vacationed in Texas this past fall & it did my heart good to see a Texaco station. Talk about a solid gold brand name that got thrown in the dust bin...

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

We vacationed in Texas this past fall & it did my heart good to see a Texaco station. Talk about a solid gold brand name that got thrown in the dust bin...

I just hope Amoco doesn't suffer the same fate again like what they have been through back in 2002. I'm glad that these oil companies are putting some of their brands to good use. I just hope BP brings back the Sohio brand name as an alternative to Amoco in the state of Ohio in the future. They could redesign Sohio logo and use it with their Amoco-styled gas pumps, signs,` and canopies, and carry BP gasoline. Right now, the Sohio brand is used for marine fuel.

[MikeRa]

I was filling up at a BP over the weekend and noticed the credit card/rewards program brochures on display have a blurb at the bottom noting they are also good at Amoco stations. That awoke me to the fact they were coming back to life.

The story of Standard Oil, and the ways various companies keep the name alive, is pretty interesting. Chevron apparently still operates some stations under the Standard banner, & Exxon sells diesel fuel under the Esso name...all to protect their trademark rights in the states that comprise their old territories.

Exxon Mobil has gas stations operating under the Esso and Mobil names outside the United States

[BillyGr]

Exxon Mobil has gas stations operating under the Esso and Mobil names outside the United States

And quite a few under the Mobil name inside the US as well (but also under Exxon, rather than Esso).

[TheFugitive]

After completely disappearing from the Pittsburgh area in the 90's after the merger with BP, Amoco stations are starting to reappear as the flagship brand of Coen Oil of Washington, PA.  Last year Coen acquired the local CoGos convenience store chain and they've been rebranding them to Coen Amoco stations.

[BillyGr]

BP is reviving the Amoco brand for the United States fuel network this year.
https://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/media-room/press-releases/bp-brings-back-amoco-brand-for-us-fuel-network.html

Who knew when this was posted that the sign may have actually been almost correct a few years later :)