Bag N' Box - Wash. DC Area

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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TheQuestioner
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Joined: 28 Nov 2005 16:39

Bag N' Box - Wash. DC Area

Post by TheQuestioner »

I have wondered about this store for a long time, perhaps someone out there recalls this. In the very early 1980's, there was a store in Takoma Park/Silver Spring MD called Bag N' Box (perhaps Bag & Box, not sure of exact spelling of the "and") This store was very low-frills, and the gimmick was that you either bagged or boxed your pruchases yourself, and they had a large supply of cut-open supply boxes up front. They basically saved all the boxes the distributors used to ship them the canned/packaged goods for you to use. Handy when it came to bulky stuff like packs of toilet paper or a bunch of cereal boxes.

I believe this was part of a small chain, but I can't recall any other locations specifically. I am pretty sure it would be local to the DC area if it was a chain. The store was on Piney Branch Rd, near Flower Ave. This location was formerly a branch of the Greenbelt Co-op chain, it even had a service station in the lot of the center that was branded Co-op up until the early 80's. The Co-op grocery allegedly closed around 1972, and was vacant until '79 or so when Bag n Box came. After about 5 years this store closed, and the space became an "International" market, mainly hispanic groceries these days. This center is small, and was possibly constructed as part of Kroger's abortive push into the DC market in the early 60's., though there is another small center like this up Pney Branch that I read elsewhere was Kroger. I am guessing maybe Kroger because a lot of those Kroger locations became Co-op's when Kroger left in the mid 60's.

For those in the area and who are interested, diagonally across the street from this center is a run down supermarket called "Bestway" or something that was Food Fair/Pantry Pride until the early 80's, then became "Shaprio's Food Town" before going independent (and to seed.) Behind that building is a former Super Giant. That one gave up part of it's space (where the "Super" items were sold when Super Giant concept died, only to reclaim the space in the 90's when supermarkets started to become larger in general. In the interim the excess space was rented to a postal sorting facility.
ms.lefty
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Posts: 11
Joined: 03 Oct 2006 12:08
Location: Baltimore, MD

Bag & Box/ Bag 'N' Box

Post by ms.lefty »

I believe this chain extended into the Baltimore area. I think I remember my parents shopping at one - perhaps in Glen Burnie. I will ask my father about it - his memory is really sharp when it comes to grocery stores.
ms.lefty
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Posts: 11
Joined: 03 Oct 2006 12:08
Location: Baltimore, MD

Post by ms.lefty »

Hey, Questioner, while researching another topic I think I found out that I was wrong about Bag 'n' Box in Baltimore. I believe I'm confusing it with a chain (or store?) called Box and Save - there was one in Glen Burnie, MD, which is now a church.
ms.lefty
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Posts: 11
Joined: 03 Oct 2006 12:08
Location: Baltimore, MD

Post by ms.lefty »

Questioner, here's an update - I just spoke with my dad and he says there was a Bag n Box located in the Wilde Lake Shopping Center in Columbia, MD in the late 70s/early 80s. The store either was replaced by a different chain at some point or got renamed, but he says that the new version had considerably higher prices. Since there was an existing Giant Food in the shopping center already, there was no reason to shop there anymore, so the store closed. The shopping center has changed much in the past 20 years (including an expansion of the Giant), but the Bag & Box was located approximately where the Bagel Bin is now.
Bearhawke
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Posts: 46
Joined: 17 Jul 2010 18:41
Location: Phx area, Arizona

Re: Bag N' Box - Wash. DC Area

Post by Bearhawke »

TheQuestioner wrote:I have wondered about this store for a long time, perhaps someone out there recalls this. In the very early 1980's, there was a store in Takoma Park/Silver Spring MD called Bag N' Box (perhaps Bag & Box, not sure of exact spelling of the "and") This store was very low-frills, and the gimmick was that you either bagged or boxed your pruchases yourself, and they had a large supply of cut-open supply boxes up front. They basically saved all the boxes the distributors used to ship them the canned/packaged goods for you to use. Handy when it came to bulky stuff like packs of toilet paper or a bunch of cereal boxes.

I believe this was part of a small chain, but I can't recall any other locations specifically. I am pretty sure it would be local to the DC area if it was a chain. The store was on Piney Branch Rd, near Flower Ave. This location was formerly a branch of the Greenbelt Co-op chain, it even had a service station in the lot of the center that was branded Co-op up until the early 80's. The Co-op grocery allegedly closed around 1972, and was vacant until '79 or so when Bag n Box came. After about 5 years this store closed, and the space became an "International" market, mainly hispanic groceries these days. This center is small, and was possibly constructed as part of Kroger's abortive push into the DC market in the early 60's., though there is another small center like this up Pney Branch that I read elsewhere was Kroger. I am guessing maybe Kroger because a lot of those Kroger locations became Co-op's when Kroger left in the mid 60's.

For those in the area and who are interested, diagonally across the street from this center is a run down supermarket called "Bestway" or something that was Food Fair/Pantry Pride until the early 80's, then became "Shaprio's Food Town" before going independent (and to seed.) Behind that building is a former Super Giant. That one gave up part of it's space (where the "Super" items were sold when Super Giant concept died, only to reclaim the space in the 90's when supermarkets started to become larger in general. In the interim the excess space was rented to a postal sorting facility.
That Giant store: was that the one between Arliss and Piney Branch Rd on the Silver Spring side? Why I wonder is the Co-op is a very fuzzy memory for me. I lived 2-3 streets beyond the opposite side of Flower from 1962-69. It seems that my mom used to go to a Co-op/farmer's market type of place in Tacoma Park back then.
Bearhawke in Arizona
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