Imperial (Virginia) Photos
Imperial with Joy Food Mart at Main Street and Nelson Ave., Altavista, Virginia.
Taken in 1998 by Robert Scism.
Three photos of an old Imperial on Gandy Blvd. in South Tampa, Florida.
Photos by Robert Droz, June and August, 2003.
Imperial was a brand of the Tampa-based L.M. Hughey Co., who also had the
Eastern, Cargo, Charge, and Kash n' Karry brands. All of them used an oval
logo similar to the above at one time. The original Imperial had a rocket
going diagonally through it from bottom left to top right.
The company operated over 50 Imperial stations in Virginia and North Carolina
(And Florida, so it appears). Hughey rebranded the stations to Coastal in the mid 1980s
but by the early 1990s they had been changed to Joy Food Stores with Imperial branded gasoline.
Most are now branded SuperTest with Joy Food Stores as the c-store.
Confused? So am I.