These Beloved Grocery Stores Are Gone Forever (discount, department store, Walmart)

[bus man]

When I was a kid my family would vacation in Fort Lauderdale every year, and we did all our shopping at a Food Fair just down the street. May they rest in peace.

[Stripes17]

I remember shopping with my family at the A&P Supermarket in town and the ones in our neighboring towns too. I'll never forget the coffee grinders set up on the end of the cash register lanes. Always smelled so good! I became a vendor to the A&P chain in the 90's, dealing with the folks at the corporate office in Montvale, NJ. They were a great customer. Too bad the chain tanked.

We had a Food Fair store in the neighboring town growing up but didn't shop there. I always remember the brick tower in the front of their building with their name in big block letters.

We also had 3 Grand Union stores in our area. My brother and my best friend both had their first job at the local stored when they were new.

[steiconi]

I went to the Fresh and Easy near my MIL once. Nice store.
There was an Alpha Beta in my hometown, but we shopped on the military base.
I never heard of most of the rest.

[Sassybluesy]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

The only one I knew of was A&P.

A&P and National, for me.

[NW4me]

Originally Posted by saibot

I also remember only Alpha Beta, from my childhood, and Fresh & Easy--that one was just a few years ago.

Any other Californians recall Market Basket and Hughes? My mom also got a lot of produce at a small supermarket called McCoy's, but that may have been a local one-off.

Oh, and Fazio's! There was a Fazio's in La Habra on Whittier Blvd. near Beach Blvd.

I too remember Alpha Beta. But there wasn't anything notable about it.
It was... a supermarket chain, like Ralph's or Safeway.

[motormaker]

Originally Posted by saibot

I also remember only Alpha Beta, from my childhood, and Fresh & Easy--that one was just a few years ago.

Any other Californians recall Market Basket and Hughes? My mom also got a lot of produce at a small supermarket called McCoy's, but that may have been a local one-off.

Oh, and Fazio's! There was a Fazio's in La Habra on Whittier Blvd. near Beach Blvd.

I remember Market Basket and Hughes, plus Mayfair. Supposedly has 1 store left in Hollywood.

[BOS2IAD]

Many of the stores on the list I had never heard of before.

I do remember A&P.

However, they missed one defunct supermarket chain --- First National, which later was called Finast (an acronym for First National Stores). They even had their own line of generics, which were called "Finast". Growing up in MA, my mother often shopped there.

Also, I remember Grand Union. When my parents lived on Long Island for a time, there was one within walking distance to their home.

There was even one Grand Union in Arlington, VA.

Interesting list! Thanks for sharing!

[Forever Blue]

How about The Boys?

Originally Posted by saibot

I also remember only Alpha Beta, from my childhood, and Fresh & Easy--that one was just a few years ago.

Any other Californians recall Market Basket and Hughes?...

I remember Hughes...vaguely.

[Gemini1963]

I'm familiar with Dominick's and Ultra from Chicago, and Grand Union and A & P from Vermont. Also White Hen Pantry, though now I can't remember from when/where in my past. Another one that they did not list is Red Owl, which I was familiar with from vacationing in Wisconsin.

[jcp123]

Only heard of Alpha Beta - that was our grocery store as a kid. Sometime in the 90s it became a Lucky supermarket. About that time we kinda switched to a much more local supermarket, Nob Hill. Not sure why. Anyway, that Alpha Beta-come-Lucky is where I bought a souvenir handle of Jägermeister from my last visit to California.

The other one was A&P. Never shopped at one, but there was a John Updike thing which featured it, A&P stuck with me for some reason.