Possible former Kroger? 3222 S. Main Joplin, MO

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lugnut
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Possible former Kroger? 3222 S. Main Joplin, MO

Post by lugnut »

I'd never really thought about this building being a former grocery until seeing pics of the Kroger Superstore design here on the forum, and suddenly those arched entrances seemed awfully familiar...

Image

What do you think? It's got a couple things going against it possibly having been a Kroger - mainly that I don't think they've got a presence in this part of the state, though perhaps they did at one time. Plus, while it looks pretty close to my untrained eyes, it doesn't seem like quite an exact match, but I'm also pretty sure the exterior of this store was slightly messed with during the '90s - I'd swear I remember a covered walkway like the Superstores all seem to have, but clearly it's not there anymore.

On the other hand, we *do* have a Dillon's store or two in the area - did they use this design as well? I know the May's has been there since at least 1985 (oldest phonebook I have around, heh), and when I was a kid in the '80s this was always considered the "new" May's, since there's an older location in another part of town, so it's possible it hadn't been May's too long prior to '85, but I just don't remember what was in it before.

(And speaking of Dillon's, there's a very vintage-looking location in town I need to get some pics of...)
krogerclerk
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Re: Possible former Kroger? 3222 S. Main Joplin, MO

Post by krogerclerk »

Kroger had a Kansas City division until 1981-82 and the Dillon merger didn't happen until 1983-84. I believe Kroger and A&P both exited the region at roughly the same time frame.

The store appears to be an older store that got a Kroger superstore remodel, and there appears to be some modifications to the store front since. I can't say for sure this is a former Kroger superstore, but it looks very much like the Grosse Pointe Twnshp, MI store:
http://tch546.tripod.com/smkt/kroco.html
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Andrew T.
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Re: Possible former Kroger? 3222 S. Main Joplin, MO

Post by Andrew T. »

I doubt this building was ever a Kroger. Even if the exterior was heavily remodeled along the way, there are too many details that are "off:" The arches are too narrow, the columns are too scrawny, and the entrance configuration bears little resemblance to that of any Kroger store I've seen.
"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
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terryinokc
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Re: Possible former Kroger? 3222 S. Main Joplin, MO

Post by terryinokc »

I have visited this store before.....I didn't get the "Kroger" feeling......there was a Consumers Market in this neighborhood.....I would lean more to that...Consumers Markets was a local chain of several stores based in Springfield, MO.
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Andrew T.
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Re: Possible former Kroger? 3222 S. Main Joplin, MO

Post by Andrew T. »

I realize this is another long-dead thread whose author will never see this update...but I dug into the Joplin newspapers and found answers!

The property has housed a May's Drug Warehouse or May's Super Drug Center since 1976. Both the tenant and the chunky architecture are original, and it never was a supermarket.

The exact provenance of the location is a bit complicated, however. It seems that before the drugstore opened, the site was actually home to a Missouri National Guard armory, of all things! Even more surprising, May's in 1975 briefly reused the armory building as a liquor store before demolishing the structure and building the store at the top of this thread in its place.

Incidentally, the store in question is no longer a May's Drug Warehouse...the parent company of May's was purchased by Walgreens in 2012, and the store now sprouts a Walgreens sign; with no other outward alterations.
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"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
Andrew Turnbull
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