More regular updates can be found on Bluesky and the Message Board.
Kroger, Clarksburg WV
This one’s an interesting specimen. It obviously dates from the late 1950s or early 1960s, and was given some sort of “superstore” retrofit in the 1970s. But the original sign stayed, and then the whole building was eventually painted a nice, bland beige. The interior is the slightly cheesy teal “millenium” package that every Kroger in West Virginia seems to have. I think the layout has been altered from the original as well.
It amazes me how many of these smaller and older stores are still operating in parts of West Virginia and Ohio. I’m travelling I-77, I-79, and US 19 a lot these days, since I’m sort of living in Pittsburgh part time now, and I’m seeing a lot of these as I try to vary my commutes between Winston-Salem and da ‘Burgh. I may be posting a few more examples this week.
Raleigh Section Added
I’ve added a new section on the history of stores in Raleigh NC. It’s not as comprehensive as some of my past city features have been, but I may expand it. It currently features a brief history and a photo gallery, plus the obligatory location spreadsheet. Enjoy.
Welcome to the New & Improved Groceteria.com
The very first seed of Groceteria.com was planted ten years ago this weekend, when I posted on one of my other sites about old Safeway locations in San Francisco. In observation of this milestone (and because it’s just time), I’m rolling out the newest incarnation of the site today.
Groceteria is now a database-driven site, using WordPress and several other tools, and this should help me to get the content flowing more quickly in coming months. My apologies for the slow pace while I’ve been working on this upgrade. And be forewarned that I’m still working on it, so things may be a little messy for a while.
Here are some new features:
- You can now subscribe to the “blog” (I hate that word) and get the latest site updates. You can also add comments.
- The image galleries will be connected with my Flickr account. I’m still working on this, but it will ultimately allow quicker updates, and you’ll also be able to subscribe to my feed there.
- I may also add a page made up of other interesting photo and blog feeds. Let me know if you’re interested in having yours added.
I’ve been running most of my other sites in a PHP environment for a long time, but converting this monster has been frightening me for a good year or more. Please let me know what you think and also if you find something that isn’t working.
Now that the structure is more or less done, the content should follow pretty quickly.
Safeway Superstores Ad
Great 1984 commercial for Safeway Super Stores found on YouTube.
The redesign and re-platforming of Groceteria.com continues, and I actually see it being compete within a few weeks, and definitely in time for the site’s ten-year anniversary in July.
Safeway UK
A great photo of a 1960s Safeway in Blackfen, in southeast London, sent to me by Nic Ayling. It’s rare to find photos of UK Safeway stores from this era. He also included some interiors (of a different store, I believe) that demonstrate how Safeway was using more or less the same designs on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Food Fair, Paterson NJ
Food Fair lives. Sort of.
This photo, courtesy of Michael Williams, shows a new indepedent in Paterson NJ, that has adopted the Food Fair name. Interstingly enough, this location had been an actual unit of the Food Fair chain several decades ago as well.
Acme Style
For your amusement: an interesting new site dedicated to Acme history.
Pittsburgh, Charletson, and Richmond
Just returned from my holiday road trip to Charleston WV, Pittsburgh, and Richmond, and I have photos to share. Info on any of the questionable or unidentiied stores is very much solicited.
Some Jerk
Some jerk has stolen an entire page from this site and posted it on his own site (images linked directly from my server and all) without attribution, and he didn’t even include a link to the page he stole it from. Far be it from me to suggest that you add a comment telling him what you think of that, but…
Update: The page was removed shortly after I commented on his site and rather creatively updated the photos he’d leeched.
Food Fair, Cherry Hill, NJ
Wow. What happened to November?
Anyway, the semester from hell is now pretty much officially over (I submitted my last two papers today), and I’m hoping to be a little more active here in the coming weeks. For now, I’ll leave you with this nice shot of the former Food Fair store at Cherry Hill Mall in New Jersey. You don’t often see supermarkets as a part of enclosed malls. In fact, it’s an obscure enough topic to have its own thread on the message board.