Welcome!
Established in 1999, Groceteria.com is a site about the history of American and Canadian chain supermarkets, from the 1920s through the turn of the century and beyond. This is not a site about current supermarket issues and operations, and it is not connected with nor owned by any supermarket chain. Here’s what you will find:
- About the site: Learn more about the history of supermarkets, your humble host, and my methodology, not to mention sources and links, and frequent questions.
- Places: Detailed histories of the geography and architecture of chain grocery retailers in the U.S. and Canada since the 1920s. This is the most intensively researched part of the site.
- Chains: Capsule histories of some North American supermarket chains, including photo galleries.
- The message board: A place to discuss the history of supermarkets and other retailers.
Recent Updates
More updates. More additions.
Again, lots of new additions and updates to the location lists. I’m also slowly adding additional material (clippings, photos, other documents) to existing pages.
If you’re not following on Twitter or accessing the Message Board, you’re not getting these as quickly as you could be!
Recent additions:
- Alameda County CA (new section, more to come)
- Athens GA Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1923-2015
- Barrie ON Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1927-2019
- Lindsay ON Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2019
- Orillia ON Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1927-2019
- Owen Sound ON Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1968-2019
- Rapid City SD Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1930-2015
- South Bend and Mishawaka IN Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2015
- Sudbury ON Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2019
- Thunder Bay ON Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1975-2019
- Toledo OH Area
- Wilson NC Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2015
Recent updates:
- Beckley WV Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1929-2010
- Boise ID Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2015
- Dearborn MI Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1930-1988
- Miami FL Area
- Missoula MT Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2015
- Montgomery Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2015
- Portland OR Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1932-1987
- Reno/Sparks NV Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2015
- Salem OR Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1930-1988
- Sioux Falls SD Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2015
Chain store density in 1930
Interesting bit of quick research I put together about the number of chain stores per capita in some American cities in 1930. I was inspired to do this as I started working on the Detroit listings. It seemed to me that there was an inordinately high store count relative to the population, and when I compared Detroit with several other large cities, I realized I was right. Of my semi-random sample, only Atlanta and Washington had higher per capita numbers of chain stores (defined here as companies that had three or more locations) in 1930.
This is unscientific and a not very controlled “quickie” but I may do more detailed research on this over time, because I find it pretty fascinating. It wouldd be interesting to dive into the “why” at some point as well.
|
City |
Chain Stores (1930) |
Population (1930) |
Per 100000 People |
|
276 |
270366 |
102.08 |
|
|
485 |
486869 |
99.62 |
|
|
1499 |
1568662 |
95.56 |
|
|
706 |
900429 |
78.41 |
|
|
509 |
669817 |
75.99 |
|
|
427 |
573076 |
74.51 |
|
|
473 |
804874 |
58.77 |
|
|
167 |
301815 |
55.33 |
|
|
395 |
772337 |
51.14 |
|
|
318 |
634394 |
50.13 |
|
|
191 |
399746 |
47.78 |
|
|
132 |
287861 |
45.86 |
|
|
373 |
821960 |
45.38 |
|
|
155 |
458762 |
33.79 |
New additions and upcoming things
Ketner’s, Lexington NC
Recent additions:
There have been some major urban areas added over the past two months as well as some smaller cities and towns:
- Wichita KS Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1920-2015
- Kansas City MO Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-1992
- St Louis MO Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1933-1975
- St Thomas Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2019 (via Andrew Turnbull)
- Brainerd MN Chain grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1927-1959 (via Andrew Turnbull)
- Woodstock ON Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1926-2019 (via Andrew Turnbull)
- Sault Sainte Marie ON Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2019 (via Andrew Turnbull)
- Port Huron MI Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-1992 and 2019
- Muskegon MI Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1930-1997 and 2019
Recent updates:
- Abilene TX Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1926-2015
- Dallas TX Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1928-1986
- Lincoln NE Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2015
- Green Bay WI Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2004 (via Andrew Turnbull)
- Ypsilanti MI Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1928-2019 (via Andrew Turnbull)
- Ann Arbor MI Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2019 (via Andrew Turnbull)
Upcoming:
- I’ll be doing a roadtrip to Detroit, Toledo, and Windsor later this week, which will result in research and pictures. Follow @GroceteriaWeb on Twitter to keep up (and to get site updates a LOT quicker).
- I’m in the process of adding links and random materials all over the site. A major photo upgrade is still on the way as well.
- The Queue: Upcoming additions.
Archived Updates
The full collection of blog entries and site updates.
