Vintage Supermarkets in Movies and TV (Old Ones Only Please)

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region.

Moderator: Groceteria

User avatar
Daniel
Veteran
Posts: 283
Joined: 11 Nov 2005 04:09

Post by Daniel »

Edric Floyd wrote: BTW: does anyone know what store James Garner is in when pictured in the opening sequence of "The Rockford Files"?
I have wondered the same thing. I am guessing it was one of the So Cal grocers, but I am unfamiliar with the 60's decor packages of Ralphs, Vons or Alpha Beta so I couldn't guess what store that was filmed in...
User avatar
runchadrun
Veteran
Posts: 618
Joined: 27 Dec 2005 14:29
Location: Granada Hills (Los Angeles), CA
Contact:

Post by runchadrun »

A current ad for Johnsonville Brats (where someone is giving out free samples) was filmed inside a HOWS Market, a small independent chain in Southern California. The blue signage on the walls is a dead giveaway.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't filmed in my local store in Granada Hills, but there are only 4 stores in the chain so removes 1/4 of the possibilities :-)
rich
Veteran
Posts: 673
Joined: 15 Nov 2005 20:51
Location: Washington, DC

More groceries in film...

Post by rich »

There's a Winn-Dixie in "Goldfinger", when the MI-5 guys are trailing the guy who wanted his gold (he and the subsequently car get compacted) they pass it in the background.

THe grocery store in "The Deer Hunter" (where Meryl Streep works) is on Professor Avenue in Cleveland. It's been a series of independents, after having started out as a Fisher Foods store.
ascjon
Member
Posts: 7
Joined: 12 Feb 2006 19:04
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Post by ascjon »

In an early episode of Friends (season 2 I think), Lady Lee (Lucky) milk is featured during an informercial in which Joey is trying to open a carton of milk. I always loved that since the show was set in New York.
User avatar
Daniel
Veteran
Posts: 283
Joined: 11 Nov 2005 04:09

Post by Daniel »

There was another episode of Friends where someone took a Vons brand Mac and Cheese from the cupboard. Amusing, because like you say, the show was set in NYC.

I noticed a lot of Ralphs brand (With the Ralphs covered up leaving a red oval) products on Roseanne, which was supposed to take place in Illinois. Another one was Married With Children, Al had a box of Town House (Safeway) raisin bran -- I don't think Safeway ever operated in Chicago where that show took place.
ieguy441
Contributor
Posts: 67
Joined: 12 Feb 2006 01:26

Post by ieguy441 »

ascjon wrote:In an early episode of Friends (season 2 I think), Lady Lee (Lucky) milk is featured during an informercial in which Joey is trying to open a carton of milk. I always loved that since the show was set in New York.
I remember that too! Quite a few TV shows featured Lady Lee products, most of them taking place where there was no Lucky.
User avatar
runchadrun
Veteran
Posts: 618
Joined: 27 Dec 2005 14:29
Location: Granada Hills (Los Angeles), CA
Contact:

Post by runchadrun »

If you know where the studios are located (and most are in the San Fernando Valley, not Hollywood) and what is filmed where, it's not surprising what products appear in what shows. Of course, it all boils down to where the prop master wants to shop.

Roseanne was filmed at the CBS Studio Center (sometimes called the Radford Lot) which, at the time, was about a block away from a Ralphs (now a Vons). Yeah, I know the show was on ABC but if you pay the bucks to rent the studio, they don't care who you are.

Friends was filmed either at NBC or Warner Brothers and there was a Lucky (now Albertsons) right next to the WB Ranch on Verdugo and Hollywood Way. Between that Lucky/Albertsons and the Vons on Pass just north of the 134 freeway, I think those are the closest stores to WB and NBC and maybe Universal. (There's a newer Ralphs that's on Ventura and Vineland that's kinda close to Universal but that would probably be closer to the theme park entrance instead of the studio entrance off of Barham.) There's a Pavilions on Alameda a few blocks west of Disney, or the aforementioned Lucky/Albertsons.

I think Married with Children was filmed at the old Metromedia center on Sunset and the 101, which has since been demolished to make way for a new high school. They probably would have shopped at the former Safeway at Sunset and Vermont.
danielh_512
Veteran
Posts: 132
Joined: 28 Dec 2005 01:33
Location: Cleveland
Contact:

Post by danielh_512 »

I've watched some Food Network shows recently, and we can determine a few things...

Paula Deen shops at Kroger (Quality Guaranteed w/an oval above on Cream was the giveaway), the show is based in Savannah, GA.
Michael Chiarello shops at Safeway (Jar of capers w/Select on it). This show is based in NorCal, so that makes perfect sense.
Sandra Lee shops at A&P (America's Choice cookies)

They used to run a show called "Date Plate" that I remember seeing Harris Teeter and Whole Foods used for sure in, don't know if the episodes are on file anywhere. "Good Eats" also occasionally visits Atlanta-area Krogers and Whole Foods.
User avatar
Groceteria
Great Pumpkin
Posts: 1927
Joined: 04 Nov 2005 12:13
Location: In the breakroom
Contact:

Post by Groceteria »

King Cole Market (Southern California) spotted in the 1967 movie "Divorce American Style" with Dick Van Dyke.
User avatar
Dave
Veteran
Posts: 315
Joined: 01 Dec 2005 14:08
Location: Richmond, VA
Contact:

Post by Dave »

"The Big Lebowski" (1998) begins with The Dude (Jeff Bridges) drinking half-and-half out of the carton at Ralphs (don't know which one). At the checkout, he writes a check for 69 cents and shows his Ralphs Value Club card, which we learn later is The Dude's only form of identification.

There's a TV playing news of the first Gulf War (movie is set in 1991) at the checkout, which seems to me to be more of what you might find in a mom-and-pop c-store than in Ralphs.
Blair Bradford

Post by Blair Bradford »

Doris Day's last movie was "With Six You Get Eggroll". In one scene, she is shopping in a market and runs into Brian Keith, who was supposed to be picking up a client at the airport. Anyway, does anyone know if that was filmed in a real market or on a sound stage?
mikeparkridge
Contributor
Posts: 43
Joined: 02 Dec 2005 19:13

Sesame Street Film.

Post by mikeparkridge »

1 probbaly had to have been waching the show durring it's 1st year or 1st few years to have seen this film.
The film was apparently about a brother and sister shopping at a NYC Supermarket. It started out with a shot of the outside of the food store building with a sign saying SUPERMARKET, no store name. The kids entered the store and if not all of it a good deal of it being a fast film and the kids speeding through the aisles. here's more. http://members.tripod.com/~hooperfan/chap9.html Unfortunatly the story about the film is only part of the chapter but if you stroll down to the 10th paragraph you'll see the beginning of it. also if anyone wants the link to the whole site let me know.
Anyway anyone recall this SS film?
greebs
Contributor
Posts: 70
Joined: 25 Mar 2006 00:03
Location: Los Angeles

Post by greebs »

Saw 2 movies recently, one was "Oh God" in which John Denver is a Manager at a Luckys. Great interior shots of a 70's supermarket decor.
The other was called "Play it as ut Lays" with Tuesday Weld, at some point they meet at a Thriftimart, under the big red "T". Both were filmed in Los Angeles.
parkave231

Post by parkave231 »

greebs wrote:Saw 2 movies recently, one was "Oh God" in which John Denver is a Manager at a Luckys. Great interior shots of a 70's supermarket decor.
Oh, man, I forgot all about that one! A must-see for grocery fans. Good call!

Matt
User avatar
runchadrun
Veteran
Posts: 618
Joined: 27 Dec 2005 14:29
Location: Granada Hills (Los Angeles), CA
Contact:

Post by runchadrun »

There's a Southwest Airlines commercial where a guy can't get into his car and is trying to break in, only to have the actual owner of the car ask what they are doing.

It takes place in the parking lot of a Super A Foods, a small indie chain in the LA area. It appears to be at the location at 425 S Soto St.

A9 Map Image
Post Reply