In 1928, a Southland executive brought a totem pole as a souvenir from Alaska and placed it in front of the store. The pole served as a marketing tool for the company, as it attracted a lot of attention. Soon, executives added totem poles in front of every store and eventually adopted an Inuit-inspired theme for their stores. Later on, the stores began operating under the name "Tote'm Stores." In the same year, the company began constructing gasoline stations in some of its Dallas locations as an experiment. Joe Thompson also provided something you could only find at his store, he trained the staff so that people would receive the same quality and service in every store. Southland also started to have a uniform for its ice station service men. This became a good part in the company's success as a convenience store.