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Spencer’s, Morro Bay CA
Spencer’s in Morro Bay, California, snapped by Mark while he was visiting his parents this weekend. I can’t help thinking this used to be something else. Whatever it was, it looks pretty cool.
Lum’s and Publix
So how sexy is this postcard view of an old-style Publix next door to a Lum’s?
Mmmm. Ollieburger…
Opus Shops at Vons
After all these years, we finally know that Opus shops at Vons, thus placing Bloom County somewhere in Southern California. I’d always assumed it was in the midwest, but what do I know?
Safeway, 7th Avenue, San Francisco (1959-2007)
One of my favorite Safeway locations in San Francisco apparently closed last night. The small-scale Marina-type store on Seventh Avenue is to be torn down and replaced with a new “lifestyle” format store with rooftop parking.
This location opened in 1959, and was probably less than 12,000 square feet. The prototype was designed for smaller lots in residential areas and smaller towns that couldn’t support a full-sized store. It always amazed me how much stuff they managed to pack into the place, and how many customers it managed to accommodate.
It’s been rumored to be closing for several years, and the time has apparently come just shy of its fiftieth birthday. I’ll miss this one.
This is a video capture from a 1974 episode of “The Streets of San Francisco” featuring the location with its signs camouflaged:
A 1999 night shot of the exterior:
Interior photos, circa 2004:
Lowes to Compare
This isn’t really history-related, but my closest local Lowes Foods is closing and will be replaced by a Compare Foods branch soon. I’m a big fan of Lowes in general, but this was a rather creepy and uninviting location, and I think the new tenant may be a big improvement. It’s a pretty good deal for MDI as well; since they own Lowes and supply Compare, they get to keep making money off the location without actually having to operate it.
Anyhow, I just thought I’d throw in that bit of local color and flavor to give you a glimpse into the place yer humble host lives nowadays.
Safeway, Visalia CA, 1982
Sent to me several years ago by Daniel, who participates on the Groceteria Message Board, this 1982 video capture is from a TV news story on the closing of a Marina Safeway in Visalia, California, just south of Fresno. It’s a nice shot of a then-intact interior from the middle to late 1960s.
Jewel, Libertyville IL, 1955
Given the opportunity, who wouldn’t want to shop in this 1955 (pardon the expression) jewel of a store from Libertyville, Illinois. For the explorers among you, it was apparently located at 130 East Cook Street.
Safeway Prototype, 1958
One of Safeway’s planned 1958 store prototypes, from “The New Way at Safeway”, a Progressive Grocer study of the chain. I’d love to have seen one of these if any were actually built.
A&P, Norway MI
Happy New Year!
As 2007 begins, I’m starting what I promised a few days ago. I plan for this journal to be more of a regularly-updated photo journal, with a picture and maybe some accompanying text every few days.
Let’s start with this lovely shot from Norway, Michigan circa 1974. You could argue that the fact that A&P was still operating outdated, tiny stores like this one well into the 1970s is probably why it’s no longer a major national player anymore.
By all logic, this store should have closed in the 1950s. It was anachronistic even thirty years ago, cobbled together as it was from two ancient storefronts midblock, without a parking lot in sight.
It’s just this kind of store, though, that first piqued my interest in vintage supermarkets back when I was a kid in the 1970s. There were one or two in my hometown, and I also remember seeing the few that remained along Peachtree Street in Atlanta when I visited as a small child. It’s a pity I never thought to take pictures of them then.
New Look
A new look for a new year. I hope you all had a great holiday. Over mine, I started yet another site overhaul. The look of the site had been modified, and I have some plans for the new year.
I really plan to concentrate more on the journal section this year, to create more of a photo journal a la Malls of America. I hope to add a new photo, with or without commentary, every couple of days. These will come from my archive (the bulk of which has not been featured on the site for one reason or another) and will also include new stuff I find and items sent in by readers. I may also use this space to alert you to interesting topics on the Message Board.
Other planned projects over the coming months include a drastically overhauled Safeway section, an expanded San Francisco/Bay Area section, and the addition of Winston-Salem NC (where I now live) and neighboring High Point to the Greensboro section, which will then become the North Carolina Triad section.
Watch this space.
