New Uses for Grocery Stores

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region.

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romleys
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That store in Tara Hills (El Sobrante)

Post by romleys »

That building used to house a Big T supermarket and prior to that a Louis Store. There were over 40 Louis store locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Charles H:)
tobyradloff2

Post by tobyradloff2 »

I have seen several supermarkets turned into various businesses...I have photos of some of these stores on my Ohio Grocery site http://groups.msn.com/OhioGrocery

These include:

A former colonial A&P in Canton OH that was first a Cadillac and Oldsmobile showroom, and is currently a Social Security office.

Another former colonial A&P, also in Canton, OH, that is now a church.

A former Kroger superstore building in Bedford, OH that is now a Porsche-Audi dealership...the "superstore" archways are still on the building although the structure was extremely facaded.

Former colonial A&P's in Painesville and Reynoldsburg, OH-both buildings are post offices now.

I have other examples of reused supermarket buildings on Ohio Grocery-look at the Kroger and A&P albums.
WhenenRome

Post by WhenenRome »

Many old grocery stores in the Greater Los Angeles area transformed into 99-cent Only stores - a great number of those being former Ralphs stores that they acquired during its buy-out of Alpha Beta. Examples of those would be in Azusa (in the Foothill Center, on Alosta Blvd. & Citrus Ave.) and in Covina (San Bernardino Road & Vincent Ave.).

A very old former Safeway store in Azusa (on Azusa Ave. & 5th Street, right at the entrance to the Downtown) is a brick building that sat vacant for years. For a short time, it was a thrift store. Now it's being renovated by a relocating restaurant / tortilla manufacturer called La Tolteca (some in the LA area may spot their tortillas being sold at their grocery stores).

The old Lucky store in La Verne (on Foothill Blvd. & Fruit St.) became a Marshall's (name-brand discount clothing). That's similar to an old Safeway in Covina (on Azusa Ave. & Badillo St.), which initially became a Roger Dunn Golf Supply when Safeway relocated to a larger structure built within the same center. The Golf Supply shut down and became Smart & Final, and the second Safeway location is now a D-D's Discount (a lower-tier version of Marshall's).

What was originally a Market Basket in Covina (on San Bernardino Rd. & Azusa Ave.) became a Smith's Food King for a very short time before Lucky took over and anchored the shopping center for years. Then Albertson's bought the chain and closed the location (there was already larger Albertson's a block away). Top Valu grand-opened and closed down within a year's time, and now the location has been split-up roughly as 1/3 and 2/3 - with the 2/3 being an Alin's Party Supply and the 1/3 being vacant (though it was briefly an independently-owned dollar store). The strange division has created a very weird-looking and somewhat confusing storefront.
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TheStranger
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Post by TheStranger »

Several in NorCal come to mind immediately, some of which I have photographed at my site...

- The former Safeway at Westborough Square in S. San Francisco, a 1970s-era store (with the circle S signs!) closed in 1997, and has since become a Pet Club.

- Former Brentwood at Sunshine Center in SSF is now a Salvation Army thrift store

- Former Safeway marina on Washington St. in Daly City was a liquor store, then furniture store, before being demolished and replaced with two new buildings for In-N-Out and Krispy Kreme

- In an interesting case, the former Mayfair/Brentwood/Safeway? at Broadmoor Center spent years as an Any Mountain and later REI store, before becoming a supermarket again (a Korean-owned independent, Kukje Market).

- As mentioned in another thread - http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=602 - the marina Safeway on Bayshore Boulevard at Sunnydale in SF is now a showroom for a statue manufacturer.

- The former QFI/Bell at Millbrae Square in Millbrae has become an Office Depot, with the tall pylon still retained. Interestingly, this shopping center also has a still-operating marina Safeway which unfortunately I think was remodeled to cover up the facade.

- The gable Safeway on San Pedro Road in Pacifica was closed in the early 80s (as Safeway moved to the nearby Linda Mar Center) and only recently was reoccupied as the Pacifica Athletic Center.

- In Sacramento, a marina with swooping wings is currently functioning as Tognotti's Auto World.

- A former Albertsons and later Ralphs at Davis Manor shopping center in Davis is currently operating as a Dollar Tree; the front was recently repainted in strange colors per request of the city council.

- Not quite "not supermarket" but the former original Brentwood location in SSF's Brentwood district and a former Cala in Daly City near Mission Plaza each operate as Smart and Final locations now.

- In Richmond on I think 23rd Street is a marina ex-Safeway now operating as a Kragen.
Last edited by TheStranger on 18 Dec 2006 04:27, edited 1 time in total.
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Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

Working on Azusa for years, I am familar with those stores.

Also dont forget the old Safeway on Irwindale and Badillo, or around there. Its a church now.
J-Man
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Alpha Beta to 99 Cents Only

Post by J-Man »

Many old grocery stores in the Greater Los Angeles area transformed into 99-cent Only stores - a great number of those being former Ralphs stores that they acquired during its buy-out of Alpha Beta. Examples of those would be in Azusa (in the Foothill Center, on Alosta Blvd. & Citrus Ave.) and in Covina (San Bernardino Road & Vincent Ave.).
Also converting from Alpha Beta to 99 Cents Only: the location at 2nd Ave. and Duarte Rd. in Arcadia.
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TheStranger
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Post by TheStranger »

Here's a former Safeway (looks to be a possible marina or gable, judging from the setup of the wings with old circle S signpole area, and the front windows) in Raton, NM now serving as the town's municipal building:

http://www.raton-nm.us/courthouseideas/6.htm
Last edited by TheStranger on 12 Oct 2006 15:51, edited 1 time in total.
Chris Sampang
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TheStranger
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Post by TheStranger »

The former marina Safeway on Fulton Avenue in Sacramento's Arden area now operates as Tognotti's, a car parts store. Luckily, they have taken quite a few pictures of the interior and exterior of the still-standing structure, with its swooped-wing design and an unmodified marina ceiling.

http://www.tognottisautoworld.com/pictures.aspx

These shots suggests that the store was already an auto parts dealer by the late 1970s (the Sacramento address listing on this site suggests that this marina only lasted five years or so as a Safeway).

http://www.tognottisautoworld.com/image ... pic_14.jpg
http://www.tognottisautoworld.com/image ... _pic_9.jpg

Here's another shot which shows the slightly angled rock-face wing side:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tspauld/188499119/

Image
Last edited by TheStranger on 12 Oct 2006 15:50, edited 1 time in total.
Chris Sampang
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TheStranger
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Post by TheStranger »

Here's a former Safeway and Thrifty now being used as a swap meet center in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, as photographed by Roadsidepictures in 2003.

http://flickr.com/photos/54177448@N00/229573148/

Image

EDIT: It's been reopened as a supermarket:

http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=656
Last edited by TheStranger on 08 Oct 2006 02:32, edited 1 time in total.
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RandallFlagg
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Post by RandallFlagg »

I believe it was a Shopping Bag market in Upland, CA on Foothill Blvd and 3rd place. It was a Sears Surplus store for many years and then converted to a Pep Boys. The building was paintet, but it still has the large fixed sign on the end of the roof.
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Groceteria
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Post by Groceteria »

TheStranger wrote:Here's a former Safeway and Thrifty now being used as a swap meet center in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, as photographed by Roadsidepictures in 2003.
It woiuldn't surprise me in the least if this had originally been a Safeway/Super S combo, based on the uniform architecture.
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TheStranger
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Post by TheStranger »

Groceteria wrote:
TheStranger wrote:Here's a former Safeway and Thrifty now being used as a swap meet center in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, as photographed by Roadsidepictures in 2003.
It woiuldn't surprise me in the least if this had originally been a Safeway/Super S combo, based on the uniform architecture.
That was actually the first thing I was thinking too...somehow the "wavy marina attached drugstore" look seems like something I have seen before in a photo, though I can't pinpoint where...
Chris Sampang
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TheStranger
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Post by TheStranger »

A former Safeway in the Denver area now operating as a restaurant:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kneel_diam ... et-891625/

Image

Former Safeway in Tantallon, MD that has become a YMCA location:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31476769@N00/114915263/
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Post by Terry K »

Here in Springfield, there's a former Dillon's which was built before Kroger got the company. We have, luckily, a library director who loves to buy old retail establishments and convert them to libraries...this was a Heilig-Meyers after Dillon moved around the corner.

http://www.thelibrary.org/about/lst/libstation.cfm


We also have one functioning Marina in town that is now a Price Cutter (and up until 2000 or so was still in Safeway Decor.
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TheStranger
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Post by TheStranger »

Terry K wrote: We also have one functioning Marina in town that is now a Price Cutter (and up until 2000 or so was still in Safeway Decor.
What is the address of that store? Trying to see if I can find it on googlemaps...I'm thinking it's this one:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q ... =1&iwloc=A

Several Price Cutters in the area do have gable-like roofs...
Chris Sampang
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