Thriftimart Locations

Uh...California.

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Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

There was a Thriftimart in Montebello on Montebello and Beverly that later became a Safeway, then almost immediately a Vons.

For the longest time, you could see T H R I F T I M A R T underneath VONS. Then they painted the store.
Cragmont Charlie

Post by Cragmont Charlie »

I also remember a Thriftimart across from the Greyhound bus station in Anaheim. The T was still standing in the mid 80's when I had the pleasure of spending a three hour lay over at the bus station.
Dean
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Post by Dean »

I remember THRIFTIMART had stores in City of Industry CA at the corner of Gale and Hacienda. It became LUCKY...and is now a 99 Cent Only Store. The THRIFTIMART in West Covina CA was off Sunset. I believe it is now MAX FOODS.
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Post by Jeff »

Sunset and Francisquito.....that store closed down a while back. I dont know what it is today.
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runchadrun
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Post by runchadrun »

This is a list of 13 Thriftimart stores that became Safeways in 1984. (Sorry but I don't have time right now to do the images or figure out what they are now.)

1012 Westlake Blvd, Westlake Village
18045 Chatsworth, Granada Hills (TJ Maxx)
26877 N Bouquet Canyon, Saugus
5005 W El Segundo, Hawthorne
2616 W Imperial, Inglewood
Los Alamitos Blvd at Farquhar, Los Alamitos
1308 Edinger, Santa Ana
6534 Platt Ave, Canoga Park
2433 Harbor Blvd, Ventura
5819 Bellflower Blvd, Lakewood
Bellflower at Stearns, Long Beach
804 Beverly Blvd, Montebello
Dean
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Post by Dean »

Dean wrote:I remember THRIFTIMART had stores in City of Industry CA at the corner of Gale and Hacienda. It became LUCKY...and is now a 99 Cent Only Store. The THRIFTIMART in West Covina CA was off Sunset. I believe it is now MAX FOODS.
Jeff, since I believe you are in the area...swing by this current 99 Cent Only Store. When 99 moved in...they did not take the entire store. Probably 2/3 or 3/4. The last section of the store sat vacant for quite some time. Went there recently...and an Asian gift/book store moved into that last section. They essentially did nothing. Same old floor. The best is the back. They maintained the walk-in/frig or freezer! They dismantled the unit(s)...and have simply set up shelves in there. It is like walking through a bomb shelter! I think they even had an area for kids to play! Quite a hoot!
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J-Mac
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Post by J-Mac »

runchadrun wrote:This is a list of 13 Thriftimart stores that became Safeways in 1984. (Sorry but I don't have time right now to do the images or figure out what they are now.)

-snip-
5005 W El Segundo, Hawthorne
Los Alamitos Blvd at Farquhar, Los Alamitos
1308 Edinger, Santa Ana
5819 Bellflower Blvd, Lakewood
Bellflower at Stearns, Long Beach
-snip-
Lemme help with the locations in neighborhoods I am familiar with:
These are best guesses:
5005 W El Segundo, Hawthorne - Looks like the Bally Total Fitness
1308 Edinger, Santa Ana - 99 Ranch Market

These I am sure about:
Los Alamitos Blvd at Farquhar, Los Alamitos - Vons, with a new front.

5819 Bellflower Blvd, Lakewood - Vons was here for a while, but they vacated years ago. Its has since spent more time vacant than occupied, with new tenants every couple years. Vons vacated this store after they opened a Pavilions one block east on South Street. (That Pavilions is on South & Woodruff, local.live.com shows it as a "grid" front but it no longer is... its has been "Lifestyled.") More trivia: that Pavilions stands on the former "Dutch Village" shopping center.

Bellflower at Stearns, Long Beach - I should know this one but don't. I have a feeling this location may have been demolished to make way for the replacement Los Altos Center... Sears being the only building that looks original over there. I'm also thinking that Target was a FedMart.

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Post by klkla »

runchadrun wrote:This is a list of 13 Thriftimart stores that became Safeways in 1984. (Sorry but I don't have time right now to do the images or figure out what they are now.)

1012 Westlake Blvd, Westlake Village
18045 Chatsworth, Granada Hills (TJ Maxx)
26877 N Bouquet Canyon, Saugus
5005 W El Segundo, Hawthorne
2616 W Imperial, Inglewood
Los Alamitos Blvd at Farquhar, Los Alamitos
1308 Edinger, Santa Ana
6534 Platt Ave, Canoga Park
2433 Harbor Blvd, Ventura
5819 Bellflower Blvd, Lakewood
Bellflower at Stearns, Long Beach
804 Beverly Blvd, Montebello
I remember at least one more on Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. Safeway had a store in the same center and closed it and moved into the Thriftimart location (Drug Emporium moved into the old Safeway location). The site operated as a Vons for many years and even under went a major remodel but was closed a year or two ago. I think Superior Warehouse foods moved in after Vons but I'm not 100% sure.
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Post by mgrmk »

I also remember a Thriftimart at Laurel Canyon and Rinaldi in San Fernando. This location was only a Safeway for a short time as there was a Safeway a couple blocks away on San Fernando Mission Blvd.
Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

As I said in the initial post, 804 Beverly is still a Vons.
wayne winterland jr.
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Thriftimart in Anaheim

Post by wayne winterland jr. »

The only Thriftimart that I remember in Anaheim before I moved from Calif. in 1979 was located at the intersection of Lincoln and State College Blvd.
Is this the same location as a previous post said was across from the bus station in Anaheim? This shopping center also had a Sav-on Drugstore in it at the far end of the center near Lincoln.
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shane
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Post by shane »

Lancaster had a Thriftimart, this store was located at 43422 10th St. W. It opened in 1957 and closed in 1966. It became a furniture store and the furniture store closed in 1989. The building sat abandoned for a number of years, and has since been demolished. The sight is now a Winco Foods.
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Post by Dean »

Jeff wrote:As I said in the initial post, 804 Beverly is still a Vons.
In looking @ that same center...from the left side...what is now Ross or Marshalls was JCPenney. When JCPenney moved to the Montebello Town Center...it became Service Merchandise. Now it is either of those clothing stores, correct? At the extreme end/right of that center...was Woolworth. There was a food service counter in there. Is there something to the left of VONS...? It has been sometime since I have been over there. Isn't it a fabric store or something?
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Post by Jeff »

Dean wrote:
Jeff wrote:As I said in the initial post, 804 Beverly is still a Vons.
In looking @ that same center...from the left side...what is now Ross or Marshalls was JCPenney. When JCPenney moved to the Montebello Town Center...it became Service Merchandise. Now it is either of those clothing stores, correct? At the extreme end/right of that center...was Woolworth. There was a food service counter in there. Is there something to the left of VONS...? It has been sometime since I have been over there. Isn't it a fabric store or something?
Correct.

JCPenney closed in 1985 when the Town Center opened. Service Merch moved in until the chain folded, then Marshalls Moved in (one odd thing is that Marshalls and Service Merch had to keep a wall that supports the roof in the store, this used to be the back wall of the JCPenney.

Ross used to be a 2 level office area, with a gym on the 2nd level.

Woolworths was nothing for the longest time, and now Anna's Linens

The store to the left of Vons was a Cloth World, then Kragen, and recently a Shoe Pavillion.
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runchadrun
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Post by runchadrun »

The store at Laurel Canyon and Rinaldi is now a Payless Foods independent grocer.

An obvious Big T on a current Smart and Final is the West LA store on Santa Monica:
http://www.smartandfinal.com/location.aspx?id=2

The Encino Smart & Final is a former Thriftimart as well
http://www.smartandfinal.com/location.aspx?id=155
1961 photo: http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics48/00058751.jpg

There's no location information but here's a 1959 picture from the LAPL database:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059245.jpg

And this is a picture of a 1934 store at 401 Wilshire in Santa Monica
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics41/00040068.jpg

I also have a list of Thrifitmart stores from 1951 and the only store that I could find that is a current Smart & Final is at 3708 Burbank Blvd, Burbank. I had a later list of stores from the Times archive but I guess I forgot to save it and I'll have to find it again.

As for the Montebello store on Beverly, it opened in March 1961 and was the 59th store in the chain. It was 31,000 sq ft when it opened. A 1977 article says that the major stores were Thrifitmart, JC Penney, Woolworth, and Thrifty.
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