These are the latest blog updates. Click on the title to read the full article.
More regular updates can be found on the Bluesky/a> and the Message Board.
Site Problems Courtesy of Dotmaniac.com
Of course, if you can read this, you’re not having trouble accessing the site. But if you had trouble on Wednesday, it was due to an error on the part of my domain registrar. I renewed Groceteria.com last week, but apparently they never marked it as such, and the domain was allowed to “expire”, making this site completely inaccessible to most of the world as of Wednesday morning. I have some evidence that it will be corrected by Thursday — not that the aforementioned registrar has answered any of my queries, mind you.
Sorry for any inconvenience. It pretty much sucks for me, too.
My Mural (Sort Of)
Photo by Mark Winston.
Finally, a picture of the historic mural in the new/old Lucky Stores of Northern California. I’ve been itching to see this, because I supplied their ad agency with three of the six photos they used. Once again, my betrothed has come to the rescue.
Randomness
Sorry. I haven’t been doing much exploring of my own lately, although I have completed a very nice paper on the validity of paid placement search engine results and also an annotated bibliography on historical document digitization projects in the past few weeks, just in case anyone cares. But I’m planning on getting away this weekend, so there’s no telling what I might come back with (or where I might go).
Above photo courtesy of Mike in New Jersey.
The photo above shows the remains of an A&P on Mt. Prospect Avenue in Newark. It’s still selling groceries probably seventy years after A&P moved in, so the location was obviously pretty good. The sign was evidently of pretty high quality as well.
Above photo courtesy of Jess Cliffe, Vintage Seattle.
Recently spotted online:
- Vintage Seattle on the closing of the 1960s era Marina-style Safeway store in Bellevue.
- Pleasant Family Shopping, featuring some of the most beautiful vintage store photos I’ve seen anywhere.
Columbia SC
We all have our fetishes related to vintage stores, I guess. One reader is particularly interested in floor tiles, while a few others are fascinated by various HVAC components. A big one for me has always been the front entrance. I get really excited when I find an old store that still has its original door configuration, and especially so when it has its original doors, as does this former Colonial store on North Main Street in Columbia SC. I was obsessed with old doors when I was a kid and was first looking at — and drawing pictures of — old stores.
Here’s another one from my Saturday road trip, located on Harden Street in Columbia’s Five Points area. I’m not sure what it was (Columbia is definitely a future research candidate) but it sure is pretty.
Maybe I’ll add a “doors” feature to the site one of these days.
Day Trip
This beauty from the 200 block of East Front Street in Burlington NC, just a few blocks from Blanche Taylor Moore’s Kroger, undoubtedly started life as a Big Star about 1938 or so. A lot of variations on this prototype were built in the southeast in the late 1930s, and a good proportion of them have held up remarkably well. The craftsmanship and materials are a stark contrast to the cheap stucco effects on most new chain stores.
I’m also guessing the building to the left was a 1940s A&P, but I’ll save that for another post.
Also from this weekend’s long drive:
I’m saying with maybe 60% certainty that this building from downtown Yanceyville NC once housed an A&P.
This Family Dollar on South Scales Street in Reidsville NC was definitely something, probably an A&P as well, but I’m not sure. It also looks like it may have expanded into a neighboring (but built at the same time) adjacent storefront.
Groceteria on the Good Morning Show
Groceteria.com was featured on last Thursday’s Good Morning Show here in the Triad. You can watch, if you’re so inclined. For trivia’s sake, I’ll add that I interned on that show many, many years ago when I was still contemplating a broadcasting career, rather than a career designing websites for TV stations.
I know I’ve said this before, but my apologies to everyone I’ve completely ignored for the past ten days or so. You can’t imagine how overextended I’ve been between the fact that this is the busiest time of year for pretty much all my web clients and the fact that my first two weeks back in school proved a bit more hectic than I’d envisioned. Throw in one major family gathering, one part-time job, and several assorted minor crises, and you have me, as of today.
It’ll be better in about two weeks.
Randomness
Courtesy of Mike, this photo of the spooky, abandoned A&P offices in Paterson NJ shows label scars from at least two different versions of the A&P logo.
From Robby Delius, an interesting TV news shot of an early 1980s Big Star in Durham NC highlights the chain’s Grand Union era makeover.
Groceteria on Yahoo
For those of you who care, your humble host is interviewed today on Yahoo! Picks Profiles. It’s a followup to when this site was a Pick of the Week back in 2001.
Shop Groceteria.com
Allow me to introduce Shop Groceteria.com. Once inside, you can purchase books on supermarket history, movies that feature vintage store locations, and (surprise) even groceries. You can actually use this page (or the handy Amazon search box in the right column of this page) to make all your purchases from Amazon.com, and a portion of every purchase goes to support my reading and video habit this site’s lofty educational mission.
Enjoy.