Food Fair and "Supermarket Sweep"

[J-Man]

I'd seen a few mentions of "Food Fair" on these boards and for some reason the name sounded familiar. I know there were never any Food Fair stores in any of the places I've lived (SF Bay Area from the 50s to the 70s; Northern Virginia from 78-87; L.A. Area since then), but I had a vague recollection of the name from my childhood-- and then I figured it out: it was the supermarket they used on "Supermarket Sweep" in the 60s! (Not the 90s version-- this one was on ABC in the daytime.) Does anyone remember the show, and did they use just one Food Fair, or did they travel? And where were Food Fairs located in those days?

[Jeff]

I remember Supermarket Sweep in the credits had a thanks to Hughes Markets. Being that it was filmed in Los Angeles in a studio, I'm sure they provided the "market"

[J-Man]

I think that was the 90s incarnation of the show. The 60s version was definitely filmed in actual markets.

[Daniel]

Yeah, the 80's version that was reran on Lifetime had fixtures and decor provided by Hughes Markets. (The aisle hangers said Hughes on them, and they had some Hughes sale posters as set decor). I've never seen the 60's version so I can't comment on that.

[runchadrun]

According to IMDB, the 90's version was taped at NBC in Burbank.

It's interesting that they would use Hughes stuff in the store considering it was a regional chain. These days you would see someone like Safeway or Kroger promoting their brands. There was a Hughes in Burbank on San Fernando Road in the Kmart center but the closest stores to NBC are the Vons on Pass, Pavilions on Alameda, and Lucky/Albertsons on Hollywood Way and Olive.

[Jeff]

According to IMDB, the 90's version was taped at NBC in Burbank.

It's interesting that they would use Hughes stuff in the store considering it was a regional chain. These days you would see someone like Safeway or Kroger promoting their brands. There was a Hughes in Burbank on San Fernando Road in the Kmart center but the closest stores to NBC are the Vons on Pass, Pavilions on Alameda, and Lucky/Albertsons on Hollywood Way and Olive.

And Vons on Olive/Verdugo (former Safeway).

Also, that hughes was located across the street from the Kmart. It is still open as a Ralphs.

[runchadrun]

Also, that hughes was located across the street from the Kmart. It is still open as a Ralphs.

Whaddya know, there's a street between Kmart and the former Hughes. I always thought the stores were connected. I've never been in that store but it looks like that's one of the Hughes layouts for parking on the front and the back of the store. It's probably worth a separate thread to talk about the origins of that particular design.

[Jeff]

Yep, its a rare market with an enternace in the front and the back. Hughes had another location like this in Pasadena in the Hastings Ranch Center (Rosemead and Foothill). This Hughes was converted to a Ralphs and the ralphs across the street was closed.

[J-Man]

The closed Ralphs in Hastings Ranch is now a Whole Foods.

[Jeff]

Yes it is.

And the only other markets that I can recall of the top of my head with two entries are:

1) The Giant (by Ralphs) that used to anchor the Indian Hills Mall (it had Mall access, a long corridor from the mall to the front of the store - this used to be a Zodys)

2) Albertsons in Monterey Park in Atlantic Square. this used to be a Fazios before it. This location closed in the early 90's and the whole center torn down and rebuilt. Today a Ralphs sits on the old site.

[Steve Landry]

J-Man,

There were Food Fairs mostly concentrated on the east coast.

But there were pockets of Food Fairs all around the country.

Food Fair had stores in Las Vegas and later bought (1965) the Fox Markets chain which had 50 stores in Los Angeles and 25 stores in Las Vegas.

I don't have a clue about the early show.

[trainman]

Bumping up this old thread to provide more information. I've seen a couple of episodes of the original 1960s "Supermarket Sweep" at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, which has several of them in its collection. One is even available for online viewing, although their online viewer leaves a little to be desired, at least in my browser (it's cutting off about a third of the picture at the right and at the bottom).

Yes, that version of "Supermarket Sweep" was taped on location at Food Fair markets across the country. The episodes in the MBC's catalog online are Huntington, NY; Margate, NJ; Peekskill, NY; Stratford, CT; Tampa, FL; Wallingford, CT; and the episode available online is Niles, IL.