That I spent a chunk of my Saturday night on the iPad using Google Street View to determine the location of the closest supermarket to Hyacinth Bucket’s house and then got really excited when I determined that it would have been this Morrisons that I believe was originally a Safeway?
It’s even on the way to Onslow and Daisy’s house.
While doing research for some long-promised updates on the site, I ran across this ad from 1941 that lists six new “deluxe drive-in” Safeway stores in Spokane, Washington, along with a list of all then-extant stores in the city. It gives a great picture of Safeway’s presence in one city at the time, as well as providing a glimpse into the state of the chain in general.
By 1940, Safeway had moved decisively into the “supermarket” era after a somewhat conservative start. New stores at the time averaged 6000-6500 square feet and boasted tiled meat and produce departments and employee showers. These stores were also among the first to feature parking lots as a standard amenity, usually to the side of the store and approximately the same square footage as well. Safeway had been building some stores with parking lots as early as the late 1920s, but they were far from universal. In fact, in 1940, Safeway was operating hundreds of older units in taxpayer strips or on the first floors of apartment or commercial buildings, most of which were a fraction of the size of the new supermarkets and some of which dated from the 1920s and had originally operated under any number of other brands. The Spokane stores, for example, had largely started under the Piggly Wiggly, MacMarr, or Pay’n Takit names, all of which had different points of entry into the Safeway corporate structure.
A surprising number of Safeway’s class of 1941 are still standing in Spokane, including a very ornate former Pay”n Takit store like the one shown above. Here’s the list:
New “Deluxe Drive-in” stores:
- Division and Garland
- 3rd and Sherman
- South Monroe at 10th (could not locate the store near this intersection)
- Broadway and Walnut
- 3rd and Cedar
- N. Monroe at Jackson
Existing stores:
- 514 S. Washington St.
- 727 W. Garland Av.
- 814 W. Riverside Av.
- 1704 N. Monroe St.
- 5005 N. Market St.
- 3002 Grand Av.
- 2022 E. Sprague Av. (this is a very ornate former Pay’n Takit)
- 3315 Northwest Blvd.
- Division at Sinto
- Hamilton and Mission (interestingly enough, there’s still a Safeway at this intersection, albeit not a 70-plus year old one)
Four men sat down at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro NC and changed history. The event was commemorated today with the opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in the former Woolworth store where the sit-ins began.
On the same day, eighty miles south in Charlotte, “Harris Super Markets and Teeter’s Food Marts officially merged to form Harris Teeter Super Markets, Inc. There were already 15 stores in operation. The first ‘Harris Teeter’ store to open under the new banner was in Kannapolis, NC.” (via Harris Teeter website and The Charlotte Observer).
There’s a new section on Tampa Bay area chain supermarket history, with a timeline and additional photos.
Enjoy.
Aside from being hilarious, this training video gives a great look at a 1985 Publix store.
You rarely find a former centennial A&P like this with its pole sign largely intact. This store is in the 1200 block of Pittsburgh Street in Cheswick PA. The whole surrounding shopping center is a little odd, as it contains a two-story building that looks like it may have housed a skating rink or a bowling alley upstairs. Underneath is a block of stores, one of which is currently a Goodwill, but feels very Kroger-like inside.
More photos after the jump.
In 1954:
And in 2010:
This is the very first Publix store, opened in 1930 at 58 4th Street NW in Winter Haven FL. Ten years later, it moved a few blocks over to this location, the prototype for many others in the next decade or so:
More exciting stuff from my winter road trip when I return from it in a couple of days. Until then, Happy New Year!
Just a check-in to remind you that yer humble host is still alive and well, and will be graduating with his shiny new master’s degree in just a couple of weeks. I’ve also taken a full-time job as a digital project manager at a large state university library. The combined forces of a new job and my last semester in school have taken their toll on the site, I know, but I’m hoping to get the momentum back soon. Currently in progress: my revised history of Safeway (still), new photo galleries for most of the site, and my history of chain supermarkets in Pittsburgh. I also have articles on the way from other contributors (more soon).
In the meantime, enjoy the magazine photo above, of the Millbrae CA Safeway in 1963. It has nothing to do with this post, but it sure is pretty…
Now that I have the shell of the new site done, I’m in the process of adding new content. Most of that, for now, is going to be photos, because I have too much other stuff going on right now to concentrate on writing. Look for the beginnings of my Pittsburgh section soon (Ive completed the preliminary address list) and maybe that new history of Safeway one of these days.
Today, though, I have added nice new flickr-generated photo galleries for the following:
I’m going to rework and update the old galleries like these (lots of new photos involved) first and then start adding new galleries.
Enjoy.
Thanks to Wayne Henderson for the Big Star photo above, which is of the now-demolished downtown Raleigh store.
