Larry's Markets Seattle

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marshd1000
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Larry's Markets Seattle

Post by marshd1000 »

About a month or two ago, I have posted about Larry's Markets going into bankruptucy. But I have never went into the parts of it's history that I know about. But if anyone can fill in any facts, I would appreciate it. I know that in some of it's ads, they mention that they have been around since 1945. But in some news stories, it mentions that it started in about 1964 or 65. So I am wondering, is the reference to 1945 going back to when Larry McKinney had a produce stand? As far as I know, the first store to have the Larry's Market name was on Seattle's Beacon Hill. That store is now Ray's Red Apple Market. The second store to have the Larry's name was on SW Roxbury St in Seattle's White Center area. The Roxbury store was located in the same building as a non-food Fred Meyer. From what I have heard, the Roxbury store was originally a Market Basket and next to a Marketime Drug (Fred Meyer's first entry into Seattle). This store went from Market Basket to Lucky, until Lucky bought a nearby Mayfair. Then this store became Roxbury Thriftway, then Larry's. For a short time, the Roxbury store was the only Larry's after the Beacon Hill store was sold. The Roxbury store was also the first Larry's to have a in-store deli, which was trensetting at that time. This store was eventually torn down with the Fred Meyer and rebuilt as LoBucks, Larry's attempt at discount warehouse grocery. It was eventually sold to Fred Meyer as a Fred Meyer Marketplace store. It is now a Safeway. But the store that is usually refered to as store #1 is the Tukwila Larry's on Pacific Hwy. But I think that this store might have been owned by the McKinney family but operated as a Thriftway.Later this store was relocated across the street in a big new building. After the Tukwila store was opened, Larry's went south to Federal Way and took over another Lucky store next to a K-Mart. I should note that the Federal Way store eventually became a store called, "The Food Marche". Then that closed and the K-Mart in the same building became a Safeway. Next Larry's went north to Shoreline and took over yet another Lucky. Later after Larry's started building huge stores, this one was sold and became Price Chopper, then Shoreline Market. Now it is expanded and is successful as Central Market. The first elegant Larry's was next built at Oak Tree Village in North Seattle in about 1989 and was followed by the Kirkland-Totem Lake store, then Bellevue. Larry's in the mid '90 then bought out Villa Fine Foods at Lakewood Mall in Lakewood, WA near Tacoma. About this time, the Lobucks store on Roxbury was built. The Lakewood store was sold and is now a Saar's Marketplace. The last new Larry's was built at Redmond Town Center in the early 2000's. There were plans about a year or two ago to build 15 new, small markets. But now Larry's is probably going to be sold and/or split up or closed. What a pitty for a store that at one time was a national trendsetter.
marshd1000
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Post by marshd1000 »

Oops! I forgot the mention that sometime after the Bellevue store was built, Larry's built a store in a mixed use development on Seattle's Lower Queen Anne Hill.
tkaye
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Post by tkaye »

I've heard ads in the morning on KIRO radio that say something to the effect of "contrary to what you may have heard, Larry's Markets are still here and fully stocked"... so what's the latest?

Their traffic must really be suffering from all the people thinking they're already out of business to have to resort to this... it doesn't sound good.
storeliker
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Post by storeliker »

Though I grew up with Thrifty Foods, Thriftway which later became a Red Apple and of course Safeway in PNW I only know of larrys a new built (probably 89 or 90 when built near Space Needle.
Any ideas of what will happen to Larrys? Are Thrifty Foods, Thriftway or Red Apples still in extistence up there?
me
tkaye
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Post by tkaye »

Thriftway and Red Apple Markets are still used by members of Associated Grocers.
marshd1000
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Post by marshd1000 »

The only news that I know of about Larry's is that there are "un-named" parties interested. I don't know if that means it will be split up or if one company will buy it. Rumors I have heard is that perhaps Bellingham, WA based Haggen will buy the Tukwila store and turn it into a TOP Foods. In articles I have read, Haggen has been mentioned along with Metropolitan Markets and Zupan's as possible buyers for Larry's.
tkaye
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Post by tkaye »

marshd1000 wrote:The only news that I know of about Larry's is that there are "un-named" parties interested. I don't know if that means it will be split up or if one company will buy it. Rumors I have heard is that perhaps Bellingham, WA based Haggen will buy the Tukwila store and turn it into a TOP Foods.
It would make sense, since Tukwila seems like more of a downscale market than the rest of Larry's. I really can't see a Metropolitan Market succeeding there. (Just like Larry's didn't really seem to belong in Lakewood.) I had heard that Haggen/Top likes to build their stores from the ground up, however. Are any of their locations second-hand?
marshd1000
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Post by marshd1000 »

Another thing I remember about Larry's is that it was the first supermarket that I remember having a in-store deli department. It seems that prior to Larry's opening their White Center location, I had not seen any supermarkets with delis. I also remember that Larry's was the first store around my area with a salad bar. Now Larry's is one of the few markets where there is still a salad bar. It seemed that before that, a supermarket was up to date if it had a in-store bakery. I am wondering if anyone know where the first supermarket was that had a full service in-store deli. As for Haggen/Top acquiring stores, I only know of one that they recently acquired. It was the former Fairhaven Market in South Bellingham. I am pretty familiar with this particular store as I used to live in Bellingham. This store was formerly a Thriftway, then a Red Apple then Fairhaven Market. Anyway I am saying that it would be possible for Haggen to acquire all or part of Larry's. The Larry's outlets are the size that Haggen/Top usually builds their stores.
Spike

Larry's

Post by Spike »

Larry's had an over the top concept way before Whole Foods came on the scene. I remember at the Oak Tree location that they had a nice restaurant, high end meat department, flowers at the front door, a setup where you could fill up empty bottles with soda, a large wine department, and very expensive prices. In the 90s sometime, they had a publicized reformatting that was supposed to reduce some of the excess, sort of like reducing the 50 brands of mustard down to 25. There are some interesting articles from local papers that you can search for online that tell more about the history.

By the way, the Queen Anne location was built on the old Hanson Baking Company site. Throughout the 80s, this old factory was turned into a multi-use concept, with a number of restaurants and offices. It was finally torn down and rebuilt again, with Larry's on the ground level, and a Bartells and Wherehouse Records upstairs, the latter closing later on. There was a McDonalds Express at the NW corner of the property, now closed. Rumor had it that Safeway wanted the grocery location before Larry's opened. Originally, Larry's had porters in the parking garage to help with groceries, since the idea of taking an elevator to one's car was a new idea at the time. This was ended soon after opening.
Alvis

Re: Larry's Markets Seattle

Post by Alvis »

marshd1000 wrote: ...The second store to have the Larry's name was on SW Roxbury St in Seattle's White Center area. The Roxbury store was located in the same building as a non-food Fred Meyer. From what I have heard, the Roxbury store was originally a Market Basket and next to a Marketime Drug (Fred Meyer's first entry into Seattle)....
You're correct that Marketime was the name of the early Fred Meyer in the drug/variety store half of the building. The grocery half of the building opened as a Lucky Big Bear and then was a Lucky, which it remained for about ten years. Contrary to what some people will tell you, the original grocery store was not a Market Basket.
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timbabcock
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Post by timbabcock »

tkaye wrote:
marshd1000 wrote: I had heard that Haggen/Top likes to build their stores from the ground up, however. Are any of their locations second-hand?
The Auburn store is one. It was originally built by another Bellingham/Lynden based food chain before it became a Food Pavilion for a short time.

I remember the grand opening of the store was a big deal they sent us a video tape of it. Pat Cashman was hosting the video. You brought the video back for some discount off of what you purchased.
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