ampm

The Mace Blvd AM/PM. The Russell Blvd. AM/PM.

Ampm is a convenience store which is located at an ARCO gasoline station. One Davis AM/PM sits at the intersection of Russell and Anderson across the street from campus and Rite Aid. Another sits at Mace Blvd and 2nd Street near I-80 at another ARCO gas station. Sometimes called "The AM-P". Management is different for the two locations.

They're great place to fill up on soda and munchies (more on that below). The gas at the ARCO station is usually much cheaper than other places by about 20 cents/gallon. Which of the two stations has the lower price fluctuates. There are some annoyances. Both the Mace and Russell AM/PM don't take credit cards, just cash and ATM cards. You're charged 25 cents to use your ATM card. Annoyingly, there is another 45 cent surcharge from the ATM vendor. You can always pay with cash to avoid fees. Forties are not available at the Mace Blvd AM/PM). Note that the stores are sometimes locked for a short time late at night for cleaning, and the cash register is sometimes locked for a period of time.

You may be "shoulder tapped" for booze by freshmen if you in any way resemble a person of drinking age.

The Russell Boulevard store used to have an AM/PM video rental kiosk outside the front door.(Not sure if it is still there.)

The Russell Boulevard and Mace Boulevard stores each have a Chase branded ATM. They only dispense cash and do not have deposit capability.

ARCO gas is now owned by the American company Tesoro. It is no longer owned by BP. The gas sold at ARCO is Top Tier gas which meets strict standards for premier gasoline performance. This type of gas standard helps customers avoid lower quality gasoline which can leave deposits on critical engine parts. Other name brand stations also use Top Tier gas, but some smaller gas station chains do not use this higher quality gas.

Food and Drinks

They sell the usual junk food typical of gas stations. Forties are now available at the Mace Blvd AM/PM) in various brands including Ninkasi, Mickey's, and many others. (Mace location discontinues selling at 11:00pm sharp. It's about as far as some clueless freshmen wander in search of something to do while procrastinating late at night.

• Freshly Baked Cookies and Pastries
• Nachos
• Hot Dogs
• Corn Dogs
• Chili Cheese Fritos
• Chips such as Flaming Hot Cheetos
• Icees
• Crushed Ice or cubed ice!

If you want nachos and the machine isn't serving the cheese or the chili sauce properly (and it rarely works right), ask the attendants to adjust it. Beware of filling up an entire tray full of cheese, as they have a 'extra cheese charge' they slap on the drunken chaps who try and take off with 5 times the cheese of the normal nacho consumer (not at the Mace location, but there is a charge for toppings on non-nacho chips). Also, try putting jalapenos (found in the hot dog area) on your nachos!

If you're a fan of the McRib from McDonalds and are bummed out about how it is almost never available, their rib sandwich is a surprisingly good substitute.

They also feature whipped topping for their beverages as of 2014. In addition, they now feature doughnut clusters, which are doughnuts that are a cluster of 6 mini-donuts for only about 89 cents. For Summer of 2014 they also have a selection of special strawberry drinks.

ARCO Gas Station

Air and Water

The Russell Blvd. location features water that's always on. There's an "Air Charity" where a portion of the $1.00 charge goes to Feed My Starving Children, a Christian non-profit at www.fmsc.org. (Air and water are free by California law when purchasing fuel. The loophole in the law is that if you do not buy fuel, the gas station can charge you for using air or water.)

There is a no charge for air and water at the Mace location, simply ask the inside attendants to turn it on. Annoyingly, there's no pressure gauge on its air pump, making it very difficult to tell how much air to put in your tires but they do sell gauges inside.

Other Features

There's an lp gas fueling station next to the air/water.

There have been complaints that the squeegies are worn and the wash containers empty.

There's a touch-free car wash at the Mace location at four price points from $6.00-$10.00.

Card Reader Scam

In 2007, the Bee reported that a criminal ring used fake card readers at AM/PM stations to gather card data and PINs. The scam hit stations from Sacramento to Redding, but apparently not Davis. Still, these fake readers apparently work exclusively with AM/PM's type of readers. Who knows how many of these devices are still out there.

Ownership

ARCO, an acronym for Atlantic Richfield Company. ARCO is now owned by Tesoro which is an American petroleum company. Tesoro owns many gas stations under various brand names. BP sold ARCO to Tesoro on June 1, 2013. BP no longer owns ARCO. Tesoro owns the ARCO brand. The ampm convenience store brand is still owned by BP, not nicely "British Prick". British Petroleum, a popular and lauded purveyor of shrimp seasoning. Many gas stations are simply franchises. The local owner pays to use the brand name and runs the gas station according to the standards set up by the brand. Tesoro is the franchise, and they pay BP to use the ampm name. Both Davis locations are franchised and may run differing promotions.

In the areas north of Modesto, Oregon, and Washington, BP is licensing the ARCO brand from Tesoro. In Southern California, ARCO stations have removed the words "a part of BP."