Groceteria.com

***Amar Rd at Puente, La Puente--Something in this strip mall?
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=6957413
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Go a little east. I beleive this is it. I beleive its a Bestway Market

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=6957587

I have a special affinity for Smith's since I worked for them for 8 years and then sold to them for 15 years.

I've done some research on the locations and geneology ( Food City, Food Fair, Panty Pride) Hope to post the info soon.

Most of the former sites are still around in some form or another. They only one I can think of that is gone is the original (not store #381) in Henderson.

runchadrun wrote:For the purposes of this post, I'm talking about the first entry of Smith's Food King in Southern California, not the short-lived reentry in the 1990s.
... snip ...
Valley View at Lincoln, Buena Park--I'm guessing it's the Big Lots
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ene=165168
... snip again ...
These stores weren't in the 1972 ad but were listed in the 1984 Lucky ad:

Alondra Blvd at Downey Ave, Paramount--Not sure, there's a Stater Bros and another, older, shopping center.
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=7028333

The first location (Buena Park) ... is one of those intersections of Buena Park and Cypress. Anyway, The Big Lots store is roughly where a Builders Emporium store was. I'm vaguely remembering this being an L-shaped strip mall, and I also remember them either demolishing or seriously changing it... so perhaps it was the Albertsons (via Lucky.) An oddball side note: across Valley View is a large, abandoned Kmart. Well, at least in the 3-D pictures, because it is all gone now and a new strip mall is in its place.

The second location:
From being on the ground, I can attest to the "older" shopping center being built pre-1972 and the newer one post 70s. That's a clue, but not evidence... Stater Brothers entered the newer store via a former Albertsons 1999... The Rite Aid on the corner of Alondra and Paramount opened in 2006; the store directly north of it was a Thrifty. That leaves the dollar store in the corner... which Lucky could have exited when they picked up the second former Smiths just south of Lakewood and Rosecrans (about 2 miles away.) That's my guess.

-Edited: checked divestiture list for Albertsons/American Stores merger.

How about Palm Springs? I believe the stores there were all built new by Smith's. A couple were late 70's superstores with windows across the front. One was a "mini super store." The Indio store was the largest Smith's I had ever seen, it was 80k+. Anyone remember these locations?

rnaikens wrote:How about Palm Springs? I believe the stores there were all built new by Smith's. A couple were late 70's superstores with windows across the front. One was a "mini super store." The Indio store was the largest Smith's I had ever seen, it was 80k+. Anyone remember these locations?

I remember the store on Highway 111 just as you enter Palm Springs (near the road to the tram). It was a beautiful store but poorly located and was closed a year or two after opening. It sat empty for over a decade and may still be empty for all I know.

klkla wrote:

rnaikens wrote:How about Palm Springs? I believe the stores there were all built new by Smith's. A couple were late 70's superstores with windows across the front. One was a "mini super store." The Indio store was the largest Smith's I had ever seen, it was 80k+. Anyone remember these locations?

I remember the store on Highway 111 just as you enter Palm Springs (near the road to the tram). It was a beautiful store but poorly located and was closed a year or two after opening. It sat empty for over a decade and may still be empty for all I know.

Would this be the empty spot located on the south-east corner of Raquet Club and SR 111?

Jeff wrote:Would this be the empty spot located on the south-east corner of Raquet Club and SR 111?

Sounds right. There is an aerial photo on this page and it looks like it's still empty:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22374817@N08/2150020783/

From original msg above:
Fontana Square Shopping Center, Fontana--probably this store I can't identify
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ene=720432

Was just in that area recently.

It is FIESTA MARKET.

Can't find a website for the chain, but did find the following info:

**Fiesta Markets, a progressive 10-store chain based in Ontario, Calif., is a specialty grocer serving the area’s burgeoning Hispanic market.

Store sure looks like a Market Basket.

Amar/Puente in La Puente is currently Big Saver Foods, previously Lucky (before the Albertsons merger). It's been a Lucky since 1984 after acquiring all the SFK sites. The store showed up in SFK ads as early as about 1967.

luckysaver

greebs wrote: The Ralphs on Crenshaw and Rodeo was a Boy's Market and was converted to a Ralphs in 1995.

Wasn't this store always a Ralphs? The photo from 1942 shows a Ralphs which looks to be the same building as it's in now. Unless Ralphs sold the building to Boy's Markets and then aquired Boy's later on and converted the store back to a Ralphs.....

J-Mac wrote:

runchadrun wrote:For the purposes of this post, I'm talking about the first entry of Smith's Food King in Southern California, not the short-lived reentry in the 1990s.
... snip ...
Valley View at Lincoln, Buena Park--I'm guessing it's the Big Lots
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ene=165168
... snip again ...
These stores weren't in the 1972 ad but were listed in the 1984 Lucky ad:

Alondra Blvd at Downey Ave, Paramount--Not sure, there's a Stater Bros and another, older, shopping center.
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=7028333

The first location (Buena Park) ... is one of those intersections of Buena Park and Cypress. Anyway, The Big Lots store is roughly where a Builders Emporium store was. I'm vaguely remembering this being an L-shaped strip mall, and I also remember them either demolishing or seriously changing it... so perhaps it was the Albertsons (via Lucky.) An oddball side note: across Valley View is a large, abandoned Kmart. Well, at least in the 3-D pictures, because it is all gone now and a new strip mall is in its place.

A few years late to this, but I remember as far back as 1989, where I lived a few blocks away, before this center was redone, it had, going clockwise from the CVS, A Sav•On, Lucky, Security Pacific Bank, various shops, and Pic N Save. I don't recall a Builder's Emporium here, though there was one at Knott & Lincoln, next to Stater Bros.

submariner wrote:

J-Mac wrote:

runchadrun wrote:For the purposes of this post, I'm talking about the first entry of Smith's Food King in Southern California, not the short-lived reentry in the 1990s.
... snip ...
Valley View at Lincoln, Buena Park--I'm guessing it's the Big Lots
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ene=165168
... snip again ...
These stores weren't in the 1972 ad but were listed in the 1984 Lucky ad:

Alondra Blvd at Downey Ave, Paramount--Not sure, there's a Stater Bros and another, older, shopping center.
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=7028333

The first location (Buena Park) ... is one of those intersections of Buena Park and Cypress. Anyway, The Big Lots store is roughly where a Builders Emporium store was. I'm vaguely remembering this being an L-shaped strip mall, and I also remember them either demolishing or seriously changing it... so perhaps it was the Albertsons (via Lucky.) An oddball side note: across Valley View is a large, abandoned Kmart. Well, at least in the 3-D pictures, because it is all gone now and a new strip mall is in its place.

A few years late to this, but I remember as far back as 1989, where I lived a few blocks away, before this center was redone, it had, going clockwise from the CVS, A Sav•On, Lucky, Security Pacific Bank, various shops, and Pic N Save. I don't recall a Builder's Emporium here, though there was one at Knott & Lincoln, next to Stater Bros.

I grew up in Cypress and remember that center pretty well. It was L shaped and from left to right I remember a Sav-on with a big animated sign. Don't remember what was next to it (possibly Security Pacific before they took over the Mercury savings across the street behind Church's chicken in K-mart parking lot). Next was empty space. Then Builders Emporium(started as Beaver's hence the beaver mascot) various shops , Smith's food king, and finally Norge dry cleaners with the funny looking lolly pop shaped sign. The Builders at Knott was an Oles until Wickes merged the two into Builders.

Regarding the Superior Warehouse Grocers (now Superior Grocers) (originally Frontier Grocers) on Arrow & Citrus in Covina, this was indeed a Smith's in the late 70's early 80's. I started working for Superior in March 1981, and the original store #1 for Superior was this location. It was located differently on the north west part of the center next to a Thrifty Drug Store with a Thrifty Coffee Shop. The owners changed it a year later to Superior because there was a Frontier Meat Market down the street and the ads were confused all the time. In 1983 Superior lost the lease and another independent went in for several years then closed. The entire shopping center was razed and Lucky had a warehouse concept store called Super Saver for a few years before the Lucky/Albertsons merger. Unified Grocers got the lease from Albertsons and is currently leasing the store to Superior again and this Superior #15 now.

Food Giant stores
.....
Victory Blvd at Fallbrook, Canoga Park--Albertsons
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=3077366

This was the main market where my mother shopped when I was growing up. It was the only supermarket in that particular immediate area until Market Basket opened just off Vanowen at the new Fallbrook Square circa 1963-4.

With the changes in the company's ownership, what was originally "Food Giant" was renamed "Food King" and then "Smith's Food King." I do not recall it ever becoming an Albertson's, as the Fazio's store in Fallbrook Square became Albertson's when bought that company. Lucky's also by then had a store on the south side of Victory just west of Fallbrook.

Either way, by the early '80s it was a Ralphs, and remained such until Ralphs built a bigger market a block west on the Victory (south) end of (the renamed) Fallbrook Mall, where Sears had had a Credit Central. The old Food Giant store has since then been an OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware).

Steven P. Tibbetts

One of the Palm Springs Smith Food Kings

Palm Springs Square Phase I and II- Palm Springs, California
North Palm Canyon Drive and Racquet Club Road
Neighborhood shopping center including a Smiths Food King supermarket and retail shops.