According to the "values" listed on their website, Wilco takes care of fans and respects one another. Wilco emphasizes that teamwork is the path to success. Wilco champions integrity. Wilco, dear readers, is a gas station.
And, unfortunately, not the basis for the midwestern rock band’s name. They don’t even have Wilco (now WilcoHess) gas stations in Chicago, where the name could’ve burrowed its way into songwriter Jeff Tweedy’s subconscious.
In the case of Wilco, a gas station name does not a band name make.
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In fact, during an interview for PBS’ "Austin City Limits" TV show in 1999, a few Wilco members (Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, ex-guitarist Jay Bennett and ex-drummer Ken Coomer; see timeline) threw around a few uses of the word "Wilco" in popular culture. According to the members, the name "Wilco" appears on a home improvement store in Chicago, on a brand of rat poison and on a park bench advertisement in Robert Altman’s 1975 country music film, Nashville, not to mention in the dictionary as an abbreviation for "Will comply." In the case of Wilco, a gas station name does not a band name make.
In retrospect, I should have done my homework on this. But—wedged between the motor oil aisle and the candy aisle at the Wilco To-Go store opposite Pantops, hands busy with a Gatorade and a bag of M&Ms while customers pay their fuel tabs—it’s a bit late to simply abandon the gas station idea.
And the comparison isn’t too far-fetched, if you’re willing to do some wishful thinking (as Tweedy will surely sing to you at the Pavilion, what would life be without wishful thinking?). Arthur T. Williams started A.T . Williams Oil in 1963 with six gas stations and was quick to jump on the self-service business model. He increased his station number 10-fold in less than 20 years; he started providing diesel service five years later.
A survey in 2000 put the A.T. Williams Oil Company (Wilco, for the sake of brevity) at 140 stores, pumping a total of roughly 420 million gallons of fuel. Shortly after, the company merged with Amerada Hess to form WilcoHess, currently numbering more than 330 stores and 40 restaurants along the eastern coast of the U.S.
Meanwhile, inside the Wilco To-Go store near Pantops, there is a center aisle blocked due to tiles being replaced. The lighting is a dim yellow, brightening only near the beverage racks at the back of the store, opposite the gruff fellow behind the counter whose grunts are multisyllabic and pleasant as he rings up my purchase.
As the story goes, Arthur T. Williams had no business school training—simply a degree in agriculture and enough gusto to buy a few gas stations. WilcoHess’ configuration has changed shape and look a few times since Williams’ first model, but for the better—it finished 27th on a list of the top 100 convenience stores of 2006. I can’t help but think that the band Wilco, which has weathered a slew of lineup changes and spent $50,000 to buy back the master tapes for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot—the record that is, arguably, responsible for their current sales figures and critical success—has more in common with the gas station than it might think.
Or maybe it’s the fumes talking.
