Bazar

Moderator: Groceteria

Post Reply
J-Man
Veteran
Posts: 136
Joined: 07 Jul 2006 00:14
Location: Duarte, CA

Bazar

Post by J-Man »

Does anyone remember this store? The only location I remember was adjacent to the northern end of SunValley Mall in Concord, CA (although I think Bazar was technically in Pleasant Hill.) It was an early general merchandise discounter, and I remember it from the mid to late 60s. (SunValley opened in 1968.) The building currently houses a Mervyn's.
User avatar
tesg
Veteran
Posts: 179
Joined: 06 Nov 2005 17:07
Contact:

Post by tesg »

There was Bazaar, which MIGHT have been general merch but I remember as a grocery store.

We had one in Beaverton, OR. My grandmother referred to it as "Stinky Bazaar". "We need to go to Safeway, then Ernie's, then Stinky Bazaar."

It was Hwy 217 and 110th Ave south of Canyon Rd and was replaced by a freestanding Monkey Wards, which has since been replaced by a Home Depot.
wayne winterland jr.
Contributor
Posts: 63
Joined: 12 Nov 2005 15:49

Post by wayne winterland jr. »

I too remember a grocery store chain named Bazaar or Bazaar Foods and I think they may have been headquarted in either washington or oregon but the only way I remember them was when they bought out the grocery stores that were next to or adjoining K-Mart Stores.
marshd1000
Veteran
Posts: 179
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 13:49
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact:

Post by marshd1000 »

In the Seattle are I remember Bazzar Foods as part of a larger operation called, "Gov-Mart Bazzar". These were originally membership stores from what I heard and may have even had membership limited to government employees. But don't quote me on that. Eventually the Gov-Mart general merchandise sections in Seattle were sold to PayLess Drug stores. This was PayLess' first entry into Seattle under that banner. Prior to that they were known as "House of Values". Anyway, I digress. When PayLess took over the general merchandise sections, Bazzar kept the grocery departments. Also, after this, Bazzar took over a K-Mart Foods in West Seattle on Delridge Way. However when the Gov-Mart Bazzar closed in Tacoma (Lakewood), WA; it became a Fred Meyer. Eventually the remaining Bazzar locations in the Seattle area were closed. The West Seattle and North Seattle stores became Food Giant. The Burien location became something called, "Plus 10 Foods". Of these former Bazzar stores, only one operates as a grocery store and that is the North Seattle location, which is now a Grocery Outlet. Prior to that it was a QFC.
J-Man
Veteran
Posts: 136
Joined: 07 Jul 2006 00:14
Location: Duarte, CA

Post by J-Man »

I did a little googling and found this reference in an FTC report from 1976 (that lists Elizabeth Dole as one of the commissioners!):
"Other significant litigation activity by the Commission included acceptance of four consent orders (Pay 'n Pak Stores, Fred Meyer, Inc., Baza'r, Inc., and Pacific Gamble Robinson, Inc.) (Seattle office), involving
unavailability and overpricing by retail food stores; "

So maybe it was a northwestern store, and maybe it was a grocer.
J-Man
Veteran
Posts: 136
Joined: 07 Jul 2006 00:14
Location: Duarte, CA

A-HA!

Post by J-Man »

OK ... so I'm NOT crazy! I found this ad for sale on eBay-- it clearly shows Baza'r as a discount department store, and lists several locations in Washington, Oregon, and California, including the Pleasant Hill store I mentioned earlier.


http://www.adspast.com/store/skin1/imag ... 9tonex.jpg
marshd1000
Veteran
Posts: 179
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 13:49
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact:

Post by marshd1000 »

Thanks for posting that Bazar ad. I noticed that I forgot a location here in the Seattle area. There was also one in Renton that became a PayLess. That was until they bought out Pay 'n Save and moved into their smaller Renton location. The Renton Bazar site was demolished and turned into a Wal-Mart.
justin karimzad
Veteran
Posts: 270
Joined: 14 Nov 2005 01:23
Location: California

Post by justin karimzad »

The former Baza'rs in Mountain View, CA at 555 Showers Dr. is now a Target.
TheQuestioner
Contributor
Posts: 95
Joined: 28 Nov 2005 16:39

Baza'r

Post by TheQuestioner »

It's amazing how many chains there once were in any given segment. So many gas stations, supermarkets, retail stores, and even auto companies, faded into the mists of history. In all my years visiting this site and other popular "Retail history" sites online, I'd never seen any mention of this chain. The fact that it took digging into an FTC report to even scrounge up clues to it's existence shows how quickly something can fade into oblivion. A few old ads buried in magazines and old goverment reports (and perhaps some old bags/price tags lingering in closets and attics) are probably the the only evidence they ever existed.

The fact that something that was widespread 40 years ago could so easily vanish, but for people's childhood memories. I was amazed how difficult it was to find a single image of the Kresge logo online! Makes me think about how much history must have been lost before writing and printing became widespread throughout the world...
Steve Landry
Veteran
Posts: 275
Joined: 04 Nov 2005 22:00
Location: West Hollywood

Post by Steve Landry »

I totally understand and agree with you. As it goes with the giant Food Fair company, established in 1900. So powerful, so quickly and gone (1991) without a trace (except for an invisible exisitence inside Revlon Cosmetics).

:(
The Food Fair Empire
tkaye
Veteran
Posts: 187
Joined: 25 Jan 2006 17:12

Post by tkaye »

J-Man wrote:I did a little googling and found this reference in an FTC report from 1976 (that lists Elizabeth Dole as one of the commissioners!):
"Other significant litigation activity by the Commission included acceptance of four consent orders (Pay 'n Pak Stores, Fred Meyer, Inc., Baza'r, Inc., and Pacific Gamble Robinson, Inc.) (Seattle office), involving
unavailability and overpricing by retail food stores; "
Pay 'n Pak operated food stores?!

As for Gov-Mart, it was started by two Seattle entreprenuers, Alex Shulman and self-service parking lot magnate Joe Diamond in the early '50s. The first store was in the Trianon Ballroom building at Fourth & Wall in Downtown Seattle. It transitioned from Gov-Mart to Baza'r once it dropped the membership requirements in the mid-'60s. They sold out to PayLess in 1974. Earlier this year, a biography was published about Diamond, who is now 99 years old. Joe Diamond: Times in the Life of a Seattle Icon would probably have more info about Gov-Mart in it... I'll have to get my hands on a copy sometime.

If you go to http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/images/ and search for Gov-Mart, you'll see photos of the Lakewood (Tacoma) store, which as marshd1000 mentioned, became a Fred Meyer. Note how spartan the interior is and how dark much of the store is compared with other discount stores of the time... Diamond was inspired by army surplus stores. After Fred Meyer built a new Lakewood store in 1982, the general merchandise side of the store was destroyed by fire. That part of the building was replaced by a Costco warehouse, which was there from about 1984 through the early '90s. It's now Tacoma Discount World and an indoor go-kart track. The remaining part of the Gov-Mart building, which was the 1964 supermarket addition, became a Canned Foods/Grocery Outlet after Fred Meyer left and is still there today. So, there's actually two that still operate as supermarkets.
User avatar
timbabcock
Contributor
Posts: 34
Joined: 13 Mar 2007 18:52
Location: Federal Way, Washington

Post by timbabcock »

Earlier this year, a biography was published about Diamond, who is now 99 years old. Joe Diamond: Times in the Life of a Seattle Icon would probably have more info about Gov-Mart in it...
Joe Diamond passed away a few months ago. It was interesting that no one mentioned anything about him starting Gov Mart Bazar.

I put a thread up in the grocery section about Bazar Foods.

They were really the first Costco. You had to be a government employee to shop there back in the 50s. In 1964 they got rid of the restrictions and moved the home office from Seattle to Portland Oregon.

In 1973. Gov Mart Bazzar sold the variety section (except for the Lakewood location) of the stores to Payless which at the time was owned by K-Mart. House of Values was purchased by Payless at the same time. The food section remained and even flourished in other areas such as California. They even added stores next to K-Marts like they did in Tacoma. By 1977 the grocery stores were gone.


[/quote]
User avatar
timbabcock
Contributor
Posts: 34
Joined: 13 Mar 2007 18:52
Location: Federal Way, Washington

Bazar Foods

Post by timbabcock »

One thing that Bazar Foods did that you don't see anymore is something called parcel pickup. I know the original stores did this but it was later discontinued.

Your groceries were loaded into a grey plastic bin. Each bin held two bags of groceries. You were given a plastic tag which had the same number as the bin had on it. The bins was placed on a conveyer. At the end of the line was a metal turntable with a glass door on it. This turntable would place the bins to the outside conveyer of the store for pickup. You would drive your car to the front of the store. You gave the attendent your card and they would load your groceries into the car for you.

It was very facinating to see when I was a kid shopping in there. A Valu Mart in my neighborhood had a similar system but it wasn't as elaborate as the Bazar system.
Dean
Veteran
Posts: 738
Joined: 11 Jan 2007 23:27

Post by Dean »

wayne winterland jr. wrote:I too remember a grocery store chain named Bazaar or Bazaar Foods and I think they may have been headquarted in either washington or oregon but the only way I remember them was when they bought out the grocery stores that were next to or adjoining K-Mart Stores.
See discussion in relation to this purchase:

http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtop ... c&start=45
Post Reply