Rays Food: Mt. Shasta, Weed, Etna, Ft. Jones

Uh...California.

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storewanderer
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Rays Food: Mt. Shasta, Weed, Etna, Ft. Jones

Post by storewanderer »

Rays seems to be on a remodel spree doing repaints to the walls and putting up new signs. The package looks okay, very much like the current Winn Dixie package. So, three of these four stores had that interior decor. The other (Weed) had a strange decor that looks to have been something Rays did in the late 1980's.

The Weed and Mt. Shasta locations have been labeled as former Safeway Stores. The liquor license query shows that Rays took out licenses on all 4 of these stores in sync on June 22. 1988. C & K MARKET INC WEED 218034 ACT
C & K MARKET INC FORT JONES 218035 ACT
C & K MARKET INC ETNA 218036 ACT
C & K MARKET INC MOUNT SHASTA 218037 ACT


The Yreka Rays (Montague at I-5) has also been identified as a former Safeway and had a Safeway decor package inside until recently. Rays took that license later in 1988.

What is strange is the Yreka, Weed, and Etna stores are all gable-looking buildings but they do not have the standard gable Safeway ceiling with exposed beams; they have a ceiling with standard ceiling tiles that is gable in shape with no beams showing. The Yreka store's sides and back look to be made of metal like an airplane hanger... did Safeway build stores like that?

What I am trying to figure out is what exactly Safeway's connection to these stores was. Did they sell these stores to Rays? Did Rays buy someone else out who had bought these stores from Safeway prior? Etna has a population of under 1,000 and I find it hard to believe Safeway was operating there as recently as the late 1980's. I really do not think the Fort Jones Store was a Safeway, but I may be wrong...
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Re: Rays Food: Mt. Shasta, Weed, Etna, Ft. Jones

Post by submariner »

Here's a shot of the Yreka Ray's I took in October 2007... although the paint certainly isn't original, the elements are classic Safeway. The wall font, clock placement, cooler colors/styles and department locations are consistent with Safeway stores of the era. As for the drop ceiling, I'm guessing it may have been added post-Safeway.
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Re: Rays Food: Mt. Shasta, Weed, Etna, Ft. Jones

Post by storewanderer »

I have interiors of both of these stores on the photobucket http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa11 ... t=etna.jpg but they have the same decor. So what do we think? I do think it is very possible Etna is a former Safeway but I just don't know about Fort Jones. Also, the Sentry sign-scar on Fort Jones is from when Ray's did business as Ray's Sentry...

Fort Jones
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Etna
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Re: Rays Food: Mt. Shasta, Weed, Etna, Ft. Jones

Post by storewanderer »

http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtop ... &sk=t&sd=a
Here we go. The stores in Etna and Ft. Jones are not former Safeways.

So I wonder what the exact story is on the Weed and Mt. Shasta Rays Stores that are both known former Safeways. They must have been something else in between SWY and Rays.
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Re: Rays Food: Mt. Shasta, Weed, Etna, Ft. Jones

Post by romleys »

Here is a write-up I did on the former Safeway Stores in Weed and Mount Shasta,CA...

"Former Safeway store located at 175 North Weed Blvd. in Weed,CA. This store was built with a totem pole in its parking lot but it was slightly exaggerated when a spinning CircleS was installed on top of it. Safeway opened this store with much fanfare and it was welcomed into the small town which was growing and needed a full size grocery store and Safeway filled the need. In 1982 Safeway closed this store along with two additional locations in Mount Shasta and Yreka. The closed stores were then acquired by Rays Market Place which was a chain based out of Oregon and slowly acquiring supermarkets located in the Northern towns of California (Eureka, Arcata, Garberville, Hoopa, etc.). Rays has done quite well upon their entry into the area still operating as a full service supermarket This location in Weed was renovated after a powerful storm with wind gusts reaching 100 miles an hour knocked out the front windows. The disaster (as the employees called it) occurred on December 5th 1987 causing a major disruption in Christmas sales. The facade was rebuilt although the windows were installed at a slant instead of straight across the front. The slant has helped put less pressure on the glass in recent storms. The interior was renovated removing much of the Safeway decor soon after the storm hit but some notable things like the wall clock are still intact. The totem pole was stripped of its S upon the entry of Rays and while it needs to be painted it weathered the severe storm and is protected by barriers so cars wont hit it. The wood does seem to slowly rotting away so I would recommend visiting this store sooner than later."


"Former Safeway located at 160 Morgan Way. in Mount Shasta,CA. This store operated as a Safeway for less than 18 months before being sold to Rays Food Place which is still occupying the building."

"Here is a write-up on the 1960's Safeway store that was closed in favor of this short lived Safeway..."

"Former Safeway store located at 310 West Lake St. in Mount Shasta,CA. The building became a Payless Drug Store in the early 1980's and is now occupied by a Rite Aid. Safeway closed this store around 1981 as a new, larger location was constructed across the street. The replacement Safeway was very short-lived lasting no more than one year as Safeway exited the towns north of Redding. Rays Market Place made their entry into Northern California when they acquired the stores vacated by Safeway. This store became a Payless Drug Store after Safeway moved across the street. Payless made very minor modifications to the interior of the store with the outside literally untouched aside from the new PAYLESS spelled out where the SAFEWAY name was. Rite Aid now occupies the building and although the interior has been renovated with new Rite Aid signs the building altogether is still in very good shape architecturally speaking."

So in a nutshell Safeway DID leave Weed and Mount Shasta by 1983 and Rays had occupied both stores since then...
The low-budget remodel of the Weed store was carried out in the late 1980s soon after the major storm hit...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/3412484071/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/2987922600/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/2961863076/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/2961020893/
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