These are the latest blog updates. Click on the title to read the full article.
More regular updates can be found on the Twitter Feed and the Message Board.
Groceteria.com in November 2002
Looking through some old files tonight. This is what the site looked like twenty years ago this week, in case that’s a thing you needed to see today.
Just another periodic update
Additions since the last post:
- Tucson Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2022
- Louisville Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1922-2022
- Rochester (Minnesota) Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2020
- Passaic and Clifton Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-1962
- Paterson Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-1964
- Altoona Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2020
- Johnstown Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-1960
- Chattanooga Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1920-2022
Also, if you’re not following me on Twitter, you missed (but can still see) pictures from road trips to Detroit and to Pittsburgh, Altoona, and Johnstown.
Latest batch of new stuff!
Additions since the last post:
- Birmingham AL, 1925-1995
- Bloomfield and Montclair NJ, 1925-1971
- Hagerstown MD, 1922-2021
- Harrisburg and Carlisle PA, 1925-1999
- Jackson, MI, 1924-1996
- Laurinburg NC, 1959-2020
- Lumberton NC, 1938-2000
- Memphis TN 1917-1990
- Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda CA, 1951-1980/1999
- Peoria IL, 1925-2021
- Sioux City IA, 1925-2021
- St Paul MN and suburbs, 1910/1940-2022
And updates:
A reminder: These are announced as they happen on Twitter and in the Message Board.
On Oakland and the Bay Area
Longtime readers may recall that Groceteria.com was born in San Francisco, where I lived from 1992 to 2005. In fact, the San Francisco location list was the first one on the site, followed by Sacramento and Stockton, so I guess Northern California will always seem like a homebase for the site. San Jose, Santa Rosa, and parts of San Mateo, Alameda, and Solano Counties are more recent additions.
One part of the Bay Area has always been conspicuously absent is Oakland and Berkeley. It’s not for lack of effort or interest on my part. In fact, I started an East Bay list more than twenty years ago. But there was a problem. As you know if you’ve read my methodology, my primary source is city directories — not the telephone directories but the Polk (and affiliates) directories. In Oakland, however, there were no city directories published between 1943 and 1967 nor after 1969. This seemed an almost insurmountable problem. I consulted telephone directories, but they tend to be incomplete and almost useless in large urban areas. For example. Safeway did not list any of its store locations in the telephone book; they simply listed one central phone number. I was able to get some names and locations from the phone books, but my estimate was that this would produce a list that was maybe 30-40% complete.
A while back, I finally sprung for the “top level” subscription to Newspapers.com (cheaper than Netflix and far more entertaining) and that’s how I was actually able to finish Oakland after twenty years. It was incredibly labor-intensive and I probably would not be as successful using this approach for an area where I’m not as familiar with the chains and the cities. I scoured ads for the chains, articles about openings and shopping centers, and other sources, and I have finally come up with what I think is a pretty good list of locations in Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, and Piedmont. Is it perfect? Probably not. Are there omissions? Probably so. Is it the absolute best I think I can do right now? Absolutely. I’m hoping it’s about 90-95% accurate according to my standards. I’m quite proud of it. And it was fun doing Bay Area research again.
I also used this as an excuse to update some of the other Bay Area lists as well.
Updates! There are updates!
And as always, if you followed @GroceteriaWeb on Twitter, you’d already know about these. You’d also see lots of photos when I’m on the road.
New location lists:
- Chico and Paradise CA Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1926-1985
- Quad Cities:
- Little Rock and North Little Rock AR Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2021
- Scranton PA Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations. 1925-2021
- Duluth/Superior:
Updates to existing lists:
- Euerka/Arcata CA, updated to present
- Portland ME, updated to add 1990 to present
- Spartanburg SC, various fixes
Boston and more
Just a quick update to mention that I have greatly expanded the Boston listings, taking them back to 1925, and adding Cambridge. I also was recently in Boston taking pictures and generally roaming about the city. I’ll get more of these photos added later, but you may have already seen a good chunk of them if you follow me on Twitter, which you should.
I’m also actively tagging photos with the goal of getting a huge proportion of my collection online within the next year. More on that later.
Site Issues
Just FYI, there was apparently a problem with an older WordPress plugin that I have now disabled. It was causing some strange page artifacts in Chrome and Firefox.
I have disabled several photo galleries in the process and I honestly don’t have time to fix them right now. It may be next week on that.
Let me know if you have problems!
The latest…
…additions, that is:
- Austin TX Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1924-1986
- Danville VA Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1930-2020
- Flint MI Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-1989
- Omaha NE Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1925-2021
- Lion & Ingles & Harris, Oh My! (radio interview with Yer Humble Host)
New additions
Once again, if you followed me on Twitter, you’d hear about these as they happen. You’d also see lots of pictures when I travel. And your life would be complete, guaranteed.
New pages:
- Bridgeport CT, 1925-1985
- Gary IN, 1911-1975
- Kenosha WI, 1931-2020
- Racine WI, 1925-2020
- Saginaw MI, 1925-2020
- Springfield MA, 1925-1989
Updates:
- Alexandria VA, 1927-1979
- Battle Creek MI, 1926-2010
- Lansing MI, 1925-1984
- Sault Ste. Marie MI, 1924-2020
- Waukegan/North Chicago IL, 1925-1990