Re: Dale's Markets, San Fernando Valley, 1984
Posted: 15 Jun 2021 17:20
Dales Market
My name is Rich Fairchild and I was a long-time employee at Dale’s, starting in 1967 on my 16th birthday at the Panorama City store, store 29 I think and finally ending in 1980 at the same store. I may have worked with some of you. Rudy Zamora was the store manager then and he said to come back when I turned 16 and he would put me to work and he did. Dales was a very family-oriented company and many family members worked together at the same stores. My mom was a cashier at the Panorama City store where I worked, my uncle was a Manager at the Pacoima store. At my store the Receiving Manager, Bob Cox had 2 sons that worked at the same store. That was part of the charm of the company. Over the years there, I moved around a lot, I worked at the liquor warehouse for a while and I spent time in the Juniors too. I was a big kid so when Steve Dale was having problems at one of his junior stores, he would send me there to help out, sometimes as a bouncer. I worked at most of the supers in the San Fernando Valley at one time or another, I had experience in all of the departments so I got called upon quite a bit. I even spent time in Loss Prevention, I worked with Chuck Jones and was the guy who sat behind those two-way mirrors, looking for shoplifters. I remember being at store 31 when Dave Dale would do his Sunday shopping. One of the nice things about the Dale family is that they were always very approachable and would talk to you. On several occasions, I was invited to the Dale house for a Bar-B-Que. I don’t remember too much about Barney Dale, mostly just Dave and Steve. I spent some time at the junior store on Sherman Way, just east of Laurel Canyon, it was in a small shopping center and on the other end of this center was a bar. One day just after I transferred there, I was at the checkout counter when a black Labrador dog walks in the door, the guy I was working with said “watch this”, the dog walked to the pet food section, knocked a can of dog food off the shelf and walked out of the store with the can in his mouth and went back to the bar, a bit later the bar owner came in and paid for the item. At the junior stores, when a cop came in for a soda or a candy bar, you never charged them, just so they would remember you if there was trouble at your store. One night I was running the register and a guy came up to buy some booze, I checked his ID and it looked good so I sold it to him. When he left the store a couple of plain clothed ABC cops stopped him in the parking lot to check his ID, they determined that the ID was fake and came into the store to arrest me for selling to a minor. They took me outside and as they were about to put me in their car when a motorcycle cop pulls into the lot, it was officer Joel Osmond (Eddie Haskell from “Leave it to Beaver”), he vouched for me and they let me go. I left that store because I got tired of getting held up. Sorry for rambling on, so many years, so many stories and no one to share them with.
Thanks for allowing me to be a part of the “Dale’s Market Historical Society”, I am amazed that there are so many people that remember their time there. This site has opened up a floodgate of memories for me, all the way from doing the weekly ad on the marquee sign to decorating the store for the holidays. I grew up at Dale’s Markets.My name is Rich Fairchild and I was a long-time employee at Dale’s, starting in 1967 on my 16th birthday at the Panorama City store, store 29 I think and finally ending in 1980 at the same store. I may have worked with some of you. Rudy Zamora was the store manager then and he said to come back when I turned 16 and he would put me to work and he did. Dales was a very family-oriented company and many family members worked together at the same stores. My mom was a cashier at the Panorama City store where I worked, my uncle was a Manager at the Pacoima store. At my store the Receiving Manager, Bob Cox had 2 sons that worked at the same store. That was part of the charm of the company. Over the years there, I moved around a lot, I worked at the liquor warehouse for a while and I spent time in the Juniors too. I was a big kid so when Steve Dale was having problems at one of his junior stores, he would send me there to help out, sometimes as a bouncer. I worked at most of the supers in the San Fernando Valley at one time or another, I had experience in all of the departments so I got called upon quite a bit. I even spent time in Loss Prevention, I worked with Chuck Jones and was the guy who sat behind those two-way mirrors, looking for shoplifters. I remember being at store 31 when Dave Dale would do his Sunday shopping. One of the nice things about the Dale family is that they were always very approachable and would talk to you. On several occasions, I was invited to the Dale house for a Bar-B-Que. I don’t remember too much about Barney Dale, mostly just Dave and Steve. I spent some time at the junior store on Sherman Way, just east of Laurel Canyon, it was in a small shopping center and on the other end of this center was a bar. One day just after I transferred there, I was at the checkout counter when a black Labrador dog walks in the door, the guy I was working with said “watch this”, the dog walked to the pet food section, knocked a can of dog food off the shelf and walked out of the store with the can in his mouth and went back to the bar, a bit later the bar owner came in and paid for the item. At the junior stores, when a cop came in for a soda or a candy bar, you never charged them, just so they would remember you if there was trouble at your store. One night I was running the register and a guy came up to buy some booze, I checked his ID and it looked good so I sold it to him. When he left the store a couple of plain clothed ABC cops stopped him in the parking lot to check his ID, they determined that the ID was fake and came into the store to arrest me for selling to a minor. They took me outside and as they were about to put me in their car when a motorcycle cop pulls into the lot, it was officer Joel Osmond (Eddie Haskell from “Leave it to Beaver”), he vouched for me and they let me go. I left that store because I got tired of getting held up. Sorry for rambling on, so many years, so many stories and no one to share them with.