LA Safeways That Became Vons

Uh...California.

Moderator: Groceteria

jamcool
Veteran
Posts: 213
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 16:10

Post by jamcool »

The Safeway in Blythe was converted to a Ford dealership. It closed before Vons took over.

Blythe was the victim of supermarket mergers/closedowns...at one time it had Safeway, Albertsons, Alpha Beta, and Mega Foods...today the only big grocer in town is Albertsons.(and whatever grocery items are available at the Blythe KMart)
User avatar
shane
Contributor
Posts: 34
Joined: 04 May 2006 20:50
Location: Palmdale california

Post by shane »

In the city of Lancaster there is a Grocers Outlet which was formerly a Vons, and formerly a Safeway it has the marina style roof; this store is located at 45124 N. 10th St. West Lancaster California. In the city of Palmdale there is a Smart and Final which was formerly Safeway located at 266 E. Palmdale Blvd. I'm not sure if this store was ever a Vons.
J-Man
Veteran
Posts: 136
Joined: 07 Jul 2006 00:14
Location: Duarte, CA

Monrovia Safeway

Post by J-Man »

1. Monrovia - 210 Fwy. & Huntington Dr (now a Marshalls)
This store (in the Huntington Oaks Shopping Center) was converted to a Vons before it became Marshalls. It was probably only open as a Vons for a year or two. I remember thinking how wasteful it must have been to spend all of that money converting the store from a Safeway to a Vons only to have it go under in such a short time.
Cragmont Charlie

Post by Cragmont Charlie »

In South Orange County, there was a Safeway that was built as part of the Monarch Bay Plaza and carried out the same architectural theme of the plaza, i.e. stucco walls and red tile roof. Flanking each entrance to the store were large Safeway logos executed in red and white mosaic. This store became a Pavilions and in its latest incarnation is a Gilson's. In addition, there was a Safeway store in downtown Redlands on Orange Street, near the I-10, but this had already closed by the early 1970's and the structure has been demolished.
OCRedCub
Contributor
Posts: 48
Joined: 30 Aug 2006 01:29

Post by OCRedCub »

Safeway opened a location in La Habra on the southwest corner of Imperial and Idaho in the mid-80s. It became a Vons a few years after opening.
Around the same time a Smiths opened a few blocks west on the northwest corner of Imperial and Beach. When they pulled out of Southern California, this location became Vons (and still is a Vons) and the old location became Marshalls. I think it's now a Michaels craft store.
This location has an interior sign above the entrance "Serving La Habra since 1989"
Do most Vons stores have this inside sign? I've also seen it on Safeways in the Bay Area (I remember thinking the store in Albany had been around a LONG time!)
User avatar
runchadrun
Veteran
Posts: 618
Joined: 27 Dec 2005 14:29
Location: Granada Hills (Los Angeles), CA
Contact:

Post by runchadrun »

OCRedCub wrote:This location has an interior sign above the entrance "Serving La Habra since 1989"
Do most Vons stores have this inside sign?
My local Vons had a sign that said "Serving Granada Hills since 1996" even though it was a replacement store for a much smaller store in the same shopping center (now a Ross). The store was never a Safeway. The staff had been trying for years for them to change it, and it wasn't until the Lifestyle format remodel last year that it was changed to "1960."
TheQuestioner
Contributor
Posts: 95
Joined: 28 Nov 2005 16:39

Post by TheQuestioner »

In the Bay Area, pretty much all Safeways have a motto such as this above the checkstand area on the front wall. I think the dates stated are pretty liberally applied. There's a late 70's/early 80's Safeway in San Leandro next to I-880, and it says "Serving San Leandro since 1927." Clearly, it's not the same building, and old arial photos of the are I've seen from the 50's/60's show that area to be vacant or warehouse/industrial use. I think Safeway takes the date they first opened *any* store in a community and uses it on all stores. There are other Safeways in San Leandro, and maybe one of them is on the site of the 1927 store, but otherwise it's kind of misleading, especially in a bigger town that can have many locations.
Jeff
Veteran
Posts: 940
Joined: 21 Nov 2005 21:44

Post by Jeff »

There was a former safeway later vons in hawaiian gardens that had the "serving hawaiian gardens since 1984" but the store recently closed.
User avatar
Groceteria
Great Pumpkin
Posts: 1927
Joined: 04 Nov 2005 12:13
Location: In the breakroom
Contact:

Post by Groceteria »

TheQuestioner wrote:I think Safeway takes the date they first opened *any* store in a community and uses it on all stores.
That's correct. I was writing a reply to this effect earlier when we had a big power outage here. The problem is that they occasionally get confused. Safeway opened its first San Francisco stores in 1927 (although a few Skaggs stores had been open a few years prior to that), but I've seen signs reading 1927, 1928, and I think even 1926 or 1929 in various stores in the city. The signs also aren't found in every store.
User avatar
Daniel
Veteran
Posts: 283
Joined: 11 Nov 2005 04:09

Post by Daniel »

In the few Vons stores I'm familiar with, the opening year was correct for that particular store. The now defunct Clovis store said 1986, which was the year that location opened. The defunct store at Cedar & Dakota said 1985, which is the year it opened as Vons. (The building opened in 1984 as a Sav-On and closed the same year.) I would hazard a guess that in areas where Safeway has operated for an eternity (Such as the SF bay area) it's harder for them to get accurate dates for each location so they "guesstimate". The newer stores here in the Valley probably have better records availible as far as opening dates and things like that.
User avatar
steps
Veteran
Posts: 178
Joined: 02 Jan 2006 21:06
Location: Hollywood
Contact:

Post by steps »

the Pavilions in Hollywood (the one as my avitar!) says serving u since 1969?...not too sure on the date...but i do know it was a Safeway before a Pavilions....
Pavilions, the new, the unusal, the BEST of everything!
User avatar
TheStranger
Veteran
Posts: 720
Joined: 18 Sep 2006 01:26
Location: California

Post by TheStranger »

Reviving this topic...

- In the "divested regions" thread I started a week or so ago, I found and posted photos of several SoCal Vons marinas (Long Beach, Carpinteria, and the Alvarado store)...

- The Highland Park store, according to this shot from Live Local, operated as a Pic N Save for a spell:

Image

- Here's a shot of the San Dimas marina on Live Local, although front area has been remodeled a bit.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8282/swydimasii6.jpg

- And speaking of remodeled marinas, here's Live Local's shot of the location in Rancho Palos Verdes on Hawthorne that was mentioned earlier:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8489/swyrpvcy3.jpg

- Even more drastic in another Live Local view is the Bed Bath and Beyond at Ventura and Whitsett in the valley; the Marina roof is still visible from overhead while the remodeled false-front sticks out as well.
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/665/ ... ettfu2.jpg

- Live Local view of the Santa Monica/Montana Pavillions; the stone facade and a close look at the curved roof are hints of the store's past, covered up by a new flat facade added recently.

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4049 ... anamg9.jpg

EDIT - This thread is talking about that specific store: http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=650

- Is this Live Local view the former Downey gable? There are several shopping centers in the area but this was the only building with a noticeable roofline...

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/4009/downeytv2.jpg

- One more Live Local find for tonight: the Sylmar store at Gladstone and Hubbard...

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9323 ... marak2.jpg
Last edited by TheStranger on 12 Oct 2006 15:37, edited 2 times in total.
Chris Sampang
User avatar
runchadrun
Veteran
Posts: 618
Joined: 27 Dec 2005 14:29
Location: Granada Hills (Los Angeles), CA
Contact:

Post by runchadrun »

I lived up the street from the Bed Bath & Beyond when it was remodeled in about 2000. The last time I was in there the arched beams were still exposed inside.

My recollection is that the Aaron Brothers (that's the store on the left side of the building) was built first. Then a couple years later the BB&B was extended a few feet on the right (you can see the seam in the roof), and then the big addition in the back which is mainly a loading dock and stockroom.
User avatar
TheStranger
Veteran
Posts: 720
Joined: 18 Sep 2006 01:26
Location: California

Post by TheStranger »

A little bit more digging through Live Local birdseye view shots...all locations here have been mentioned earlier in the thread.

- Lancaster
Image

- Palmdale
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/2892 ... alekc8.jpg

- West Covina
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/4641 ... inanh0.jpg

- Ontario
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/5545 ... rioxl5.jpg
Last edited by TheStranger on 12 Oct 2006 15:38, edited 1 time in total.
Chris Sampang
Jeff
Veteran
Posts: 940
Joined: 21 Nov 2005 21:44

Post by Jeff »

Chris, for some reason I cant use live local now. Can you email me about it:

jmarellano@gmail.com

Also, check out the marina Safeway in Monterey Park (Garvey and Atlantic)
there was a safeway in Montebello (former Thriftimart) on Beverly/Montebello
and in San Gabriel (San Gabriel Bl just south of Las Tunas)
Post Reply