If you have visited Collierville Town Square, it’s likely you passed the only gas station there — and the oldest business in town.
McGinnis Oil Company sits on the east side of the square facing the gazebo. It’s not your traditional self-serve modern gas station, though: Employees run out to cars and fill up tanks using old pumping stations.
Owner Bill Cox, 67, often sits on the wooden swing hanging from the ceiling at the front of the store, watching new and old faces stop to fill gas, take pictures or just stare questioningly.
“I didn’t realize we’re the oldest business in town,” Cox said.
“It’s a great place to be, I get to talk to and meet people all day and visit, and see people I wouldn’t normally get to see.”
‘The major gem of Collierville’
McGinnis Oil Company has called Collierville Town Square home for nearly 95 years, pumping gas for customers and evolving to an oil wholesaler.
Wiley McGinnis began the pumping station in 1927, operating the business until his death in 1959 when his grandson Herman Cox took over. By 2003, McGinnis’ great-grandsons Bill and Jim Cox took over the family company and continue to run the store today.
Read more at: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/suburbs/collierville/2021/11/26/collierville-business-mcginnis-oil-company-town-square/6118044001/