ROWLAND HEIGHTS CA

Uh...California.

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Dean
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ROWLAND HEIGHTS CA

Post by Dean »

This is a carry-over from the GEMCO discussion.

In the area with which I am most familiar...probably one of the most change-over of sites in one area is along Nogales & Colima in Rowland Heights.

As discussed under GEMCO...it closed and ultimately became 99 Ranch Market. Herschel's was a hang-out restaurant...kind of like Arnold's on HAPPY DAYS! I will have to drive by & see what is in there now. Don't know off-hand. The side of the building is adjacent to the 60.

On the other side of the 60 was Ole's Hardware, which became Builder's Emporium, and now TS Emporium. Alphy's Restaurant (owned by Alpha Beta) became Denny's. Del Taco is an office. The Bank of America had been Security Pacific Bank.

@ Colima & Nogales, Alpha Beta became an Asian market. Thrifty became RiteAid.

Opposite corner is 99 Cent Only Store. This originally was Albertsons. It was then a number of things including an antique mall and fabric store (s).

Across the street, BIG LOTS (formerly Pic N Save) was VONS. The bank (currently a bank again, after being an office for years) was Bank of America. It then moved to the Security Pacific Bank...mentioned above. The Pizza Hut in this lot was KFC.

VONS had moved to the replacement Market Basket building down the street, west on Colima. It is now an Asian Market.

The original Market Basket across the street is an Asian marketplace. KFC moved to this center.

A lot for changes for a relatively small area!

Have I missed anything?
socalgrocer

Post by socalgrocer »

Leonards Dept Store on Colima and Batson, mentioned in a 1970 fire as a large animal evacuation area is now Hong Kong Supermarket. The ancient Colima Bowling alley is not a set of chinese shops. Right behind it was the Grazide Adobe, (demolished in 1972) an important part of RHTS past.

The replacement VONS is now SF Supermarket, a unit of Shun Fat from Monterey Park. The Big Lots/Vons - I thought it was a 1970's era Albertsons.

Alpha Beta is korean Greenland market now (was California Super Market, another Korean). Rite Aid still has Thrifty decor, even some of the overhead signs.

AB and 99cents have the same architecture. I thought 99c was AB that later moved across the street to make way for Hy-Lo. When I first shopped there it was House of Fabrics/Joann now 99c. AB was one of those F4L types before it closed.

Colima and Fairway-
- Stater Bros - don't know its story
- Albertsons-Savon : first opened as Lucky in mid 1990's. The furniture store that is next door was Payless Drug and during Thrifty-Payless years it operated separately from the Thrifty at Nogales.

Fullerton/60 Fwy-
Had a 99 Ranch that closed 2 years ago. They first opened it in the late '90's as 99 Green Market (produce and chinese style vegetarian groceries).

socalgrocer
Dean
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Post by Dean »

socalgrocer wrote:Leonards Dept Store on Colima and Batson, mentioned in a 1970 fire as a large animal evacuation area is now Hong Kong Supermarket.

AB and 99cents have the same architecture. I thought 99c was AB that later moved across the street to make way for Hy-Lo.

Colima and Fairway-
- Stater Bros - don't know its story
thanks socalgrocer!

Don't remember Leonards. Possibly "before my time". I thought Market Basket had been there...then moved across the street. Did Leonards become Market Basket? I believe it was an auto parts store for years...and it still had the Market Basket woven-type thing on top of the roof.

Again, possibly predating me...but the Alpha Beta was always there, and Albertsons was in 99 Cent Only Store. Not sure of the Hy-Lo connection you reference.

The Staters I am sure was built as Staters. They seem to rarely go into other [older] locations. Plus, I believe that site has the typical Staters' look...with one side larger than the other...with the Staters name on top...correct?
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Groceteria
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Post by Groceteria »

I've moved this to Specific Locations/Commercial Archaeology, since that's what it's about. Let's please keep it HISTORY focused.

Thanks,
David
Dean
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Post by Dean »

socalgrocer,

You asked where Herschel's was located...the site is now King's Palace.
Dean
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Post by Dean »

From the LONG GONE DEPARTMENT STORES thread...the following was stated by luckysaver:

Was Leonard's Department Store a chain and if so, where else did they have stores?

There was one in Rowland Heights back in the 1960's on Colima near Fullerton. It was paired with the old Colima Bowling alley, Market Basket, and a branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library. Directly behind the bowling alley was the historic Grazide Ranch.

Today it is Hong Kong Market and Mall and Carquest Auto Parts.

That store was noted in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in 1970 as a holding area for large animals during a wildfire in the Puente Hills.


That seems to answer the question: Leonard's & Market Basket coexisted at this site.

thanks luckysaver!
Dean
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Re: ROWLAND HEIGHTS CA

Post by Dean »

Visited the Thrifty turned RiteAid mentioned above.

Even tho remodeled...it STILL has the THRIFTY feel!
luckysaver
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Re: ROWLAND HEIGHTS CA

Post by luckysaver »

Update on Nogales/Colima supermarkets. Historically, this part of Rowland Heights was its own community called Otterbein and much of the shopping was developed between 1966-67.

- 99Cents Only: first opened as Albertsons, circa 1966. 1982: Old World Antique Mall (Albertsons opened stores on Colima/Azusa and Golden Springs/Brea Canyon, therefore deciding to shut down this small store. The 1999 acquisition of Lucky brought Albertsons back to the area, now at Colima/Fairway.). Late '80's - House of Fabric (later acquired by Joann Fabrics). Joann left and moved into the National Lumber/Petsmart space on Golden Springs/Brea Canyon and 99Cents took over. The entire righthand side of the store, closest to Whitney's Lounge is the grocery section, as 99Cents Only is making a name for themselves selling 99Cents groceries and fresh produce.

- Big Lots: first opened as Vons in 1966-67. Became Pic n Save in 1984 when Vons moved into the former Market Basket on Colima/Jellick. Big Lots acquired Pic N Save parent MacFrugal Consolidated Stores in 1998. All former Pic n Save locations operated by Big Lots are part of a phantom subsidiary called PNS Stores Inc. In Southern California, Big Lots operates many former small-sized Vons stores. Chino and Charter Oak are great examples two other small 1967 Vons stores that were sold to Pic n Save.

- Greenland Market: first opened as Alpha Beta in 1967 and closed in 1994. I've only been to this store several times when it was under Yucaipa/Food4Less ownership (green-yellow scheme). How I know that Food4Less owned this location - the produce department sported Food4Less-branded plastic bags during the entire Yucaipa years (1988-94). As Nogales/Colima became a hotbed for Korean and Chinese businesses, this location was sold to a Korean, which changed hands several times, operated under names such as Colima Market, California Super Market, and finally Greenland Market.

- TS Emporium: on Nogales/Daisetta, but close enough to be part of the Nogales/Colima group. Chinese supermarket, also known by its Chinese name Tak Shing Hong. The building first opened in the mid-1970's as Ole's Hardware, later taken over by Builder's Emporium (I remember seeing the sign and below it, "A Wickes Company"). I went there the year before it closed, around 1993. In 1994, Monterey Park-based TSH and another chinese developer (most likely Taiwanese) acquired the site and did minor renovations - adding a mini-mall inside and gutting the garden center (opened as MPV Seafood Restaurant, now Seafood Palace Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant and the restaurant's takeout deli called Food-To-Go). The adjacent Denny's was Alphy's Coffee Shop.
Dean
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Re: ROWLAND HEIGHTS CA

Post by Dean »

luckysaver wrote:Update on Nogales/Colima supermarkets. Historically, this part of Rowland Heights was its own community called Otterbein and much of the shopping was developed between 1966-67.

- 99Cents Only: first opened as Albertsons, circa 1966. 1982: Old World Antique Mall (Albertsons opened stores on Colima/Azusa and Golden Springs/Brea Canyon, therefore deciding to shut down this small store. The 1999 acquisition of Lucky brought Albertsons back to the area, now at Colima/Fairway.). Late '80's - House of Fabric (later acquired by Joann Fabrics). Joann left and moved into the National Lumber/Petsmart space on Golden Springs/Brea Canyon and 99Cents took over. The entire righthand side of the store, closest to Whitney's Lounge is the grocery section, as 99Cents Only is making a name for themselves selling 99Cents groceries and fresh produce.

- Big Lots: first opened as Vons in 1966-67. Became Pic n Save in 1984 when Vons moved into the former Market Basket on Colima/Jellick. Big Lots acquired Pic N Save parent MacFrugal Consolidated Stores in 1998. All former Pic n Save locations operated by Big Lots are part of a phantom subsidiary called PNS Stores Inc. In Southern California, Big Lots operates many former small-sized Vons stores. Chino and Charter Oak are great examples two other small 1967 Vons stores that were sold to Pic n Save.

- Greenland Market: first opened as Alpha Beta in 1967 and closed in 1994. I've only been to this store several times when it was under Yucaipa/Food4Less ownership (green-yellow scheme). How I know that Food4Less owned this location - the produce department sported Food4Less-branded plastic bags during the entire Yucaipa years (1988-94). As Nogales/Colima became a hotbed for Korean and Chinese businesses, this location was sold to a Korean, which changed hands several times, operated under names such as Colima Market, California Super Market, and finally Greenland Market.

- TS Emporium: on Nogales/Daisetta, but close enough to be part of the Nogales/Colima group. Chinese supermarket, also known by its Chinese name Tak Shing Hong. The building first opened in the mid-1970's as Ole's Hardware, later taken over by Builder's Emporium (I remember seeing the sign and below it, "A Wickes Company"). I went there the year before it closed, around 1993. In 1994, Monterey Park-based TSH and another chinese developer (most likely Taiwanese) acquired the site and did minor renovations - adding a mini-mall inside and gutting the garden center (opened as MPV Seafood Restaurant, now Seafood Palace Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant and the restaurant's takeout deli called Food-To-Go). The adjacent Denny's was Alphy's Coffee Shop.
thanks luckysaver! Great history!

You gotta' love TS Emporium. For their signage, they kept from Builder's Emporium...S EMPORIUM, and simply added the T. If I remember correctly, the T was always brighter for years, as it was newer. Need to check out if it "caught up" with the fading of the rest!
luckysaver
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Re: ROWLAND HEIGHTS CA

Post by luckysaver »

Additional notes on the Nogales/Colima corner supermarkets:

- TS Emporium (Tak Shing Hong) actually moved to the Ole's/Builders Emporium building from the Big Lots Center, now occupied by another Chinese grocer, AAA Farmers Market. TSH opened this branch next to Big Lots as the Chinese/Korean invasion of Rowland Heights began in around 1993. They've been in the Ole's building since around 1995 - I remember seeing the teardown of the garden center and the construction of the restaurant in its place. The MPV dim sum seafood restaurant (now Seafood Palace/Food-To-Go) opened Fall 1996 (when Phil Collins/Genesis released their last album as a group, "Dance Into the Light"). The font of the red sign at the storefront is the same from the Builders era (Builders was black/blue) but of course, red is the lucky Chinese color. I go to TS myself often. Dean, if you want to go and take pictures, its best to go on a weekday (crowded and very hard to park your car on weekends).

- Old World Antique Mall lasted only about 3 years after Albertsons vacated the building - House of Fabrics took over in 1985. Over the years, I've been to this building as both House of Fabrics and 99Cents Only. The grocery selection is much better than before - a mix of fresh produce, national brands, and typical dollar store brands.

I wonder why the exterior architecture of Albertsons (99Cents) and Alpha Beta (Greenland Korean) look so similar? I used to think years ago as a kid that Alpha Beta first opened at 99Cents store and later moved to the Greenland store because the Greenland store appeared to be larger. I also once thought Big Lots was Albertsons because I didn't realize years ago that numerous 1967 Vons stores were boxy in shape.

luckysaver
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Re:

Post by Clumsygenes »

Dean wrote:From the LONG GONE DEPARTMENT STORES thread...the following was stated by luckysaver:

Was Leonard's Department Store a chain and if so, where else did they have stores?

There was one in Rowland Heights back in the 1960's on Colima near Fullerton. It was paired with the old Colima Bowling alley, Market Basket, and a branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library. Directly behind the bowling alley was the historic Grazide Ranch.

Today it is Hong Kong Market and Mall and Carquest Auto Parts.

That store was noted in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in 1970 as a holding area for large animals during a wildfire in the Puente Hills.


That seems to answer the question: Leonard's & Market Basket coexisted at this site.

Thanks luckysaver!



There was also a Benjamin Franklin's right next to that Library in the shopping center when Leonards was there.
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