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In December 1929, Joe Glenn and Bert Bennett founded Quality Oil Company to launch a distributorship for the then-little-known Shell Oil Company. On December 6, 1929, they placed an advertisement in the Winston-Salem Journal announcing the opening of their new Shell service station at the corner of Reynolda Road and Northwest Boulevard. As the first Shell distributorship in North Carolina, it became known as Quality Oil Shell #1.
Quality Oil Shell #1, 1954
Digital Forsyth, Forsyth County, NC [Colorized]
The building still stands as a local example of the Art Deco architecture that flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Art Deco is characterized by sleek, linear symmetry, bold geometric forms, and a forward-looking embrace of the machine age. Over the decades, the structure has housed a variety of businesses. Today, the front section is home to InDemand, an Asian street food and burger bar, while the rear section is occupied by Salem Smiles, a dental office.
The Building, now
Sources
Sources
Quality Oil Company – Official History Page, confirms that Joe H. Glenn Jr. and Bert L. Bennett Sr. organized Quality Oil Company in December 1929 specifically to launch a distributorship for the then‑unheard‑of Shell Oil Company.
SAH Archipedia – Shell Service Station Entry, notes that Glenn and Bennett became the first Winston‑Salem–area affiliates for Shell Oil in 1929, aligning with the founding of Quality Oil.
Wikipedia – Shell Service Station (Winston‑Salem), states that Quality Oil built eight Shell stations in the early 1930s to promote the brand.
FOX8 WGHP Interview with Quality Oil President Graham Bennett, confirms that Glenn and Bennett patented their Shell station design and built multiple stations to promote Shell during the Great Depression.
Editorial Note
Colorized images were digitally enhanced by MasterWorks for illustrative purposes. Original photographs are black and white.
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