Tommy's Old-Time Route 66 Store

Tommy Loveless was born and raised in Adrian, the son of a family with deep Panhandle roots — his grandfather had operated a small gas station on old Route 66 in the 1930s and 1940s, and his parents had run various small businesses along the highway through the mid-century. Tommy spent his early career in oilfield services in nearby Amarillo and the surrounding Texas Panhandle counties, but in the mid-1990s — watching Route 66 tourism grow in the wake of Adrian's establishment as the midpoint town — he began thinking about a second career in roadside hospitality.

The store opened in 1998 in a building that had previously housed a small auto-repair shop. Tommy personally renovated the space, building shelving and display cases from scrap lumber, hanging vintage Route 66 signs from his family's collection, and stocking initial inventory through wholesale connections he had developed during planning trips along Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. The store opened on a modest budget but quickly found its market in the steady stream of Route 66 travelers stopping in Adrian for the Midpoint Cafe and the midpoint sign.

Over the subsequent decades the store has grown into Adrian's second major tourism destination after the Midpoint Cafe itself. Tommy has expanded the inventory, built out the museum portion of the building, and added the small gift counter where he personally greets virtually every visitor. He has also become an unofficial Adrian ambassador — the person travelers most often credit with making them feel personally welcomed to the town, and the source of most of the local stories and recommendations that travelers carry away from their Adrian visit.

The merchandise selection is the most complete Route 66 souvenir offering in Adrian and one of the most comprehensive on the entire Texas stretch of the Mother Road. Standards include the full lineup of Route 66 T-shirts (sizes from toddler through 4XL, in multiple designs at price points from $15 to $30), hats and caps, ceramic and travel mugs, refrigerator magnets, embroidered patches, license plates, bumper stickers, and the standard glossy postcards. Adrian-specific items featuring the midpoint sign and the 1,139-mile distance figure are particular bestsellers.

Beyond the standard souvenirs, the store carries a substantial selection of Route 66 books and printed materials — comprehensive driving guides, photo books, history books, and detailed regional guides for each of the eight Route 66 states. The book selection is curated rather than generic, with Tommy personally selecting most titles based on quality and traveler feedback. Maps include both standard Route 66 driving maps and several specialized publications difficult to find elsewhere.

The Cars-movie tie-in merchandise is a meaningful portion of inventory, reflecting the popularity of the Pixar film among the families who make up a significant share of Route 66 travelers. The store stocks Cars character merchandise, particularly items featuring Flo and the connection to the Midpoint Cafe across the road, along with general Cars-themed Route 66 items. Tommy is practiced at making the Flo-Midpoint Cafe-Fran Houser connection vivid for children who recognize the character and have just visited the cafe.

The museum portion of the building — open to all visitors at no charge — occupies roughly a third of the store's floor space and displays Tommy's personal collection of vintage Route 66 artifacts accumulated over decades from family inheritances, yard sales, auctions, and trades with other Route 66 collectors across the country. The collection is not formally curated in the museum-professional sense but is densely packed and consistently interesting.

Highlights include several large mid-century neon signs from defunct Panhandle Route 66 gas stations and motels (most no longer functional but visually striking), three or four original gas pumps from the 1930s through 1960s, a substantial collection of period oil cans and motor oil branded merchandise, dozens of vintage Route 66 road maps from various decades, a collection of period postcards documenting Texas Route 66 towns at their mid-century peak, and various roadside ephemera — restaurant menus, motel registration cards, tourist brochures, and amateur photographs donated by Panhandle families.

Tommy is the best guide to the collection and is generally happy to walk visitors through highlights when the store is not too busy. Visits typically last thirty to forty-five minutes — long enough to browse the merchandise, walk through the museum portion, and have at least a brief conversation with Tommy. The store is open daily 9am to 5pm from March through October during peak Route 66 season, with reduced winter hours typically 10am to 4pm and occasional weekday closures. Combining a Tommy's visit with the Midpoint Cafe meal and the midpoint sign photo is the canonical Adrian experience and the obvious itinerary for almost every traveler.