A new Amoco station opened this week at 1805 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy., the next step for an east Maryville convenience store that has been expanding steadily since opening in 2021.
Owner Jay Patel said gas pumps were always part of the plan from the day his family acquired the property at auction in 2020. The site, which previously housed a German restaurant that closed during the pandemic, had been on his father-in-law’s radar for years before it came up for sale.
The family staged the investment, opening as 321 Smoke Shop first while the vape category was booming and many gas stations operated under tighter restrictions on tobacco and vape sales. The plan was always to add fuel once the convenience side could carry the larger capital outlay.
That moment arrived this spring. Construction on the pumps took about four weeks, with state and city inspections expected to wrap up this week.
The path to Amoco branding was not direct. Patel said his original deal was with ARCO, but the agreement fell through. BP, which owns the Amoco brand, then approached the property through Downey Oil Company Inc., a local fuel distributor.
Asked why he chose Amoco over BP when both brands sit under the same parent company, Patel pointed to differentiation. Three BP-branded stations already operate within roughly 10 minutes of the property, including sites on West Lamar Alexander Parkway and Robert C. Jackson Drive in Maryville and Louisville Road in Alcoa. Amoco, by contrast, is largely unknown in Blount County.
“Sounds like we already have a couple of BPs. Let’s go with the gas station which people don’t know about,” he said.
BP acquired Amoco in 1998 and phased the brand out of the market by 2005, then revived it in 2017. The company has said the dual-brand strategy helps resolve conflicts between branded sites in close proximity.
Patel said he expects fuel to drive about a 20% increase in inside sales rather than serve as a profit center on its own. Gasoline margins run about 5 cents per gallon, he said, and the real business of a convenience store is in beer, snacks and other shelf-stable items.
The brick building, which Patel described as one of the oldest on that stretch of the parkway, is being modified rather than rebuilt. A new main entrance and a larger security window are part of the current buildout. The driveway was widened in coordination with the city and TDOT for truck access. The property is large enough to accommodate additional commercial development on the back of the lot, Patel said, though those plans are not finalized.
Before construction, the parking lot also served as a U-Haul rental location.
For more information > facebook.com/321smokeshop/
