Last updated on 30 April 2025.
This is a list of all chain grocery locations my research has uncovered in Raleigh between 1924 and 1995, compiled from city directories, telephone books, and other sources. There may be some omissions due to incomplete or missing data, etc. and I welcome suggestions and corrections. Please read about my methodology for more information about what I do and do not include.
View and download a copy of this location spreadsheet via Google Sheets.
I think the information regarding the 800 N. Person Street A&P needs to be edited. I’m pretty sure that store was a Piggly Wiggly back in the ’60’s to maybe early ’70’s, and later became, according to one local friend, a Winn-Dixie, and then an IGA. I don’t recall whether it was also and A&P or not, prior to becoming a Piggly Wiggly. I remember it lastly as an IGA. Can someone check on this? Here’s a map link to the current building on the location: https://tinyurl.com/tscrelr Here’s a pic of what it looked like when it was a Piggly Wiggly: https://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/5096630246/in/photolist-8LnyCu-8LnyBh-8LnyzG-8Ljv6z-yhr7QH-QwnLYe-SYaAiN-SYaAih-SYaAgo-KmjzXK-TAUSAP
This one was definitely an A&P.
The store you’re thinking of was at 718 N. Person, which was maybe half a block south, as the list shows. It was a Piggly Wiggly around 1955-1957 (which is probably when the photo was taken) and had become a Winn-Dixie by 1958. It remained a Winn-Dixie through the mid-to-late 1980s. It may well have briefly been an IGA after Winn-Dixie. It’s no longer standing; there is an apartment building there now.
Just for reference:
1957: https://archive.org/details/hillsraleighwake1957hill/page/206/mode/2up
1963: https://archive.org/details/hillsraleighwake1963hill/page/156/mode/2up
1620 Glenwood Avenue was A&P from 1940-1942. In 1942 it was converted into the Colony Theater. The theater name was changed to Rialto Theater in 1983, and it remains open today. The spreadsheet shows this space as Fosters Gone Ugly, a bar that has since changed names and is known as Proof. The address for this space is 1620.5 (1620 – 1/2 Glenwood). It is numbered this way today because the bar space is immediately adjacent to the theater as it was once the grille for the A&P. It was permanently separated when the theater was created in 1942 and given its own address.
This is an amazing list! Thank you for the hard work! I grew up in N Raleigh and I know we had a Fresh Market out on Falls of the Neuse back in the 1980’s/90’s. I was hoping to find what year it opened, I was a kid in the 80’s and don’t remember exactly when it opened just that it has been there for as long as I can remember if that makes sense?