FORGOTTEN Grocery Stores from the past - Life in America

[@KevinWindsor1971]

The last remnant of A&P is Eight o'clock coffee which is headquartered in Landover, MD. I remember as a kid my mother buying it in bags of whole beans and getting it ground in store.

[@jeanhansel5805]

This is what my mother would do too at our local A&P store.

[@sonyafox3271]

The smell of that coffee freshly ground was one of the best smells, I swore you felt like you died and went to heaven!

[@court5231]

WOW! I had no idea about the coffee! Thanks for sharing 🙂

[@Mxbarry]

I still buy Eight O'clock coffee and drink it every morning.

[@1985OldSkool]

Question: Who owns the Eight O'Clock coffee brand in 2022?

[@tizfrreecharm]

I'll write it again: it's virtually impossible not to enjoy the RR videos. Thanks for the memories (for some) and for the history for all!

[@funkibloo3811]

❤️

[@brodriguez11000]

The prices alone are a real trip down memory lane.

[@lawnmowerman2199]

Very well said!! I agree 💯%👍👍

[@timcarroll490]

Absolutely! I've loved every video!

[@عطااللهالمطيري-ه9ظ]

I Found the channel by accident, and look at me now, I can't leave it, it's make me shinny and full of wisdom.

[@kenhill3230]

I always feel a sense of sadness about the loss of these old stores, and the people who lost their jobs. A lot of these places offered good paying jobs with all the opportunity you could want for advancement. I started with Winn-Dixie at the age of 19 and had a backroom management position within 6 months. It was not like store manager or assistant, but it was a big jump in a short time. WD is still around but most grocery stores don't pay too good now because of having to compete with big box stores. I was making about a dollar less per hour in 1988 than what good paying supermarkets start you out at now, and that money would be a whole lot more now with inflation accounted for. You could live off your wages.

[@mellens80]

I spent 20 years in the grocery industry, at one time you could make enough money to live off of. I remember shortly before I left the industry the chain I worked for couldn't keep staffed, the starting pay for cashiers then was what I was started at 20 years prior, and I completely understood why we couldn't even get applicants. Safeway just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I had a friend who worked at Dominick's, and Dominick's was a great place to work until Safeway took over and ran it into the ground. I was working in another part or the country for a regional chain, Safeway came in, bought us out, changed everything our customers like about our stores then couldn't figure out what went wrong. Within a few years of buying our chain they tried to sell us off but couldn't find a buyer. Our chain luckily didn't disappear completely like Dominick's but quite a few locations closed and no longer have the presence or reputation they one had

[@kenhill3230]

@@mellens80 I totally feel you. Grocery used to be a lot better.

[@Turkeydump]

I still remember the way Winn Dixie unloaded trucks, that was the most backward way I've ever seen.

[@dbadaddy7386]

My dad got a contract to do some work for the grandson of the founder of Winn-Dixie. We reroofed his house (nothing like hot tar work in the Florida summer). It was the Boot Ranch and had a big concrete boot at the entrance. He had thousands of cattle. The barn was so big we needed to use a bulldozer to clean it and when lightning struck one corner we were all able to get down the ladder in time. This was in the late 70s. Sadly, ten years later I drove past the ranch on a much bigger road and the boot is still there, in the parking lot of a strip mall that had a Jewel Osco. I didn't deal with him directly, but he and his wife were lovely to us and helped keep the workers hydrated.

[@NewtonDKC]

I find this fascinating, I had never thought about grocery stores or their history (I love it when I realize I’ve never thought about how something came to be that I totally take for granted and then love exploring and learning about it). So this video talks about the one chain going to court to prove PigglyWiggly didn’t invent the “cash and carry” model and also mentions “self service”. What does this refer to? How did Grocery Stores work in the past (ie when a person went shopping, how did it differ from today?)? I’m guessing self service doesn’t mean the way you go to self check out counters nowadays but also very curious what the model was before cash and carry and how it operated?

[@danielulz1640]

I miss A & P. It is where my mother did most of her grocery shopping.

[@luisreyes1963]

Me too. Only A&P provided that freshly ground coffee scent. ☕

[@ivoryfyall2398]

Yessss, My mom tooo. It was down the street from my elementary school.

[@lloydkline1518]

A&P grocery store was in metro detroit before 1980s, farmer jack, was a staple in metro detroit great barbeque chicken, great potatoe salid, great benefits, kroger has great 401 k kroger stock

[@bellican48]

Me to miss the store snd the smell of the 8 o'clock coffee in the perulater coffee pot..

[@RiceaRoni354]

I loved the Jane Parker spice cake

[@jeanhansel5805]

I have fond memories of shopping with my mother at our neighborhood A&P Store in the 1940's. We would always go early in the morning; I hadn't yet started going to school. I remember the smell of 8 O'clock coffee as we walked into the front door. There was a Woolworth's store next door to the A&P, and my mother would buy oil cloth there to use as kitchen table cloths. There was also a National Tea store in our neighborhood, but my mother preferred A&P. Even as a young child, I noticed the National Tea store was poorly lit and never seemed to have good fruits and vegetables, while the A&P was brightly lit, and it was fun to shop there. I grew up in Milwaukee, and remember when Kohl's was only a grocery store. However, Kohl's was only located outside of the city in areas which soon would become suburbs. It seemed so odd when Kohl's began opening stores that sold clothing. I could never get it out of my head that they were a grocery store and never shopped in their clothing stores when I was older and on my own.

[@verak66]

Ditto, 1960's. I remember those grinders at the end of every lane. We loved shopping there with our Mom when we were little. Pre-covid, grocery stores were never fun anymore. Now, I do curbside pickup. Thanks for these videos.

[@cami9447]

Many, many years ago my mom shopped at A&P when I was about 6. I still remember the 8 O’clock coffee aroma. I would ride my tricycle through the store as my mother shopped. It was a small WV town. Thanks for the memories.

[@If6turnsouttobe9]

Our A & P building is still standing, there's an electrical motor repair shop in it now, the old A & P sign is even still there, though they reconfigured and repurposed it for their business, I get sad the store is gone but happy the building remains, so I never forget it.

[@terrylynn9984]

I worked at A&P in Ontario before it was taken over by Metro grocery. The 8 o clock coffee smelled divine. Great place to work as a mom with a young family, staff had been there for ages. Just left after 20 years in 2020.

[@eliciaeldridge3452]

Yes, I somewhat remember going shopping with my mother in the A&P store in the mid 90s where I grew up in Canada . I recall there bakery which was always so well kept and fresh unlike like a lot of stores now. Its to bad that it no longer exists.

[@justintyme7213]

And those stores had cashiers at just about every checkout lane! Now you’re lucky if, out of 20 lanes, 3 are open ☹️

[@starmnsixty1209]

😥😟😟

[@fifibrown13]

Or everyone checking their selves out ..

[@zerogrey3798]

Or they pull a walmart and put in a bunch of self checkouts with most of them not working either.

[@MissBabalu102]

I at least hope Trader Joe's continues decent customer service.

[@larrygrebler5054]

@@MissBabalu102I never find what I want in Trader Joe's here in Denver. I Don't understand why people from CA think it's such a great store.

[@mdf3530]

A part of A&P still lives on. Eight O’Clock Coffee can be found in grocery stores to this very day.

[@MichaelBoyce-tm2vw]

Eight O Clock broke away from them and is now a separate online service.

[@lorimartin3724]

The first Kohl's food store they show was our neighborhood store my Mom shopped at in the 1970's. We also walked through the parking lot on the way to both junior high and high school. How awesome to see my old neighborhood on the channel.

[@dannymarr414]

really??

[@MissBabalu102]

Well, that was helpful to me. We cherish our memories, especially when we are now far away...

[@lorimartin3724]

@@dannymarr414 really. I'm a true Milwaukeen from age 3 to 19 when I moved to a burb with my hubby in the early '80's.

[@lorimartin3724]

@@MissBabalu102 I'm just in a burb so visit the old hood now and then. But our original house is gone (big corner lot that is now condos) and the Kohl's is an Outpost now.

[@dannymarr414]

@@lorimartin3724 I'm a Canadian from Canada lol

[@wildernessofzinn17]

A&P was the only one of those I remember. Also, their store brand was named Ann Page. A&P used to carry these deals where you can get an entire set of encyclopedias when you shopped there. Green Stamps. They would have a different volume each week or so until the set was accumulated. I have an old set of 1959 Golden Book encyclopedias for kids and that is where they initially came from.

[@MichaelBoyce-tm2vw]

It meant Atlantic and Pacific Tea and Coffee Company.

[@acaliaaidras5012]

I've lived up and down the east coast and have heard of only a few of these. In New Jersey where I grew up, we shopped at Pathmark, Acme, ShopRite, Finast, and A&P.

[@sbingr5313]

My dad was manager of A&P, here in Canada. Brings back many memories of being in the store on Sundays. Back when stores didn't open on Sundays.

[@paulinekeown2472]

The grocery store I miss the most is Cub Foods. I remember the huge candy section with all of the candy in the clear plastic bins. Then they would hand out samples on Sundays. Good memories.

[@slim-oneslim8014]

So many of those stores I never heard of. Pretty interesting hearing of Kohls starting out as a grocery store.

[@Marcg-b4n]

Cheers from Milwaukee Wisconsin 🇺🇲🧀🍻

[@ercokatty]

Agreed

[@plynn136]

Wells-Fargo started out as a dry goods delivery company that brought goods from the east coast to the west coast.

[@BCZF]

I t was the only game in town here (Milwaukee) for the longest time. I guess Red Owl was the second.

[@Kelly_Cook]

@@BCZF Sentry foods opened before Red Owl.

[@KapitalP73]

I knew I wasn’t losing my mind when I told someone my mom grocery shopped at Kohl’s in the 80’s when we lived in Milwaukee. I was only 7 at the time but remembered that name! Good stuff, man. Love the vid.

[@CJLinOHIO]

The research you put into these videos is amazing. Very enjoyable videos.

[@daveerhardt1879]

A&P was the store we usually went to when I was growing up in Toledo, that was my parents favorite store. Sad to hear it's gone.

[@davidsquires154]

I live in Detroit,Michigan. I remember,when Detroit had 6 supermarket chain stores. They were: 1. A&P 2. Chatham Complete Food Centers 3. Farmer Jack Supermarkets 4. Great Scott!Supermarkets 5. Kroger 6. Wrigley's Supermarkets

[@carolynholody9281]

I’m from Michigan, too, but don’t remember Wrigley’s- I remember all the other ones, though, plus Hollywood Market, and Oak Ridge Market.

[@davidsquires154]

@@carolynholody9281 I remember Wrigley's from the 1960's and early 1970's. In 1975,Great Scott!,and Wrigley's both merged and Wrigley's was rebranded to Great Scott!

[@esteban1487]

In the 70s in Colorado Springs i remember Skaggs and Albertsons and Shakey's Pizza. My earliest memory of a grocery store was A&P in the 1960s. I remember the cash registers and S&H Green Stamps.

[@starmnsixty1209]

Loved S&H Green Stamps generally.

[@matttam646]

As a fellow Coloradan, I remember shopping with my mom at Joyce’s, Red Owl, Apollo’s, Barsley’s, and Ideal. We got lots of good things thanks to the S&H green stamps from Joyce’s.

[@tackyman2011]

In Colorao Springs I recall a Shakey's that had live music on Friday nights.

[@kimberlygabaldon3260]

I remember all of these, but i was in Denver.

[@coloradostrong]

@@matttam646 We watched you run around and break the celery stalks too. From Владивосток, Россия.

[@petuniasevan]

2:47 I grew up near an Alpha Beta supermarket (it was on Vincent Ave. in Covina CA). Mom shopped there on a regular basis. I remember being annoyed when they raised the cost of a candy bar from a dime to twelve cents. I can still clearly see that place in my mind's eye, even though we moved away in 1979 when I was in high school.

[@BritInvLvr]

Ha! I grew up in Baldwin Park. I know where you’re talking about. My Alpha Beta was on Maine St, north of Ramona Blvd.

[@billchambersmarquez1964]

Our alpha beta in covina was on grand ave and covina blvd the one on Vincent ave turned into a 99 cent store buildings are still there but different businesses now

[@jamessatterfield7667]

My Alpha Beta was on Foothill Blvd in Upland, CA. I loved going grocery shopping with my mom and little sister. Ahhhhhhhh Good Times!

[@sassypat1199]

I used to live in Covina I grew up there,👍by Edna Park..I remember Market Basket

[@petuniasevan]

@@sassypat1199 My grandmother (mom's mom) lived in Covina also and shopped at Market Basket.

[@fob1xxl]

I was raised in San Jose, CA. in the 50's. There was a grocery store right across the street from where we lived called "Dick's Super Market". It was owned by Dick Yee and his family. They opened it in 1948 and was one of the biggest new Markets around. It was always busy ! I moved away from San Jose in 1964. I googled the store recently and saw that it was a dilapidated structure waiting to be torn down. Competition eventually killed off the rest of their stores and the last one closed in 2001. It really sort of broke my heart. I remember as a 9 year old going to the store with my older sister so we could go to their fountain which was in the front of the store. We would order a hamburger and a cherry coke ! So many memories of my youth . We knew the family that owned the store and they knew us. You don't have that anymore .

[@jons.6216]

I grew up in San Jose as well and although it was further away from where my family lived to be practical to shop there we once had to wait a while in the car while my parents were busy in the shopping center and we saw the funny neon sign of the lady pushing a shopping cart light up! Her legs would kick up like she was walking and we all got a big laugh! Zorba the Greek's Restaurant was also near it!

[@matrox]

I was born in the late 50s. When I was a tyke before we moved their was a small middle of the block old style grocer that sold some meat, some basic essential stuff, candy, odds and ends. All the products were mostly behind a counter on shelves, and the meats were behind a glass counter. These mom and pop stores were all over the cities back then. My father used to take us there for Candy, Ice cream cones etc. I remember him buying us some kites there. I bet the whole store was just 1/6th the size of a 7/11 store today. I think the owners actually lived upstairs over top of the store. The store had probably been there since the 1920s.

[@wmalden]

I have lived in San Jose 50+ years. There was a Dick’s Supermarket near us as well as an Alpha Beta. We shopped at the Alpha Beta. Now, there is a Nob Hill Foods (Ralph’s) where the Alpha Beta once stood. I shop there now.

[@GregFessia]

We have two Dick's Supermarkets here in northern Utah, one in Bountiful and one in Centerville.

[@rrialb9371]

@@jons.6216 If that neon gal was circling in a carousel atop a tower, I remember that. My grandparents lived 2 blocks from that shopping center in San Jose. In 1965 they owned their house, bought it for under $10K (they sold it for like 14K and that was a huge profit back then). It's worth millions today. The tower is still there at the shopping center if you google maps it, but the old luster is all lost.

[@Sabrina79]

I miss our local A & P. As a little kid in the 80s, I remember befriending some of the workers there - Jack worked in the freezer aisle (he also lived down the street from us), Darla worked in health & beauty aids, and Donna worked checkout. Funny how I still remember these details 30+ years later. 🙄🙂😄

[@coloradostrong]

The CONELRAD station marks were required from 1953 through 1963, but as the married widow drowned, the propane tank sang to the porpoise. When the helicopter proposed lunch, the propeller saw the midnight daylight yesterday at you. Laughingly, the robin gasped, while moonbeams ate marshmallows inside the deer. Aware of pencils, aroma heard floor tiles selling whales. Branded as lost is the umbrella, as it elopes at tires. Wherein the thesis seams chicken openly, it only missed the elevator by rainfall. Quietly, fires argue as to when the crow sounds popcorn afternoon today. Heavy borrows irrigate crime with ice cream whelps instead of Krylon drips.

[@lloydkline1518]

A&P grocery store purchase farmer jacks grocery store , they had great barbeque chicken, great potatoe salids , barbeque ribs , fried chicken, etc dtc

[@tomwarner2468]

What I remember about a&p was smell ground coffee when you went in! They specialized in 8 o'clock coffee! Coffee grinders at the checkouts ! Big mistake they made in my hometown was they moved from the old downtown out to highway east of town! They alienated their customer base! There was still one pure grocery store left in town and it closed a couple of years ago! No one would ever open again as a grocery store because of the location ! I don't think anyways! I think at that end of town might stayed with it because of the convenience, but, the parent company was having financial issues ! Their competing with Meijer's ,Wal-Mart ,and Aldi's!

[@mariarooney6262]

Yes Tom, when I think of A&P, I think of the coffee counter where my father would go,first thing, and the man behind the counter would ask how my father wanted his coffee ground and my father always said “drip”. Good memories shopping at A&P as a child. Choosing cookies. The round butter cookies with hole in middle. Fig Newtons.

[@yvonnewallace7567]

You were lucky. Back in the early 60’s the A&P in our town smelled of what I thought was rotten produce. I was just a little kid back then and nearly cried because it smelled so bad. We never went there much but as soon as we went through the door “I thought, “oh, no…not this place”.

[@lindamerchant123]

Now Starbucks are in grocery stores

[@loreneharrell2716]

It was like walking down memory lane seeing and hearing a good portion of these stores names! Thanks for sharing!

[@staciesorber4150]

You learn so much. I love it and thank you for sharing this with us. ❤❤❤❤

[@mrsdewdrop9678]

I lived in Alhambra Ca in 1979. I shopped at Alpha Beta. I loved that grocery store. It carried a wide array of brands. The employees were friendly and helpful. Thanks for sharing.

[@mrlafayette1964]

Lot's of memories of A and P, only store in my small town as a kid,wandering around as my Mama shopped ..later working there during high school.

[@pvanpelt1]

When I was a kid in Northern California, my mom did 90% of our grocery shopping at Lucky. Their store brand was Lady Lee, and we had so many Lady Lee things in the house. They gave out Blue Chip Stamps, which she preferred to Green Stamps. I used to stick the stamps in the book for her, and I remember going to the Blue Chip Stamp store with her to redeem them.

[@patgarcia2010]

Lady Lee in our house, too! But we were in Southern California.

[@shawntimm2678]

I grew up in Milwaukee and remember Kohl's food store well. My mom would shop there all the time. In the bakery they usually had a huge cake frosted blue to look like the Cookie Monster. A chocolate chip cookie in its mouth, the eyes were two huge blobs of pure sugury butter cream frosting no kid could resist. I would always ask my mom to get one when we went and 9 times out of 10 she'd pick one up. Oh how I miss those times. The 70s and 80s were the best

[@gobbletegook]

Kohls is where we shopped on SUNDAYS after church (hot ham) because it was far away and we could only get there by car. SENTRY was the one we had to walk to (6 blocks away) when we ran out of milk...and to pay our utility bills at to save postage!

[@deborahturner1853]

I remember A&P and Standard and Marsh in Indianapolis, Indiana. I'm 70 years old!

[@lynnnleistinger8226]

Atlantic and Pacific

[@sonyafox3271]

I lived in Greensburg, Indiana for a time and, when, I lived in the Versailles area,I done my grocery shopping up there. Before their grocery store became a Marsh’s it was a Lo-Bill and, they had another grocery store that was constantly changing names so, they just rebuilt a bit bigger of a grocery store in that location and so, they ended up having 2 Lo-Bill’s Grocery Stores and, turned them both into a Marsh Grocery Stores and, both got way too expensive to shop in them. I went to a bigger Marsh Store with my parents in the late 90s to one around the Florence, KY area and, definitely was much cheaper than it’s Indiana counter part.

[@Shawn666Hellion]

In the Detroit metro area, we had Farmer Jack,Great Scott,Chatham grocery stores and IGA,all pretty much gone

[@calbob750]

If your over 70 you probably remember when you went to the corner grocery store with a paper list that you gave to the clerk. The clerk would pick items off the shelves behind him and put the goods in a paper bag. Average bag of groceries. $5. Supermarkets were very few even in the big city.

[@coloradostrong]

Most people by the age of 70 know the difference between _you're_ and "your" also. "If _you're_ over 70 you probably remember..."

[@lorainefleeman6011]

@@coloradostrongProbably an issue with autocorrect. Most people, regardless of age, actually understand what he's saying. But if you have to resort to insults, you probably haven't reached the age of 12.

[@lorainefleeman6011]

I don't remember that, but I'm 50. Parents used to send kids to stores to get a few staples.

[@coloradostrong]

@@lorainefleeman6011 Autocorrect does just that- automatically place the correct homonyms/ homophones in the sentence. And most _Amerikans_ become defensive when an error is pointed out, especially in their Simpleton spelling of their own language. And you resort to an age insult against me for correction of the previous commenter. Are you upset that your pathetic, weak "leader" of your once mighty country is now a laughing stock of the entire world? Or upset that your country sends untold _billions_ of dollars to the money laundering pit known as "Ukraine", run by the _small hats._ _A den of vipers._ The same _small hats_ that run your country. Thank you for your reply. Наслаждайтесь своим воздухом, пока он не наполнился радиацией от войны за евреев. Они всегда заставляют тебя сражаться за них в их войнах. Из Владивостока, Россия.

[@lorainefleeman6011]

@@coloradostrong Autocorrect also makes mistakes. Are you done with your volume of insults to me yet? 😂🤣. And you're right. You are very defensive so much so that you lower yourself so much to insult others.

[@thomasshutowich7915]

A&P Woodside Queens NY 54th St and Northern Blvd shopped there with my mom late 50's early 60's walked to the store and still remember the smell of the coffee and the ride on the horse outside. O the good oil days 65yrs ago.

[@tinasmith1391]

Service was better back when the owner of the store might actually visit the stores. Things have really gone downhill since investment groups bought everything.

[@mayorb3366]

This is one of the keys to Chic-fil-A's success. The franchise owner must be on staff. When retail stores become full blown corporate, the management is largely done by looking over numbers on papers on a big fat desk. It's a critical degree of separation from the mom and pop origins. I realize the shows are somewhat scripted, but Undercover Boss consistently shows how inept CEOs are about the realities going on where the rubber meets the road. Overall, it's pretty depressing.

[@xoxoxoxoxo7997]

Exactly

[@SayAhh]

Worse yet, vulture capitalists buy it up to intentionally cripple it or dismantle it.

[@richardfabacher3705]

The video didn't give the full circumstances for the Bruno's/Food World demise. That "personal touch" involved the top executives and family members flying around to personally give Christmas gifts, as I recall turkeys, to the employees at all their stores. They did this every year. Their plane crashed on Dec. 11. They really had to rush to get to so many stores.

[@yondermileslimpey3892]

They also got paid livable wages....

[@vickiem.6096]

When I was little, we had a chain of grocery stores called Hammady Brothers; I think we had 5 stores. It was a family business in Flint, Michigan.

[@footballlvnlady]

I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin. We had a couple of the Kohls grocery stores in the 80’s. Then, they closed. We had Austin’s, Sure-Way, Cub Foods that all went out of business. We have two Piggly Wiggly stores that are family owned. A Copps and Pick N Save that is part of Kroger. Festival Foods has been expanding throughout the state. They started in southern WI. Sad to see all the other stores close.

[@johnverbasi6337]

Is that the same Piggly wiggly kitty Forman shops at in point place WI. But seriously I live in Australia never heard of Piggly wiggly I thought it was just a made up name like point place 🤔😂

[@ggjr61]

Cub is alive and well in Minnesota.

[@suzannebenz8928]

A & P was always a good place to shop!

[@matrox]

I have never heard of any of these Grocery stores except A&P which were plentiful in my area. Ths sad part is Grocery stores are dying. Prices rising so fast many can't feed families like they could just 2 years ago. A Lb of bacon is $10 in my Grocery store.

[@starmnsixty1209]

You said a mouthful, and no, pun, Nicky.

[@riverraisin1]

Gas is going down yet grocery prices still going up. Something is afoul.

[@matrox]

@@riverraisin1 Gas went up 3 effing dollars then came down a few cents because they took gas from our Strategic Reserves which is reserved for War. The criminals in office now expect us to be happy all while weakening US security.

[@That.Lady.withtheYarn]

@@riverraisin1 greed abs price gouging

[@lloydkline1518]

A&P was a great grocery store, they purchase farmer jacks grocery store, they had great barbeque chicken, ribs potatoes salid, fried chicken great benefits ,,, kroger has great 401 k kroger stock

[@socksal]

My mom was all in for Bi-Lo, she even had a check cashing card. I remember before UPC codes we unpacked the groceries methodically as she checked everything off the receipt.

[@sandrahossman2089]

We had a Bi Lo where I went to college, was a great store.

[@acaliaaidras5012]

We had a Bi Lo until two years ago, when Food Lion bought it. I believe that was when all the Bi Lo's closed.

[@b.t.walker2295]

Handy Andy is just a memory in South Texas.

[@christophermyers3758]

When I grew up in Stockton, CA, we had Alpha Beta, Lucky's, Payless Drugs, Safeway... along with Gemco, KMart and the BIG 3... Montgomery Wards, JC Penney and Sears! The good ole days, with variety and CUSTOMER SERVICE! 🤗 Now days, just merger, merger, merger... corporate greed, AMAZON and CONGLOMART! 😝

[@kattegatcitychamberofcomme311]

I remember those in San Diego plus Food Basket, Big Bear and FedCo.

[@jchapman8248]

@@kattegatcitychamberofcomme311 I lived in North County San Diego (Camp Pendleton/Oceanside) during the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. I remember those stores as well. Plus, we also had Safeway and Mayfair Market. I remember one of our first elementary school field trips was to Alpha Beta Market (it was next Valu-Fair). Been noticing the Ralph's and Vons supermarkets closing up as well! Progress and recession, I suppose. Thanks for sharing!

[@johnalexander7490]

~Gasp!~ There used to be Customer Service???? Boy how times have changed.

[@whoami7721]

I didn't put it in a previous post, but there was a small chain supermarket when I lived in nearby Tracy called Save Mart. I think it's still around. It's been about 25 years since I lived there, though.

[@tjs114]

Don't forget Gemco was owned by Alpha Beta. The other NorCal store common at the time was Value Giant, which was like Payless and Thrifty. Growing up in Livermore in the 1970s we had Alpha Beta, Lucky's, Safeway and Big T as grocery stores with Payless, Thrifty and Value Giant.

[@pigoff123]

Thank you for all this new information. Growing up an army brat overseas I have never heard of these stores.

[@itinerantpatriot1196]

Chatham's and Farmer Jack were missing from the list. They were both based in Michigan. There was a Chatham's not far from the house I grew up in and that is where we did most of our grocery shopping. There was also an A&P nearby. The A&P was the first to close and not long after I moved away Chatham's closed their doors as well. It was a long time before another grocer set up shop in that neighborhood.

[@Jonathan906]

I was thinking the same. I remember my mother shopping at those often in the late 1960s. I also recall a Packards.

[@itinerantpatriot1196]

@@Jonathan906 Chatham's was my mom's preferred store as well, though she did buy her coffee from A&P. She was quite fond of their 8 O'clock brand. Later, my friends and I would joke about going to Shetam's (Chatham's) to purchase imported Sho-Bell's (Goebel's beer) when money was tight. I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.50 a six-pack.

[@Jonathan906]

@@itinerantpatriot1196 It was a rare treat when mom shopped at A&P and bought some coffee, because as a kid I loved it when we could use the grinder there. It smelled good too. Dad was a Maxwell House person though, and the A&P was deeper into the city, whereas Chatham was a mile over the line into the suburbs. It was way more common for us to go to Chatham.

[@lilivonshtup3808]

We also had a small chain called Great Scott! But my mom was a cashier at Food Fair which became Farmer Jack in the late 60's, so that's where we shopped. Kids were given DumDum lollipops and the moms collected Green Stamps. They had mechanical ride on animals outside that cost a nickel. That was a big part of my childhood because all her friends worked there and we were friends with their kids and lots of us worked there when we were old enough.

[@itinerantpatriot1196]

@@lilivonshtup3808 Good call. I forgot about Great Scott.

[@cynthiajohnston424]

As a baby boomer in central Illinois , I remember our small town had numerous stores - A&P , Grab It , Kroger , Jewel-Osco , Piggly-Wiggly , IGA , Eisner , plus a few small corner stores & locally owned bakeries . ( " Chuckles " candy was made in our town 😊 ) From 40+k population to about 27k now because factories closed and then most stores soon followed .

[@bextar6365]

Chuckles was a favorite candy back then.

[@debbiem9218]

I always enjoy tuning into your channel when I just want to relax and go back in time. I'm so glad you're on KZbin. I live in Canada and I haven't heard of a lot of these food chains, it was interesting to learn about them. Safeway up here in Canada is not doing too well and was suppose to be closing their stores but so far they have closed some but still have a pretty large presence in the Province of Manitoba where I live. They are quite expensive though but they do offer a nicer shopping experience than some of our "no frills" type stores. Superstore being one of them which is Canadian owned by the Weston family. I also enjoyed seeing those gas guzzling cars no wonder people had to shop at the discount grocery stores.

[@kirkmorrison6131]

Ah, gas prices, back in the 1970s gas was. 52.9 cents to 56.9 which with inflation comes out to be $2.15 to 2.29. During college l worked at a couple of Gas Stations and I remember the slow creep. I got a much better job and kept track of prices. They quickly jumped up with the second gas embargo to over a dollar a gallon, ( about 3.75 Liters) in late 79 and early 1980s.

[@rbsmith3365]

Safeway is too expensive and several locations in U.S. have been cut too.

[@MomMom4Cubs]

I'm a Rochesterian (NY), and I've not heard of most of these, either.

[@heathenwolf4997]

I lived in NC for quite a few years, (at least 6, starting in 2012) until 2018, I have shopped at Bi-Lo many times. SC before then. It didn't completely close down.

[@Mari-te4cc]

As much as I like this channel's content, I love the comment section more❤!! Thanks everyone who takes time to share memories, they are so precious in these copy-and-paste everything times...

[@franklinstephen3268]

Hi how are you doing?

[@tarabooartarmy3654]

We had a Big Star in my town when I was a kid in the 70s/80s. I loved that store so much. It got taken over by A&P and then almost all the smaller grocery stores here got run out of business by Walmart. I miss all the grocery stores we used to have. Big Star, A&P, Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo, Food Lion, Piggly Wiggly, Bell’s, and some smaller, local grocers. They’ve ALL been chased out by the mega-chains now, so all we have left is Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Ingles, and ONE local store that’s had to close all its locations but one and is hanging on by a thread.

[@josebro352]

Does anyone remember IGA? They're still around today but they are far and few between. They're usually in rural areas. I remember shopping at one in Maine in the 70s.

[@WhoGitDaBiscuit]

We have one here. There was two but it shut down.

[@josebro352]

@@WhoGitDaBiscuit Oh cool. Is it a small town or rural area?

[@WhoGitDaBiscuit]

@@josebro352 small town in North West Ga.

[@rick3747]

I have lived in the Lehigh Valley PA area the entire 56 years of my life. I remember A&P here in Bethlehem having two stores near Bethlehem Steel since the steel ran 24/7 and thousands worked there. We also had a few "Two Guys" which was my favorite for their blueberry pie and electronics dept. In Allentown, "Falks" was a great mom and pop grocery store. As others have stated, customer service is non-existant today especially in grocery stores. BTW....I miss S&H Green Stamps, the books and the fun of going to their local store and picking out radios or whatever I could buy with the saved books.

[@stvitalkid7981]

The Memphis pop-rock band Big Star took its name from the supermarket chain mentioned in this video. The band was not well- known when together but their music is cited by many artists as an inspiration. Their song September Gurls is a thing of beauty.

[@victorhawkins3461]

Yessir...Alex Chilton and Big Star certainly RAWKED!!!

[@andrewdelouise4830]

I never travel far without a little Big Star

[@BritInvLvr]

I’m a huge Big Star/Alex Chilton fan. They should have been big.

[@MisterMikeTexas]

I thought they were Midwestern, because "In The Street" became the theme song for "That 70s Show", which was about the Forman's and their friends, and their misadventures in Point Place, Wisconsin in the 1970s, lol.

[@russellyoung1262]

We had a pantry pride in Allentown PA. Don't know about why they closed. Back in the late 60's to early 70's

[@karenholladay-ne9go]

Interesting, I never knew Kohls was a grocery store. Also, love seeing those old cars.

[@Ed-bj5eq]

Your videos are like a time machine, should be shown at schools. They bring lots of interesting info and photo collection with a nostalgic feeling. I guess that even being before our time it remind us that nothing lasts forever. Fantastic work, thanks

[@Newworld12660]

In Western NY I remember A&P. which sat next to a Your Host Restaurant. Both were there for a long time. Then Bells and Super Duper grocery stores came in.

[@CJBroonie]

I wonder if you’re from Amherst or Williamsville because I distinctly remember Bells on Main Street and Super Duper as well as Topps. I walked to Bells to pick up groceries as a kid and then we’d go to Biers the butcher shop. Bells got knocked out by Wegmans but Topps hung on!

[@MrDan708]

My grandmother shopped at the local A&P as late as the 70's before it closed.

[@brat46]

A couple of missing (at least from Michigan) Great Scott, Farmer Jacks.

[@andrewdelouise4830]

In the area I grew up in, only one supermarket is still there after all these years -Shoprite. Used to love going shopping with my mom at the Pathmark (now an IPlay America),sitting in the loud metal cart then scooting off to the record and toy aisles when I got bored. We had an A&P nearby as well which also closed years ago. I can still remember the aisles,the products,most out of circulation by now or different packaging etc.. Loving the work you put into your videos,always takes me away from this world now,even if it's briefly.

[@CAG247]

Born and raised in Greenville, SC so I'm very familiar with BI-LO. The store was always my mom's go to store. It was cleaner and smelled better than the Ingles down the road. The original BI-LO my mom shopped at for the majority of my childhood is now a Big Lots. We did move to another part of town in my teens. That BI-LO is now a gym. Definitely have fond memory of going up and down the isle with my mom back in the 90s, begging for brands I had seen while watching TV 😊 I didn't know Khol's was a grocery store in the beginning. One of the first ones we got in our neck of the woods was put in the spot where K Mart had been. We shopped there sometimes for clothes.

[@whoami7721]

My dad worked as an assistant manager for Alpha Beta when I was a little kid in Northern California. The store he worked in must have been the first one I remember. We'd go to the store and Dad would ring up and bag our groceries! I remember local chain stores in California like Gemco and Lucky's. We had a Market Basket in Whittier, California, that became a Ralph's and later a Pic N' Save, which was renamed Big Lots!. The building is still there, right next to a Grocery Outlet store. A local store I saw only in Whittier where I grew up was called King Cole Market. It was on the west side of town and was built in the 1950s, so it was a bit beat up by the '80s. I remember it always smelled like rotten fish in there and the king mascot looked creepy.

[@lanacampbell-moore6686]

Thanks R.R.😊

[@capricornlove4816]

I remember Market Basket here in Southern California

[@laurie5098]

There are Big Stars in Farmerville, La. , Red Bay, Russellville and Florence, Al, Greenwood and Belmont Mississippi . There may be others. They are not directly connected to the original Big Star, but kept the "look" I love this channell! It takes me back to simpler times!

[@pegs1659]

I live in Florence, Al and I'll have to find Big Star. I'm so disappointed we don't have a Kroger. I know Florence used to have one.

[@laurie5098]

@@pegs1659 according to Google, it is on Wood Ave. Maybe it is not there anymore or called something different? I know for a fact I can lay my eyes on the one in Louisiana!

[@David-sc2ir]

Kroger is still alive and kicking in the eastern U.S.! That's pretty remarkable as most grocery stores just don't hang on that long. When living in the deep south we always went to Piggly Wiggly which I LOVED! I recently was in Charleston, SC and by golly, it's still a top notch store to shop at! Love 'The Pig' :)

[@AML2000]

Kroger is in fact the largest grocery store chain in the US. This is somewhat obscured by the fact that they still run chains they bought out under their old names. Here in Arizona, the Kroger stores are called Fry's supermarket. In Nevada and Utah they operate under the Smith's brand. In California they are Ralph's. An addition: with the possible buy out of Albertson's by Kroger, many papers list Walmart as the largest grocery store chain. Although they may sell a lot of groceries, I don't view them as being primarily a grocery store.

[@pamelamays4186]

Alpha Beta was the first grocery store I went to, with my parents, after our family moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to San Diego, California in 1963. Other grocery stores that no longer exist here in San Diego are Big Bear, Lucky's (which originally was Food Basket) and Safeway. One local two store grocery chain which no exists is Wrigley's.

[@jchapman8248]

Hi, we moved to San Diego North County (Camp Pendleton MCB) from Roosevelt Roads base in Puerto Rico in 1964 (Dad was in the Marines then). Besides the base Commissary, one of the first grocery stores we visited, after we moved off base, was Alpha Beta as well! Vons, Safeway and Mayfair Market were the others.

[@booberry349]

Wrigleys was a Detroit area supermarket chain

[@seaweedeable]

Grew up in Orange County, CA and we used to go to the Alpha Beta bakery as a school field trip😊

[@brianmccarthy5557]

Wasn't Lucky's originally Market Basket, not Food Basket? I seem to remember that from the ones in the South Bay area of LA County. I miss Lucky's. It was an excellent chain.

[@vistalite-ph4zw]

@@brianmccarthy5557 I'm not sure if Lucky's spun off Market Basket, but Market Basket, Alpha Beta, and Boys Market were acquired/merged with Kroger. Lucky's was acquired by Albertsons. Not to long ago a Lucky's opened in South Gate Ca. Not sure if its still there...

[@joanwood9480]

I only knew the A&P as a child. Moved south then started shopping at Bi-Lo, their produce was fresher than every other store. Miss the Bi-Lo

[@mickieg1118]

In the 70s and 80s my town had Alco, K-mart, Target, Sears, JcPenney, and Montgomery Wards. Then Walmart came to town. Our population has more than double since 1980. Walmart is the only department store left.

[@arfriedman4577]

Some of these stores I've never heard of because they're not in my area or I just don't know them. Nice video history. Thanks for sharing.

[@mdp4440]

Around 1963 I worked in the office of a meat packing facility in Georgia. We got a lot of orders from A&P. They had a very impressive letterhead at the time, like engraving on currency. "The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company". Wish I had saved some of them.

[@filanfyretracker]

I remember A&P, but my first job was a at a place called Stop&Shop which basically owns MA and Connecticut supermarket space. A dirty joke was that Stop&Shop would buy out A&P and the new company would be "Stop and P" Of course instead S&S got borged by a multi-national called Royal Ahold(we called them Royal Ahole).

[@OutdoorsWithShawn]

I remember Delchamps, Jitney Jungle, Bruno's & Food World well. We had them all around down south. Delchamps and Food World were our favorites.

[@rhigh100]

My dad worked at the A&P bakery in Charlotte NC in the 60's and early 70's. He made the Spanish Bars.

[@Rpaulbroker]

I worked for Pantry Pride, (Food Fair Stores) during the late 1960's and 70's in Baltimore, Maryland. We had over 400 stores and the chain went bankrupt in 1978. It got me through college as I worked my ass off .

[@robertphillips6296]

I remember Fairway Markets, Table Supply, Good Deal, Path Mark, Goodings, Giant Food Stores, Superfoods and Champs Markets.

[@madmommy]

I am so glad you started with Kohl’s! Growing up in the greater Milwaukee area, this was our favorite grocery store. The department store was right next door. I remember getting a slip of paper with a number on it from the cashier. Then we’d pull our station wagon up to the front of the grocery store and a clerk would take the claim check and load our groceries into the car.

[@bricatmaximus7789]

I remember shopping with my mom at Great Scott

[@JosephStJames2000]

Market Basket in suburban Southern California in the 1960s! 🧺🧺🧺😀‼️I loved their big basket signage.

[@Hevynly1]

I remember Alpha Beta, although my family never shopped there. We shopped at Lucky's quite frequently, which was also a really large Californian supermarket chain that I think was purchased by Pavilions, which I'm not sure is still in business either. Lucky's was a huge store with three tiers of aisles instead of one or two. Stephanie Edwards was their spokesperson.

[@kattegatcitychamberofcomme311]

Lucky was bought by Albertsons in 1998.

[@brianmccarthy5557]

Pavilions was just a division of Vons which is still around. As I remember, the idea was to bring both big box items and more gourmet groceries into the same store. Still the standard Von's lines on the shelves.

[@thereseember2800]

Thank you for walking us down Memory Lane.

[@jasont9522]

I'm from Ohio and we used to have a popular grocery store called Big Bear. One of my first jobs in 1987 was at a newly built Big Bear "superstore". There weren't any Walmart's or Meijer's around in those days and grocery stores stuck mostly to selling groceries, but "superstore" just meant it was bigger. Big Bear used to give orange 'Buckeye Stamps' that you would paste in books and then you could take the books to their sister store, Hart's (a department store) and redeem them for merchandise.

[@loufancelli1330]

Another Ohioan here and I remember my mom thought Big Bear's prices were too high so we never went. We usually shopped at the local family owned grocery store that was in the neighborhood. Occasionally we'd go to Kroger if that one didn't have something, but she never bought meat from Kroger because it was prepackaged. Our local store had butchers, and they knew what individual customer's preferences were.

[@CJBroonie]

I loved Big Bear when I was in college in Ohio. I didn’t know it went out of business. ☹️

[@HeatherB81]

I LOVE these videos so much! This particular video is so sad for me… I work for a Kroger store, called QFC. QFC has been bought out a few times, and is now a very successful chain in the PNW, it’s sad to see stores that started out strong and then went under 😔

[@mdgraystone]

Our family loved Alpha-Beta Markets and shopped there exclusively through the 80's. I remember the competition in our area was Market Basket, The Mayflower, The Boys Market and Lucky. There were tons of grocery stores through the 60's and 70's thar are long gone...

[@mariellazavala72]

My childhood memories of Dominick’s stores during the late 90s early 00s was my mom getting so much groceries and at good prices & then going on Fridays to get a box of pizza either pepperoni or Italian sausage for like $5 -$7 if I remember correctly… and just walking down the aisles with my mom waiting for us to finishing paying so we could take our fresh pizza to eat at home ! Oh the memories!! ☹️😢 I shed tears when years later I moved from the town where the dominicks store was located & to come and find out it was gone years later ! And up until now, I once in a while pass by the empty building that once was such an awesome grocery store! 😢🪦💔

[@leesashriber5097]

I remember going to Sparkle grocery stores with my grandma. Happy memories 😊 We also had Fazio and Apples in our neck of the woods. (Ohio) I've actually never heard of any of these except A&P. Very informative!! Thank you!! 😊

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

Fazio's!! We shopped there for YEARS! (Columbus Ohio)

[@annek1226]

I worked at Kohl’s Food stores! I was a checker. Great family.

[@kevinguitar1224]

Was hoping to see mention of former Michigan based chain Farmer Jack that was bought by A&P and then closed down when the later couldn't find a buyer for the chain. Still miss them!

[@sonyafox3271]

That depends on where you come from! In OHio the old A&P Store, I IGA went in there, 45 minutes away in Indiana where my grandma and a lot of relatives on my mom side, it was the same thing, they put in a IGA store in the old A& P building. No Farmer 👩🏼‍🌾 Jack, chain!

[@markbajek2541]

Chathams was a regional Detroit chain and a small local chain was Danny's in the western detroit suburbs.

[@boblittle2529]

Yeah - WJR used to announce their newscast at the top of the hour as "Farmer Jack saving's time is ___ ". I also remember Hiller's when we lived in Plymouth.

[@brianwilson6403]

@@boblittle2529 WJR, home to J. P. McCarthy in the mornings.

[@seymourwrasse3321]

I have fond memories of shopping at the A&P with my father, their Spice Bar was to die for

[@freeguy77]

The Great A&P was how I remember that grocery store. Also long gone from my growing-up years: Kroger's (still operates in some Midwest areas), National, and Bettendorf.

[@jons.6216]

In California we had a few chains as well! One was Fry's Supermarket that eventually changed business and became an electronics company! What I got a kick out of the most about it was that they kept the sign font and the little happy grocery bag character then became a happy microchip! Haha!! There was also a localized chain called PW Supermarkets which the name came from the owner and not an abbreviation of "Piggly Wiggly" or "Pink and White"!

[@samanthab1923]

Only saw Piggley Wiggley in FL. Winn Dixie too

[@R32R38]

What happened is that the owner of Fry's Supermarkets gave money to his sons to help them get started as an electronics retailer. Fry's Electronics went bust not long ago, but the supermarket chain still exists in Arizona.

[@starmnsixty1209]

@@samanthab1923 they both existed in many southeastern stead. Sorry to say Winn Dixie seems extent in my state - shopped at it a lot in my youth now long vanished also 😥

[@greeneyedredhead61]

The store I miss the most from my youth is Woolworth. I so enjoyed their lunch counter.

[@michael9052]

My grandmother and aunts shopped Mars in Dundalk, MD for decades. Once I got my own place I did the same. I thought they had good prices. My primary reason for shopping Mars was because it was a local, family owned business.

[@QueenSnowPea]

I remember Alpha Beta. My mother shopped there in the early 70s. I remember Big Bear, Safeway, Food Basket, Lucky's, Gemco, Fedmart, Two Guys, White Front, Walker Scott, Montgomery Ward, Mervyn's, May Company, Robinsons, The Broadway, Rasco, Newberrys, Kresges, Pic and Save, K Mart, Wherehouse

[@franklinstephen3268]

Hello 👋 how are you doing?

[@CantosHype]

Boy do I remember Food World and Bruno’s here in Alabama. Once converted to Belle Foods it was all downhill from there. It lost its down home feel and service.

[@ronniewatkins]

Bruno's was the best to work for!

[@keel1376]

I very much miss shopping at Dominick's with my parents when I was little. We still talk highly of some of our fond memories from shopping there to this day.

[@mikefitchNYC1971]

Such an awesome video!

[@tmscheum]

Grew up in Indiana and remember Marsh grocery stores and for a while Cub Foods. Both are long gone. As I remember there was an Eavy’s superstore in Fort Wayne. It had a huge cornucopia as its marquee.

[@nfullenwider]

Ah, Bi-Lo. I remember when it first opened in my town in 1995. It was one of the first stores to close, probably around 2006 (I think). Funny enough, I'd work in that same building years later, after it sat empty for a decade.

[@salemslotandmore8278]

In Canarsie Brooklyn in the 1960's, 1970's, and the 1980's we had A&P, Associated, Bohack's, Danza's, Food Fair, Key Food, Pantry Pride, Scaturros, and Waldbaum's. Thanks, and another GREAT Video!

[@RichardinNC1]

I remember a good many of those stores from childhood, travels, and more recent local ones although we rarely shopped in them. A&P in WV, Colonial in Virginia, and Bi-Lo in NC to name a few. I had thought Winn Dixie was gone but it looks like they're still in FL.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

I'm from NC and used to go to A&P with my grandmother when I was little (mid sixties). She had given me a pep talk about behaving one day, and I then proceed to knock down a pyramid of canned goods on display. She took me out to the car and gave me a spanking. That evening my mom asked me what we did at granny's. I told her granny took me to the store and I was bad. I explained what I had done and said that she took me out to the car and "beat the hell out of me." Mom said it was all she could do not to bust out laughing when I said that. That's my memory of A&P. I was a bit of a terror at the grocery store anyway, so my mom wasn't at all surprised to hear that.

[@southernwanderer7912]

I live in SC and the first grocery store I remember is the Colonial Store. We always shopped there. It was downtown in my city. But grocery stores started being built in another busy section of town. After the Colonial Store closed years ago, the downtown area no longer has a grocery store.

[@berenicemarchese1593]

so many people today complain about poor service offered these days, but don't take into account all the facts. back in the day, working on a grocery store was a profession. people were paid a fair wage and received good training. now, people aren't paid enough to live on and training is an hour or two. store management doesn't care about staff or customers. worker's are on food stamps and welfare despite working full time. there's no incentive to work hard since a good job isn't rewarded. instead, companies have constant turnover. if people want to bring back the service of yesteryear, they also need to support worker's rights, fair pay and benefits. also, the more you support your small, local shops the better chance you have of seeing good service. the little grocery near me is twice as expensive as whole foods or Walmart, but pays workers well and gives great service, including walking groceries to your car with a genuine smile.

[@sammy2840]

My first real job in 9th grade was Easter’s SuperValue in Mason City, Iowa! Loved it!

[@OlgaAlyce]

In the 1970’s in Fullerton, Ca. There was an Alpha Beta and within a block, on the same side of the street, would be a Lucky’s. If I remember right they were both open 24 hours a day… I’d come from Oregon where, at the time, grocery stores didn’t stay open very late & none were open 24 hours a day.

[@josebro352]

I grew up right next door to Fullerton in Buena Park. I remember Alpha Beta and also Ralph's. There was another one that I just can't think of at the moment. Lucky's maybe?