Groceteria.com Message Board

The Jewel in my neighborhood of Bridgeport on the southside of Chicago, was built in 1967, before the advent of Jewel-Osco. This little store is bustling, but like everything in the neighborhood, has not changed much since it opened and is still the newest grocery store in the neighborhood and the only one that's part of a chain.

Great photos. Thanks.

It's interesting that it still had a street/sidewalk orientation as late as 1967. A lot of urban stores didn't by that time. If you hadn't mentioned its construction date, I'd almost guess that it was an even older store that had been renovated.

As I've said before, less affluent areas like the South Side, etc. are often the best areas to study old chain prototypes because subsequent tenants are less likely to have had the money to substantially alter them. It's particularly cool that, in this case, the original chain tenant is still there.

Those are awesome photos! Reminds me of another Jewel store that last I checked was still a Jewel. I think it is located on Central and Lawerence. If I am not mistaken the building of this one looks exactly that one. Does this old Jewel have kind of an odd layout inside?

Also, I have to agree. Going through less affluent neighborhoods and you find a lot of these old grocery stores unaltered and still intact. As for the street/sidewalk orientation maybe one reason this store was constructed in that way that late in the development was the fact that the devlopers probably didn't have a lot of space to work with which looks to be that way from the photos.

The lot is fairly small for such a large building. From this image from Live Search, it looks like that's the only way they could fit the building onto the site.

The layout isn't too odd. Like most stores, the entrance leads in front of the registers and then into parallel shelves perpendicular to that main street (Halsted). It looks like it was built for the configuration that it holds now, and probably has always held. Also, from Google Maps, the building is about 100' deep from the road x 200' long, so 20,000 sf. By reference, the new Jewel on Roosevelt that it competes with is 55,000.



Here's the Live Search images of the one at Central & Lawrence in Jefferson Park. It's obviously of the same style, though it looks a little different, and is accessed via a walk across the parking lot. I'm interested in the interior, though, so I'll have to take a trip up there and see what it's like. It's listed as built in 1967 also, so the two are obviously brothers (or are supermarkets sisters?)

Maybe I jinxed it...

I just got word that the Jewel at 30th & Halsted is closing, effective 3pm on September 6th. It will be sold, and given the state of development in Chicago right now, probably torn down and replaced by townhomes.

Never mind the fact that there are now no real grocery stores left in Bridgeport...

I'm not suprised. It seems like Dominick's and Jewel don't see fit to keep these smaller stores open.

Years ago there was a Dominick's on Central Ave. Between Deversey & Fullerton Aves and it's still a supermarket though it's called something else and I've heard of other examples where these stores might get taken over byt some Oh I can't find the right word for it and they still remain food stores.

It's surprising that this is closing. Jewel has remodeled other small stores like the one on Broadway near Addison. Bridgeport also had a Dominick's in the not too distant past and there was another Jewel further South around 47th & Ashland. The one near 35th St. near "the Gap" looks like it's been remodeled in the recent past and must be awaiting the continued redevelopment of the area, but that side of the Dan Ryan is probably still beyond the the comfort zone of people who would have patronized this one.

The buildings definately look much the same except that one had much more space to work with while the other did not.



The one on Lawrence always struck me as being a little odd in layout. Mostly because I remember the floral department was somewhere in the back atypical from other Jewels I used to frequent around the same time. It has been years since I actually have shopped at that Lawrence location though so my memory is a bit fuzzy aside from the floral department location.

It is a shame that the store is actually closing! And today of all days. I thought Bridgepart had a Dominick's, though?

There was one Jewel store that fit the small model that was remodeled on Belmont a few years ago. A lot of new things were added inside the small space including things that might appeal to the ethnic make-up of the neighborhood. It failed and closed recently and now a newly remodeled building sits idle and emoty.

Was that near Central Ave?

Yes, it was. It still sits there empty and lonely. And there is another abandoned Jewel on Belmont and Pulaski although that one was much bigger.