Gas and Donuts

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Chuck Gallup was so eager to advertise the donut supplier at his Citgo station on Packard that he stenciled "Dexter Bakery" on the awning months before he added Gallup One Stop. That sparked rumors that the bakery was opening an Ann Arbor branch. Karen Dudek, who owns the Dexter Bakery, has been fielding that rumor for months. She supplies baked goods to several other coffee shops and convenience stores in the area but has no stake in Gallup One Stop other than a deal to sell Gallup as many donuts as his customers can eat.

Gallup joined the family business in the 1970s, and "started the conversion of gas stations into convenience stores back in the late seventies. Back then, gas stations all had service bays, and inside all they sold was cigarettes and candy."

Gallup's father, Arthur, was the Gallup in Gallup Silkworth Petroleum, from whom most mid-century Ann Arborites bought their heating oil and LP gas. On the side, Arthur dabbled a little in gas stations. Chuck took the gas stations, cleaned them up, got rid of the service bays, and stocked them with groceries, renaming them to reflect their new purpose. At one point, he says, he had about eighteen Pump N Pantry stores.

Eventually Gallup sold off the chain and branched into commercial real estate, but he'd always been fond of this particular gas station on Packard: "My father built it in the late fifties, early sixties." He was able to buy it back in a bankruptcy auction about ten years ago and spent much of this year rebuilding it.