Godfather's Pizza (Tillmans Corner, Alabama)

Picture from Google (from Cary Reams, 2026)
I'm afraid I don't have much on this one. This Godfather's Pizza in Tillmans Corner (Mobile), Alabama at 5442 US-90 has been here since at least 1998 but I can't tell what it was before, if anything. (It looks much older inside and out than 1998, but I've been wrong before). Unlike the motel I stayed at nearby (more on that another time, it was probably THE worse motel I've ever stayed in) it didn't suck, and actually pretty decent; it was my first time eating at a Godfather's since December 2002. I do have a picture of my own; it's from my 2025 vacation.

Albertsons on Perkins Road (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

This Albertsons looks like it's seen better days, but at least it's not Albertsons Sav-on anymore.
Numbered as #2711 in the pre-merger days (I believe it's just #711 now) but after 1996 (I'm not sure what the original was) and dating back to at least 1987 (I can't find much on this store), this Albertsons supermarket at 7515 Perkins Road is one I visited in August 2025 (which is when this photo was taken). At some point in the late 1990s or early 2000s, Albertsons added an Albertsons Express gas station (it did not have a convenience store, only a kiosk) which was operational until Alimentation Couche-Tard bought successor company CST Brands (it was effectively operated as Corner Store but the name was never put on there).

My previous notes for this store was that a salad bar was added in a renovation under the "LLC" days, but I either didn't pay attention to the deli (a very real possibility) or was removed after COVID (also a very real possibility).

I found it strange that half of the HBA department is in the main aisles (and the stuff near the pharmacy has comically short shelves).

Out in front of the store (I'm not sure when they moved in, but they were there as of 2008) is Mr. Gatti's Pizza at 5888 Essen Lane and Taco Bell at 7541 Perkins Road.

H-E-B Pantry Orange (Orange, Texas)

Picture from August 2025 by author
Among the things I did on my vacation was visit a few grocery stores, and one of these was the H-E-B Pantry Foods in Orange, Texas. Well, it's branded as an H-E-B now (has been since at least summer 2008) and has been kicking around since its opening in August 1991 (there's a plaque outside of the door, as well as another honoring a deceased manager). Rumor is H-E-B has purchased Northway Shopping Center near I-10 to develop into a new H-E-B and additional retail but that's probably at least a year away.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the inside as I was still on a bit of a deadline (and hit Houston right at rush hour) and one of the only photos on Google that's not an H-E-B stock photo is this shot from 2017 (the aisle signs have been replaced, but otherwise looks pretty accurate). Inside-wise, it resembles the Pantry store I remember growing up with a few changes. They've clearly tried to fit more merchandise in, produce is cramped and bumps up right against the main grocery aisle (produce on the right to the front) while the bakery area (Pantry stores had a small bakery) had been removed for additional space (it's where the water was found and I think some HBA items were there as well). It is a tiny store at around 27,000 square feet. A new-build H-E-B is about four times that size (but wastes a lot of space, here nothing is wasted).

I know I saw an ad once that indicated someone drove from Louisiana for that H-E-B (before the short-lived Lake Charles store, anyway) but I can't find it at this time. The store number is #35 according to H-E-B's current website as well as what we currently have as H-E-B Pantry's full listing. (I did not visit the former Kroger Family Center nearby).

The H-E-B is located at 2424 North 16th Street, Orange, TX, 77630.

Abandoned Exprezit! Store (Quincy, Florida)

Can you see the gas station through the weeds? (Picture by author, August 2025)
A few years ago I was delighted to find that someone had taken a picture of an Exprezit gas station and convenience store. It wasn't the same store my family stopped in December 2003 (yes, a week or so before the picture in Marianna was taken by Tod Allen). I'm pretty sure some Exprezit! stores even made to Louisiana (some were planned for South Texas circa 2006) but a few years later they disappeared as quickly as they came, with only a few camped out in their home of North Carolina, despite once having sizable Florida presence (reduced to maybe one store in Florida today).

This Exprezit store escaped being rebranded (many are BP or 76 today) because it closed a while back, not even on the 2006 locator list, nor on a 1999 list (guess it purchased it and closed in that timeframe). It's an old gas station, too, dating to around the 1980s and in 1994 was a Texaco advertising t-shirts and ice cream; however, the convenience store name is too hard to see in that photo. Looking through old Google Earth images no cars appear in it from 2005 on so I would suspect Exprezit kept the 43 Spooner Road location and abandoned it by that time, and it's been shut ever since. The long driveway (no dedicated left turn, even) likely discouraged travelers on I-10. I noticed it when I spotted the distinctive red, blue, and yellow Exprezit insignia and had to check it out, though it was gated off. Only in the last two years was the gas island canopy demolished so there has been some activity of some sort going on; I would guess it was for the early stages of a building renovation that never happened.

As I never got to go inside an Exprezit in their heyday, I have no idea what their draw was especially as they tried to expand west. Their stores were in old, pre-existing locations, tired by even 2002 standards, and didn't supplement them with trendy new restaurant co-brand locations as was in vogue in those days.

Thank you for reading! As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I will try to make a 50-50 mix of Carbon-izer or other legacy content mixed with entirely new content.

UPDATE 09-04-2025: The more I look at this location (2982 Pat Thomas Pkwy.) from the past, it looked like it could be a Stuckey's, between its offerings and logos. Indeed, it does seem to be listed here in a 1992 directory!