The Rise and Fall of Mike’s Chevron
Sanjeev, where have you gone? Sometime during the last year Mike’s Chevron on South Main was apparently bought out and the very definition of a “convenient” store was shuttered. Somehow, this tragedy went unnoticed by current students blinded by the bright lights of multiple Sheetz-style megastations. But for Dukes of a certain age, this was the end of an era. An era of cheap alcohol, fluid hours of legal purchase, and past-expiration snacks when the munchies overwhelmed. In an age when the idea of Dave’s Express delivering White Owls had not yet been conceived , Sanjeev’s, er, Mike’s was a beacon of [in]sanity in a mixed-up world, it’s wares bearing the promise of debauchery yet unrealized.
Identification and price were both relative and negotiable in all things where Sanjeev was concerned and if you could bring one “older guy” with you, the rest of you could help load the truck if you did it quickly and didn’t act like an ass. For those privileged few lucky enough to live in the Harrison St. area during those heady times, you could even just byod (bring your own dolly) and roll that thing quickly back across Main. Here’s a typical conversation on Thursday afternoon:
Customer: Sanjeev, I need two kegs of Beast Light.
Sanjeev: Ok, let me see id, that’ll be $79.
Customer: Wait, I thought they were $39 each, so shouldn’t it be $78.
Sanjeev: No, I give you special price today.
Customer: Huuwha?
Sanjeev: Or I give you three kegs Beast Ice same price.
Customer: In that case, we’ll take six.
From there the night is very predictable (seriously – the power of Beast Ice when the drinking public doesn’t know that’s what they’re drinking is a scientifically provable fact)
8 hours, 6 pretzeling songs, 1 fight, 2 arrests, 5 beer slides, 1 hospital admission (for alcohol poisoning), 2 dudes that should have been admitted in the fight but decided to just sleep it off instead, and numerous drunken hookups good and bad later, almost everyone goes home happy.
It is inarguable that Sanjeev directly contributed to at least two thirds of all sex taking place in the Valley during his reign behind the counter of this humble service station.
And for that we attempt to raise our 64 oz. Olde English, the one with the screwtop (as if you’re going to put it back in the fridge for later), the handle, and the rim, in case its sheer girth should prove too much for your 
increasingly shaky hand, to you Sanjeev, for being the last purveyor of that unrivaled product.
We pour a little out in a salute to your unwavering dedication to a don’t-ask, don’t-tell policy with regard to returned kegs that may have allowed a few creative (and felonious) students to return empties for the deposit and finish out the semester financially.
To Sanjeev, helping Dukes make questionable decisions since 1989!
editor’s note: picture credit goes to The 40 Oz. Crew on www.vintagegearaddicts.com
And one final birthday treat for JMUSB’s senior lifestyle correspondent, Uncle Ron, here’s a game that will take 12 enjoyable minutes to play (or more accurately 6 fun and 6 where you feel old): Name the JMU BuilidngsI only got 34 on the first try. Definitely a doddering old man to have forgotten a few Bluestones!
Sanjeev is legendary. I actually have a picture of me, my older brother, and my dad standing outside of Mike’s Chevron. All in various stages of intoxication. It’s one of my favorite pictures from my JMU days.
I have so many good memories from Mike’s Chevron that it’s hard to nail down just a couple. But here goes:
1) a fantastic semester where I purchased a six pack of miller high life bottles and a pack of camel lights for under $5 total, at least 3 days each week. Often on the way back from class or D-hall. One time I actually walked straight over from Theater II and grabbed a 40 (long story on that one).
2) trudging from Harrison St to Mike’s during the blizzard of 1996 and pretty much clearing the shelves of all remaining Beast Light suitcases and microwave burritos
3) actually walking back into the backroom myself and loading kegs onto dollies and rolling them up to the desk. This happened multiple times
I was really excited to go by Mike’s Chevron last time I was in the ‘Burg. I hope Sanjeev is doing well…hard to imagine he has found a business he is more suited for.
I humped kegs at Mike’s Mart for a semester or two till I won a grand playing a scratcher ticket at his vastly more shady store near the highschool. Hands down one of the better jobs and bosses I’ve ever had. That job turned to doo doo when IFC banned kegs…how the hell are you supposed to fit 122 cases of beer in the back of a pickup truck anyhow?
Best…Blog…Post…Ever…
“don’t-tell policy with regard to returned kegs that may have allowed a few creative (and felonious) students to return empties for the deposit and finish out the semester financially”
Do I need a lawyer?
Thanks for the memory…what a great place.
How about a Tuesday afternoon when walking back to Harrison St after class. You go in, buy a pack of gum, and Sanjeev cheerfully asks, “Would you like a keg with that?” Classic!
The end of an era.
Mike’s Chevron is the only place I can think of where two 21-year-old kids could walk in, tell two 18-year-old pledges to load 10 kegs into the back of a pick-up owned and driven by another 19-year-old pledge for a non-IFC registered party on any given (read: every) Tuesday, and walk out saying, “Just put it on the tab, Sanjeev.”
His response?
“See you tomorrow, dudes.”
I also remember a two week run in the spring of 1993 where Sanjeev was selling cases of 7 oz. “pony bottles” for around $5. The kicker was that you got $2.40 deposit back when you returned the empties. Every day I would dig $2.60 out of the couch, grab an empty case of bottles, and presto – another full case. I considered it my duty to crush a case of those a day!
Cheers, Sanjeev!
Thanks for all the comments! Apparently Sanjeev really touched a nerve. We may have to get our Atlanta-based faction to make a guest appearance with a Luigi’s behind-the-scenes when basketball season ends.
RIP Mike’s (Sanjeev’s)… let’s keep our fingers crossed for mr. chips.
Ahhh yes, while I remember it as a different name, and while your Sanjeev was my Mooney, Mike’s Chevron/Mike’s Mart is definitely the same place. I used to cart kegs over the railroad tracks back to Eagle under the cloak of darkness and the guise of a hamper. What a place. Oh well, I do know for a fact that Mooney sold that place for over a milly. Dude is bank rolling it right now, sippin’ endless Beast on ice.
Ok… whoever posted as WeenNotaLoo back in ’10 is definitely somebody I know. There’s a very narrow band of time and people that could apply to.
Anyway, dragging the bumper of my 83 Nissan (Datsun) pickup loaded with something in the neighborhood of 20 kegs back to Harrison St. from Mike’s happened more times than I can count. And when the IFC started introducing 2 mandatory “can” parties per semester we could count on Sanjeev to sell us north of 200 cases of “Meister Brau” (oh the green horror the next morning).