Zody's

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Jeff
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Re: Zody's

Post by Jeff »

I want to give credit to our own Romleys, who on his flickr page, has this great ad from Zody's in the early 80's.

I wonder what store this was........
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyingindowney/2574443318/
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runchadrun
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Re: Zody's

Post by runchadrun »

Jeff wrote:I wonder what store this was........
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyingindowney/2574443318/
I'm going to guess that it's the Oxnard store. If you look at the West view you'll see the wood pattern match on the back part of the overhang.
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&F ... &encType=1
Jeff
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Re: Zody's

Post by Jeff »

I think you are correct. Good job, Chad! On a side note, I love the interior. So 70's. I remember that interior in some stores (and the purple seen in others)
bigbubby
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Re: Zody's

Post by bigbubby »

IIRC that facade looks almost identical to the Zody's store in Stockton on Hammer Lane, which opened in 1980. But since Zody's was mostly a Southern California chain, it probably is Oxnard.
greebs
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Re: Zody's

Post by greebs »

Here's a picture of it now. Definitely Oxnard.

Image
Several stores had a similar design. Vermont and Slauson, Upland, and one of the Vegas stores for sure.
Jeff
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Re: Zody's

Post by Jeff »

Another Zody's store bites the dust:

The Sam's Club on Santa Anita Avenue has been completely demolished - along with about 500,000 square feet of other retail space - to make way for a bigger 137,716-square-foot center, which will include a pharmacy, garages for auto work and a gas station.
wulfgar64
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Re: Zody's

Post by wulfgar64 »

Florin Road/Stockton Bl Zody's was, indeed, a White Front in it's previous incarnation. My father bought a turntable/cassette combo for me at that Zody's around 1981. Had it it for around 15 years before it died.
Old Poet 54
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Re: Zody's

Post by Old Poet 54 »

Hello from a long ago Southern California resident. I lived in El Monte from 1954 to 1966 and remember Zody's as well as White Front. I also recall the TV Ads for Zody's--something like, "Zody's, Zody's, Zody's." Theses normally played during afternoon TV shows such as "Billy Barty," "Hobo Kelly," "Jerry Mahoney," and some of the other "kid" shows. I went to this store with my family many time, but do not recall the exact location. Since department stores were not real common at this time, it was always a big thrill to "explore" the many aisles of Zody's. I might have looked at one the first "GI Joe's" there. Does anyone out there know where the Zody's near El Monte (or even in El Monte) was located. It has been 40+ years and I just can't recall. I have lived in the East Coast for the majority of my adult live and this is where I reside now. Sometimes the West Coast beckons...
luckysaver
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Re: Zody's

Post by luckysaver »

Old Poet 54,

The Zody El Monte store was on 4901 N. Santa Anita Ave. El Monte, CA 91731

near the county-run El Monte Airport. It is currently a Sam's Club (temporarily closed, according to LA County Public Health). Walmart, which owns Sam's Clubs, recently demolished the store (see the post above written by Jeff) so that they could build a larger store with more services on the same site. The exterior architecture (before the demolition) is similar to the Food4Less store on Azusa Ave in West Covina, but at this El Monte store, the pylon was painted dark blue (per the old Sam's logo). When the building became Sam's, part of it became a furniture store and 3/4 went to Sam's.

luckysaver

ps
See this press release from Walmart for the word on the demolition:
http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/8477.aspx
Old Poet 54
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Re: Zody's

Post by Old Poet 54 »

Thanks Lucky Saver:

The three stores that weave through my early childhood memories are Zody's, White Front, and Crawford's. A grocery store I recall was Vonn's. I know that at one time they featured, "Let's Go to the Races" game. The concept was that customers would be given cards with horses' names whenever they shopped at Vonn's. Then, once a week on TV, they would actually have horse races, and if your horse won, you would get a prize. I don't think we ever won anything, but it did generate some weekly excitement. This would have been around 1964-65.

While I do recall the department stores and the contents of these stores, landmarks such as streets, etc, aren't quite as vivid. I had long forgotten that El Monte had an airport, but I do recall a lake that I believe was named "Pudenstone." I recall that many of my classmates went there to fish. I could have the named spelled incorrectly, and as you can tell from my previous post, I haven't yet figured out how to use spell check on this site :)

Again, thanks for the informaton

Old Poet 54
luckysaver
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Re: Zody's

Post by luckysaver »

Old poet 54:

Zody's is long gone now. The LA Times archives via Proquest has copies of old newspaper ads of Zodys in El Monte during your time.

The grocery chain was (and is still) Vons (owned by Safeway) and its headquarters was on Valley Blvd (Main St at your time) and Shirley St (DC, Meat plant, and employee credit union still standing). The old Vons on Garvey near Santa Anita is now Buy Low Market.

There were several branches of White Front stores in the San Gabriel Valley. Crawfords was at "Five Points" (what's the story behind the name Five Points?) on Valley and Garvey. The area was also known as Crawford's Corner because it was anchored by Crawfords. Today, it is a hispanic shopping mall called Crawford's Mercado (no relation to the original Crawfords - the owner just kept the historic name).

luckysaver
Dean
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Re: Zody's

Post by Dean »

Just was by the Hollywood site, currently Food 4 Less.

Site is still hopping!
javelin
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Re: Zody's

Post by javelin »

UPLAND, 1445 EAST FOOTHILL BLVD, OPENED 1982

Was Upland Marketplace indoor swap meet, closed 12/27/11. A grocery store is planning to open there sometime this year.
TenPoundHammer
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Re: Zody's

Post by TenPoundHammer »

These are all the Yankee stores I found. Some came from an Ebony magazine ad that only had the city names. A little more digging shows that they were founded in Flint in 1948. The Flint ones were paired with Hamady supermarkets, but after they sold to Borman (then-owners of Farmer Jack) in 1965, many were paired with Farmer Jack instead.

As far as I can tell, all of these Yankee stores became Zody's:

Adrian — I know they had a Hills on S. Main St., so this is most likely it (especially now that I've confirmed the Dunham's next door as a former Tempo).
Albion — 1507 N. Eaton. Interestingly, this one was paired with Kroger. I don't know what it was in the 80s (possibly Tradeway then 3D?), but as early as 1994 it was subdivided among Family Dollar and other stores.
Burton — 2 stores:
** S. Saginaw @ Bristol is now Rocky's Sporting Goods.
** Davison Rd. @ Belsay is now a Harley dealer.
Davison — became a Kroger, then Kessel, then Kroger again. Kroger moved in the 2000s and the building was split between Salvation Army and an office.
East Lansing — found a reference to a Yankee and Kroger-anchored shopping center being built in 1964, but not sure of where. It could be the Farmer Jack (now Hobby Lobby) on Grand River near Hagadorn.
Essexville — later Tradeway (a short-lived chain based in Highland, IN), then 3D Discount (a branch of Danner's 5&10), then Meijer for a short time, now Kroger.
Flint — 5 stores:
** Clio & Pierson was a Hills in the 1990s (meaning it probably was Tradeway then 3D, like Saginaw). It became Kessel and is now Kroger.
** Dort Mall. After this closed, it was split into additional mall space and a Sears outlet. The Sears outlet closed in the 1990s and is now a thrift shop.
** Ballenger Hwy. Later a roller skating rink now Rollerworld, now smaller stores.
** Richfield Rd. @ Center. This was adjacent to a Hamady
** Saginaw @ Carpenter. I think this was later a furniture store, and is now offices.
Grand Rapids — There was a Hills on Plainfield (later Handy Andy, now Big Lots) so it could've been there.
Lansing — 2 stores at least
** Saginaw Hwy. — later L&L Food, now Peerless Furniture
** Holmes Rd. — There are so many dead boxes on Holmes Rd. that I don't know what was what.
Lapeer — later Robert Hall Village, then something else (Dunham's?), now Big Lots. RHV seems a very odd choice for Lapeer.
Midland — Saginaw @ Eastlawn. Paired with a Giant supermarket. Looks to have been subdivided.
Mt. Pleasant — Probably paired with Giant as well. I know the Giant became a Save-a-Lot.
Muskegon — Apple Ave., now a Kmart.
Owosso — 1484 M-52. Also became Tradeway, then 3D. I think it's now offices.
Portage — No idea where it could've been. None of the obvious buildings in Portage check out, and while they did have a Hills, it was built from scratch in the 80s.
Port Huron — Also became Tradeway, then 3D. After 3D closed in the 1980s, it became a Farmer Jack.
Saginaw — Also became Tradeway, then 3D. Hills bought the building in the late 80s and stayed there until 1991, when they exited Michigan. Kmart moved its State St. store here around the same time.
Wyoming — 44th and Clyde Park. This was a Hills by 1987 (again, Tradeway/3D?) and Value City Furniture after that. It's since been torn down. Interestingly, Chain Store Age says that this one also had Farmer Jack.

Yankee also had stores throughout Detroit. The ones I know of offhand were Fraser, Pontiac, Riverview and Sterling Heights (14 Mile @ Schoenherr — now a bowling alley) but these closed off in 1971 before the sellout to Zody's. An issue of Chain Store Age lists one planned to open in Westland in 1971, which I'm betting didn't happen.
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