Jewel T - store design and range of operations

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buckhead
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Jewel T - store design and range of operations

Post by buckhead »

Various other posts have mentioned Jewel T operations in Southern California and elsewhere. The stores were generally small, box display operations featuring store brands and secondary labels (Park, Ralston cereals, etc.) without fresh produce or meat, and limited (if any) dairy offerings. The only stores I recall seeing were in Georgia (Athens, and a few other locations) and Florida (Orlando area...East Colonial Drive, West Colonial Drive, Deland, and a few other towns) in the early to mid 80's. All these locations were in former grocery store locations, e.g., A&P, or underutilized space in strip centers. None were new-builds.

My questions are basically how far dispersed were the Jewel T operations and did any of them exist in locations built specifically for them? Considering that they were a very low-end operation, I would speculate that they did NOT build new locations, instead opting for locations abandoned by others or any other locations where lease rates were attractive. They did not last long before closing or selling out to others such as Save-A-Lot. Were they also located in the Mid-Atlantic or New England areas on a wide basis?

[Edited to correct incorrect store reference]
maynesG
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Re: Jewel T - store design and range of operations

Post by maynesG »

If memory serves me, Moran Foods owned Save a Lot and back in the early 80!s sold them to Jewel T. Jewel T then converted their Box stores to the Sav a Lot name. Tto add to the confusion American Stores (Acme) purchased JewelT and then divested them Selves of Sav A Lot to Super Valu .
What killed the box store was the economic recovery of the 1980!s. People had better jobs and with inflation licked, enegy prices down,and interest rates back to affordabitity, the consumer had the money to shop in more conventional stores.
Sav A lot itS self had to adapt to stay in business, Produce and Meat Departments as well as Frozen Foods and a larger supply oif Branded items have been added.
terryinokc
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Re: Jewel T - store design and range of operations

Post by terryinokc »

Jewel T had several stores in Texas also. I know of six or seven in the Dallas metroplex, and also visited one in Paris, TX, a good ways from Dallas. The Texas stores that I visited were all in former grocery stores......and very small. Some of them could have even been in former drug stores.......maybe Eckerds, Skillerns, or Revco.

I have a can somewhere of store brand tomatoes I bought there......the brand was Texas T. Plan to get photos of several things like this I have packed away when the weather gets warmer....I'll see if I can get them on.
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MikeRa
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Re: Jewel T - store design and range of operations

Post by MikeRa »

Jewel T also had a store in Feasterville, PA. This store was in a standard shopping center store. It was sold in the mid 1980's to Genuardi Super Markets, which converted this store to their "Mad Grocer" division.
pseudo3d
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Re: Jewel T - store design and range of operations

Post by pseudo3d »

Based on some phone books I have, Jewel T became Texas T in the 1980s. Texas T was later bought by SuperValu (cite: FundingUniverse) in 1994, so what I'm guessing is American Stores cut off Jewel T in the 1980s, the Texas division became Texas T, and that was bought by SuperValu and killed.
wnetmacman
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Re: Jewel T - store design and range of operations

Post by wnetmacman »

The remaining Texas stores did indeed become Texas T in the late 80's, but were still owned by ASC. They were sold to Save-A-Lot in 1994, and rebranded at that point.

Typically, they were housed in second (or even third) generation retail buildings. The Jewel/Texas T stores had no perishables, and when S-A-L bought them, none were added until later. They were very basic stores.
Scott Greer
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