Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

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luckysaver
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Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by luckysaver »

I did some research and I found the following facts about the chain grocers in Rancho Cucamonga.

Vons #1914 - 6351 Haven Ave (at 210) - was Lucky since the mid 1980's until the 1999 FTC divestiture of Lucky/Albertsons. Initially, KV Mart (dba Top Valu) acquired the store but within the same year (2000), sold the rights to Vons (pre-Safeway). KV Mart acquired several Lucky locations but immediately sold the rights - an example is Azusa/San Bernardino in Covina.

Vons #2147 - 8778 19th Street (Alta Loma area) - original Vons store, built in the late 1970's. Historically, 19th St was the state highway prior to the 210 - it was State Route 30. Never seen the store but I think it is not the 1960's era type store that became most Big Lots locations.

Ralphs #717 - 7243 Haven Ave (at Baseline) - was Hughes. Most Hughes stores became Ralphs (example is Atlantic/Emerson in Monterey Park, where I used to sketch the logo on the A-frame sign when I was a little boy).

Ralphs Marketplace #700 - 12201 Highland Ave - opened in 2004 when the 210 Freeway and much of the Day Creek area/Victoria Gardens Mall developed. Highland (east of Haven), like 19th was part of State Route 30 and when the freeway was built, much of Highland was reconstructed into little frontage roads between Carnelian and I-15.

Ralphs #13 - 7369 Milliken Ave - original Ralphs store from the early 1990's. Together with South Haven, Day Creek, and the Foothill Food4Less, Kroger operates 4 stores in the city.

Albertsons #6520 - 11358 Kenyon Way - original Albertsons store from 1991, opened as store #1620 in the old Albertsons store numbering system.

Albertsons #6506 - 9743-9775 Baseline Road - also another original Albertsons store, opened in 1995. 9775 is a replacement store for 9743 Baseline, opened in 1979, now Dollar Tree #2445 UPDATE - 9743 is attached to the 99 Cents store/Rite Aid. I visited that store and it still has the blue-grey interior and 1997 layout. UPDATE AS OF FEBRUARY 2009 - store will be closing in April 2009.

Albertsons-Savon #6523 - 8808-8850 Foothill Blvd - was Lucky-Savon. This store includes Albertsons Express #1345 fuel station/C-store in the parking lot. Rather large store with the Quality Guaranteed decor package, no Lucky markers. Foothill is part of legendary Route 66 (State Route 66 today). The Express opened in about 2002 and replaced some functions of the 9743 Baseline store.

Stater Bros #78 - 9750 19th Street/Archibald - original store since 1981. That same year, Staters opened #93, 8770 Baseline.

Trader Joe's #217 - 6401 Haven Ave - opened in late 2008, replaced Payless Drug. UPDATE - This location is unusual because right next door (separated by a nail salon and Subway, is Vons. I talked to one lady at the samples kitchen and she admitted that it is strange to have two competing grocers side by side in the same shopping center but noted that Traders is "a different type of grocery store". The easternmost door, once part of Payless, is now for a vacant space available for lease.

Food4Less #328 - 12879 Foothill between Etiwanda and I-15, opened in 1994 as part of that huge shopping center with Walmart and Living Spaces Furniture. UPDATE - Together with the 3 Ralphs, The Kroger Company operates a total of 4 stores in RC.

Henry's Farmer Market - 7355 Day Creek Blvd - opened in 2007 by Wild Oats Markets after their acquisition of the Henry's chain. The company may have wanted to open this location as either Whole Foods or Wild Oats.

Smart & Final #467 - 8675 Baseline Road (at Carnelian), opened in 1991. UPDATE - This store, across the street diagonally from Stater Bros appears to be in a really old 1970ish shopping center. Alta Loma and Red Hill are the oldest residential sections of RC.

Looking for previous Alpha Beta/F.A.D stores, I found this:

HANNAM MARKET WORLD - 6753 Carnelian St, once was an Alpha Beta/Ralphs #611 and briefly a Lucky Farms (Chinese) since 2002. Had this location remained Ralphs, it would have been the 4th Ralphs store in RC. Hannam (Korean) is the sole Asian chain grocer in RC. They operate another store in Diamond Bar (60/Brea Canyon) in a former Albertsons that closed as part of the FTC divestiture.

Since the city incorporated in 1977 (a merger of the San Bernardino County unincorporated areas of Alta Loma, Etiwanda, and Cucamonga), I couldn't find any other legacy chains besides Lucky, Hughes, and Alpha Beta that once operated stores when it was a county area (Safeway, Thriftimart, Smith's Food King, Market Basket, Smith's Food and Drug).

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Last edited by luckysaver on 11 Feb 2009 22:47, edited 3 times in total.
luckysaver
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by luckysaver »

RandallFlagg,

In your 7-11 post (Miscellaneous section), you mentioned a Mayfair Market on Baseline. Is that over by Amthyst St near Archibald?

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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by Jeff »

Would you count the former GEMCO store since it had a market?
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by runchadrun »

I can't tell by the aerial view what it is today, but I'm pretty sure there was an Alpha Beta at the northwest corner of Base Line and Archibald.

The shopping center at 19th and Carnelian, where the Hannam is now, opened in 1980. The original anchor tenants were Alpha Beta and Coast to Coast Home Improvement.

The Stater Bros at 8770 Base Line opened in June 1974.

In 1959 a 18,000 sqft Mayfair was proposed for the south side of Foothill east of Hellman but I don't know that it was ever built. The current AutoZone at 9457 Foothill comes up as a TG&Y store which looks to be about the right size.

There was a Walker's Market somewhere in Alta Loma. Walker's was bought by McDaniel's in 1957 and they went under in the early 1960's (see http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtop ... 159&p=6933 )
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RandallFlagg
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by RandallFlagg »

luckysaver wrote:RandallFlagg,

In your 7-11 post (Miscellaneous section), you mentioned a Mayfair Market on Baseline. Is that over by Amthyst St near Archibald?

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I don't remember quoting it on Baseline. The store was located on the south side of Foothill Blvd. (Rte. 66) between Hellman and Archibald. I can't think of any large store on Baseline by Amethyst. Growing up there in the 70s, the only store in that location was 7-11. A block north of Baseline on the east side of Amethyst was Billings Market, just south of what was then American Can Corp.

Also the listing for Smart and Final. It was originally opened by a great old man named Mel. It opened as an independent and was called Sunrise Market. He built that whole corner a bit at a time.

Edit: The Mayfair was located at the far west corner of the original building. TG&Y was just east of Mayfair. Later they added Cucamonga Drugs and a small restaurant west of Mayfair. Those two stores are pushed back from the front facade. I just looked up the site on Microsoft maps. The Autozone and the area east of it are the original Mayfair. The buildings east with the extended facade are where TG&Y, the laudromat, a dry cleaner and a small bar were. Lastly for now, when Mayfair closed an independent opened a grocery store in the same footprint and it was called Perry's Market.
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RandallFlagg
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by RandallFlagg »

runchadrun wrote:I can't tell by the aerial view what it is today, but I'm pretty sure there was an Alpha Beta at the northwest corner of Base Line and Archibald.
Yeah, the NW corner of Archibald and Baseline (16th street) was originally built with an Alpha Beta on the west and a Thrifty drug on the east with shops flanking both sides and one row towards baseline. Last time I was down that way one of the two buildings was a 99 cent store.
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by luckysaver »

RandallFlagg,

On my way to Chaffey College this morning, I took Archibald and passed by the NW corner at Baseline. Thrifty is now the Rite Aid and the section that was Alpha Beta/99Cents appears to be vacant. I might double check that next Wednesday when I'm in the area again.

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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by luckysaver »

The Sunrise name is still there. It is the name of that shopping center anchored by Smart & Final. Looking at the storefront reminds me of the Buy Low store (former Vons) on Garvey Ave in South El Monte.

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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by luckysaver »

2 pieces of updates to my earlier posts:

A Fresh & Easy is being built as the anchor to another new shopping center in the Terra Vista section on Haven. They moved from another proposed site at the southern border of the city at Haven and 4th Street (on the Ontario side) last year.

Supervalu's Save-A-Lot has a DC in Rancho. This DC serves the very few SAL stores in Southern California (the nearest SAL is in Bloomington off I-10, east of California Speedway).
SAL in California is not part of Albertsons.

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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by Dean »

VONS 1914 (Haven @ 210) became something for a SHORT period before between Lucky & VONS.

VONS finally Lifestyled this site last year, and it looks great. It still had the LUCKY feel.

The former PayLess Drug in that center has been a number of things...finally Trader Joe's took a large portion.
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by Jeff »

Dean wrote:VONS 1914 (Haven @ 210) became something for a SHORT period before between Lucky & VONS.

VONS finally Lifestyled this site last year, and it looks great. It still had the LUCKY feel.

The former PayLess Drug in that center has been a number of things...finally Trader Joe's took a large portion.
Wouldnt be suprised if it was a Top Valu market like the old Albertsons-turned Vons on Foothill in La Verne amongst others.
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by luckysaver »

Jeff and Dean,

According to the official FTC papers on the Albertsons divestiture, KVMart's Top Valu acquired the Haven store before passing it to Vons the same year (2000). I guess TopValu wouldn't do well in RC so they pulled out.

On another note, it turns out that RC had 2 Lucky stores. Besides Haven, I also found out that the giant Albertsons-Savon on Foothill/Vineyard (the one with the Express C-store) was built as a Lucky-Savon.

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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by Jeff »

Oddly enough, today I went to the former Lucky / Top Valu / current Vons on Foothill in LaVerne. It was dead. No one shopping and only a couple employees.

A sale item on and end shelf only had 6 displayed and all shelves were not full. I wont be suprised if they close soon.

The new store up the street killed it. It still has the old ugly Safeway Package from the early 2000's
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by Dean »

luckysaver wrote:According to the official FTC papers on the Albertsons divestiture, KVMart's Top Valu acquired the Haven store before passing it to Vons the same year (2000). I guess TopValu wouldn't do well in RC so they pulled out.
I never went in...but I remember a name change on the building. If it was transferred within 2000, they may have only been open a number of MONTHS ! But...something was in there...or at least they put the signage on the building and then pulled out! Ha!

What is interesting about this older center...is that once the 210 was completed...the owners were quite savvy and added additional stores, and a Del Taco. I bet their traffic increased dramatically with the "new" freeway access.

They added the stores to the right of TJs (towards the 210) and the Del Taco in the front. They maintained the original style, including the stones along the bottom of the buildings. Corky's Diner on the end seems to always be hopping!
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Re: Rancho Cucamonga chain grocer history

Post by luckysaver »

I think the intent for the owner was not limited to freeway traffic (the center is of higher elevation than the freeway). The increasing enrollment of students at Chaffey College could also be another factor for Haven Village to expand.

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