Read it here: Krogering in Greensboro.
As a companion to my recent feature on the history of local A&P branches, I have just added a new photo essay detailing the story behind every Kroger location in my hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina, from the first in 1952 to the mass exodus in 1999.
This is kind of sad. One of the two oldest continuously operating chain supermarkets in my hometown is closing. The Harris Teeter location at Golden Gate Shopping Center opened in 1961 as an A&P. A Kroger opened simultaneously at the other end of the center. The Kroger was replaced about 1975 with one of Greensboro’s first Food Town (now Food Lion) stores. The A&P lasted until the late 1970s and became a Bestway (local chain) and then Harris Teeter in 1988. Centers with two supermarket anchors were common at the time but are rarely seen anymore.
The view above is from 1999. Below is a 1961 “grand opening” photo from the Greensboro Daily News:
Four men sat down at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro NC and changed history. The event was commemorated today with the opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in the former Woolworth store where the sit-ins began.
On the same day, eighty miles south in Charlotte, “Harris Super Markets and Teeter’s Food Marts officially merged to form Harris Teeter Super Markets, Inc. There were already 15 stores in operation. The first ‘Harris Teeter’ store to open under the new banner was in Kannapolis, NC.” (via Harris Teeter website and The Charlotte Observer).
So is that vaguely phallic or what?
The ad is from 1968, again courtesy Pat Richardson (whose site you really should visit). These are actually fairly sophisticated image ads for a smallish regional chain in late 1960s North Carolina, although some might question the “Chinese lady” image of the second ad.
I’ve been incredibly busy with school and work the past few weeks, so the updates have been slow. But it seems I won’t be taking any classes this summer, so that should be good news for the site, if not for my anticipated graduation date.
Hi all. It’s been a crazy couple of months, and I apologize for the fact that the website suffered as my betrothed and I relocated and bought out first house in Winston-Salem NC recently. So it’s goodbye Harris-Teeter on Central, hello Harris-Teeter on Cloverdale.
Now that I no longer live there, I’m finally posting the final pages of the Charlotte section. Today’s covers the 1980s, and it’s the most interesting and complex one of the bunch, I think.
The 1990s and other assorted updates will be coming tonight and in the coming days, I hope.
Link to this entry…
OK, so maybe I wasn’t on the radio a few weeks back as stated. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I’ll update you if I get any more news…
Anyhow, for those who care, I’m working fast and furiously on my new Charlotte section, which is promising to be the most thoroughly researched yet…
If you have any information for me, please let me know. I’m especially light on vintage photos, so these are particularly appreciated, as are additions to the list of stores I’ve compiled. Note that there is no information for the years between 1992 and 2005. I’m working on it; so far I’ve been unable to uncover city directories for these years…
I’ve also been adding some random bits and pieces to the San Francisco section, not to mention Safeway and Lucky to reflect some recent research…
Happy New Year!
I spent my New Year’s Day in Charleston, South Carolina, and it seemed like a good excuse to put up one of my rare self-portraits. The backdrop is a really cool Harris Teeter store crafted from an old railroad warehouse building in the historic district of Charleston.
In case you’re interested and don’t hang around at the Message Board, I’ve posted a few photos there in the Name That Store forum. If you have any guesses, please feel free to let me know…
Poor old, forgotten Winn-Dixie…
For those of you who care about such things, this particular one was originally a Zayre store. The Winn-Dixie relocated from elsewhere in the same center (on Cone Boulevard in Greensboro NC) in the late 1980s, after Zayre gave up on the location…
I believe this was Greensboro’s first Winn-Dixie “Marketplace” location. There was one in Charlotte at Tryon and Sugar Creek with exactly the same façade; it had originally been a Woolco store, and it closed several years ago…
It’s interesting to see how the ever-increasing size of supermarkets caused them to take over so many old discount stores in Greensboro. A King’s store on West Market Street became a Kroger and later a Food Lion. The Kmart across the street became a relocated version of that same Kroger and then a Harris-Teeter. And Greensboro’s other Zayre store was briefly reborn as a Lowes Foods…
I have my doubts that there will be a new tenant in this old Winn-Dixie anytime soon, though…
