Read it here: Krogering in Greensboro.
As a companion to my recent feature on the history of local A&P branches, I have just added a new photo essay detailing the story behind every Kroger location in my hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina, from the first in 1952 to the mass exodus in 1999.
The march toward having all fifty states and ten provinces represented here is nearing its goal. In fact, all the Canadian provinces are already represented as of a few weeks ago. Thanks to Andrew Turnbull for many recent contributions, and also to reader BM10K.
Additions since the last update, more or less in chronological order:
Of course, you could know about these much earlier via Twitter and you could also see road photos, like the ones from my recent trip to Ontario. Much more to come. Here’s what’s in the queue.
Also, I’ve been plugging away at tagging my photo backlog, so look for a lot (like, hundreds) of new photos in a few week.
And now back to not watching the election returns so I’ll actually be able to sleep tonight…
The Kroger location at 700 Spinning Road near Dayton, Ohio, apparently opened in 1967 as part of a small shopping center. Sometime in the 1980s, it was remodeled into a smaller adaptation of the “Greenhouse” style stores Kroger was opening throughout the chain. This decor package featured curving walls and super-graphics using the Bauhaus font. In most stores. The signage colors varied by department, but this is not the case in the Dayton store,. Based on the colors currently used, I suspect the signs may have been repainted during the “Grid” decor years of the 1990s. Otherwise, it is a pretty faithful abbreviated version of the “Greenhouse” model, and it still seems to be doing a pretty brisk business.
Update (30 October 2018): This was delayed. I may work on it this weekend.
Just a quick alert that I will be upgrading the site and message board to SSL this weekend. In a perfect world, the only difference users will see is that addresses will now start with “https” rather than “http” and that you will no longer see the “not secure” warning that some browsers how display. Security is not really an issue here anyway, because users do not submit any sensitive information to the site, but this is something of a new web standard, so I will be implementing it on all my sites anyway.
There is always the chance that there may be glitches somewhere along the way, particularly if you access the site via “groceteria.net” or “groceteria,ca” rather that “groceteria.com.” Let me know if you run into any problems.
Latest additions (more or less chronologically):
Lots of new additions, including the research I did during my recent trip to Atlantic Canada:
Look for photos and some additional info on these soon.
And back in the USA, a set of new additions, mostly thanks to Andrew Turnbull:
Moving toward the goal, there are now 37 of the 50 US states represented on the map, as well as 8 of the 10 Canadian provinces (but none of the territories).
Update: All is well with the message board.
A PHP update at my web host is causing problems with the message board. You can still read posts; there will just be some annoying code at the top of some pages. I’m traveling and have neither the time nor the inclination to work on it till I get home this weekend. Sorry for any inconvenience.
The map is really filling in. Between online resources and a fair amount of travel, not to mention some generous assistance from a guest explorer, there are now thirty states and five provinces represented on the site. The most recent additions are as follows:
And there are a number of cities large and small, American and Canadian, in the queue, including expanded lists for Boston and Toronto, more Metro Cincinnati, Richmond and Petersburg, and more.
In fact, I have decided to set a goal of having at least one city in every state completed within the next year. That said, Alaska might be tricky as there are no real data sources online that I have found. But I’ll try! If anyone wants to help, have a look at my methodology page. It would be great to have locals (who would have access to full runs of city directories in their libraries) pitching in. And maybe I’ll waste time creating some kind of status graphic. Or not…
Over a period of 78 years, from 1909 to 1987, a total of 42 A&P-owned stores opened (and closed) in Greensboro, North Carolina. Of those, 24 are still standing as of 2018. This article series will trace the history of all 42 locations and include photos from the 24 remaining buildings.
Northern and Orman Avenues, Pueblo, Colorado.
As far as I can tell, the top right structure was the original early-1950s “pylon” Safeway. Sometime around 1965-1966, the footprint was dramatically enlarged to create a Safeway/Super S combo. The “scalloped” roof (lower right) was added to the old Safeway to create the Super S drug store and a new Marina-style Safeway was built to the left. The whole shebang closed in the mid-1980s.
The latest updates:
There will probably be more, as this is a holiday weekend in the US and I have no life.
By the way, if you’re interested in contributing content, please see my methodology page. There’s even a handy spreadsheet template.
All the cool kids are doing it.
OK, only a couple of the cool kids are doing it. But that could change…
