What are past supermarkets now gone?

[Voebe]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

Smith's, which became Smitty's, which became part of Fry's, which is turn part of Kroger

Alpha Beta, which became ABCO before its eventual demise

Thanks. That's very useful about Fry's taking over Smitty's. Do you remember if Smitty's had a particular reputation? Like for being cheap, or for having a good bakery?

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

In the case of Fry's I think it's just their usual process of replacing older, outdated stores with newer more modern ones. Nothing illegal about that.

I never said there was anything intrinsically illegal about it - but in fact it's possible that the FTC may crack down on it.

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Lucky's, Mega Foods, AJ Bayless

Were all three of them large chains? Were they national? Do you know what happened to them?

Originally Posted by rcarbuilder

Food-4-Less??

I never heard of them, but I see they still exist. Were they more widespread in the past? Are they cheaper than, say, Fry's?

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Voebe

Food for Less

I never heard of them, but I see they still exist. Were they more widespread in the past? Are they cheaper than, say, Fry's?

They are another divisions of Kroger Co. Their nearest store is in El Centro, CA.

The ads look pretty similar to the local Fry's ad. There are substantial price differences between Fry's in Arizona and Smiths in SoCal due to some of the crazy California laws.

In teh Midwest, they are marketed as a value grocery.

[Jimrob1]

In the 70s when I was stationed at Williams AFB in Chandler.. There was a chain of Grocery stores called Piggly Wiggly. I use to shop at one on Chandler Blvd and in Mesa. I think that chain stretched from the South to Arizona into the 80s. There are still some in Florida I think.

[uaeebs86]

Originally Posted by Voebe

Thanks. That's very useful about Fry's taking over Smitty's. Do you remember if Smitty's had a particular reputation? Like for being cheap, or for having a good bakery?

Were all three of them large chains? Were they national? Do you know what happened to them?

Smitty's was one of the first stores I ever went in that in addition to having groceries, had a section with clothing, hardware, toys, etc.. Some also had a restaurant and a snack bar with ice cream.




I think Lucky's was mostly California and Arizona and Nevada early on. GEMCO was another department type store with a grocery section - membership was $1 for life. Apparently GEMCO was owned by Lucky's.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Stores




AJ Bayless was in Arizona only. I bagged groceries for AJ Bayless my senior year of HS and my father-in-law worked in the warehouses for them and Basha's.




9 Stores That Anyone Who Grew Up In Arizona Will Undoubtedly Remember


https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/arizona/az-old-stores/

[Aboom]

Pic pac

[DAXhound]

Southwest Supermarkets....in 1998, they had big limes at 40 for a Dollar. Five pound block of white American cheese was 9.99...i bought frozen balls of pizza dough at Romanellis on 35th and Dunlap for 99 cents, and the 25 oz cans of Trader Joe's marinara were also 99 cents. ....made pizzas.

[kell490]

Originally Posted by DAXhound

Southwest Supermarkets....in 1998, they had big limes at 40 for a Dollar. Five pound block of white American cheese was 9.99...i bought frozen balls of pizza dough at Romanellis on 35th and Dunlap for 99 cents, and the 25 oz cans of Trader Joe's marinara were also 99 cents. ....made pizzas.

As I get older and last 4 years never experienced inflation like this. Reminds me of my grandfather telling me how bread was 25 cents, and could buy breakfast at a coffee shop for $2. I remember Smittys coffee shops had breakfast for $3-4 wasn't much of a breakfast. Even Denny's was $8-9 for a Grandslam.


I remember like your mentioning so many things were 99 cents. I guess we will be telling our grandkids one day same thing "I remember when you could get a bag of limes for a $1".

[DAXhound]

Originally Posted by kell490

As I get older and last 4 years never experienced inflation like this. Reminds me of my grandfather telling me how bread was 25 cents, and could buy breakfast at a coffee shop for $2. I remember Smittys coffee shops had breakfast for $3-4 wasn't much of a breakfast. Even Denny's was $8-9 for a Grandslam.


I remember like your mentioning so many things were 99 cents. I guess we will be telling our grandkids one day same thing "I remember when you could get a bag of limes for a $1".

40 pound boxes of oranges outside of Bakersfield...3 Bucks.

[kell490]

Originally Posted by DAXhound

40 pound boxes of oranges outside of Bakersfield...3 Bucks.

Not a supermarket in a city.

[mickjeco]

The band Cake had a song called "Alpha Beta Parking Lot" a lot of people argued about what it meant, not realizing it was the name of a defunct grocery store chain.

[url]https://youtu.be/Kh2NpJqU9EE[/url]

A.J. Bayless became A.J.'s Fine Foods, which was acquired by Basha's after going through bankruptcy in the late 1980s. Some of the A.J.s Fine Foods became Food City stores, which is also owned by Basha's.