The old Cotswold BP station will now be a bank

The former home to the BP station at the corner of Randolph and Sharon Amity roads in Cotswold will soon be the home of a PNC Bank. In the business world, that’s actually a big deal: It’ll be one of the first two branches PNC has built in the city (the company came here in 2012 when it bought RBC Bank).

But it also marks something of the end of an era. The BP had an old-school feel as a combination full-service gas station and drive-in repair shop. For years they pumped gas for people, though they had a self-service side for people who preferred it.

Facts

• Lots of people called the station “Ron’s garage,” after the owner Ron Rybacki. He owned it for about a decade, and before that it was owned by his brother-in-law’s father for 25 years, according to a WCNC feature back in 2010.
• That was the year there was a huge back-and-forth there over the BP oil spill. About 50 people came and demonstrated at Ron’s garage, but he told TheStreet.com sales actually rose because his customers rallied around him.
• PNC is turning into a power player in Charlotte. They’re big on the philanthropic scene here, and Charlotte market deposits hit $560 million this year, good for No. 9 in town, according to the FDIC.

• The other new PNC branch will open first, at 5130 Ballantyne Commons Parkway.
• Cotswold will see a lot of change over the next year. This project is on the same block as where the new Publix is being built.

(Photo credits: The gas station photo comes from Google Street View)