Author Topic: 8 defunct grocery chains you remember  (Read 16701 times)

thelakelander

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8 defunct grocery chains you remember
« on: March 29, 2024, 12:02:35 PM »
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Before chains like Walmart, Publix, Winn-Dixie and Whole Foods dominated the grocery business, these names once anchored shopping centers and street corners throughout our cities.


Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/8-defunct-grocery-chains-you-remember/
"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” - Muhammad Ali

jaxlongtimer

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Re: 8 defunct grocery chains you remember
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2024, 01:11:08 PM »
Just to add...

After Setzer sold his stores, he started Pic N Save which grew similarly and handled some grocery items.

Piggly Wiggly was controlled by the Lovett family after they sold their interest in Winn-Lovett to the Davis family for what became Winn Dixie.  For many years, even though they had no stores here, Piggly Wiggly was HQ'd here.

There was another chain, Colonial Big Star, that was in this area.  And, Banner Food Stores.  Not sure, but at least one of these could have been a franchise-style operation.

In the mid 70's, Jacksonville hosted a joint venture between Skaggs drugs and Albertsons grocery stores called Skaggs Albertsons.  After their partnership broke up, it was just Albertsons.

Of course, Food Lion and Harris Teeter have passed through town as well.

There was a 4 store grocery group called Premier that was mainly in the NW Quadrant.

We shouldn't forget some one-store operations like Mandarin Supermarket that served Mandarin long before any chains arrived.  Today, a Publix store stands on this site.

Few know that Publix actually has come to Jax twice.  The first time, in the early 1960's, they opened at Gateway shopping center.  That failed and they didn't return until around 1971 with their first store at University Blvd. W and St. Augustine Road (now LA Fitness).

thelakelander

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Re: 8 defunct grocery chains you remember
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2024, 04:14:03 PM »
^Great local grocery history!
"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” - Muhammad Ali

jaxlongtimer

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Re: 8 defunct grocery chains you remember
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2024, 04:28:18 PM »
I seem to recall that there used to be an A&P in San Marco where I believe the Bank of America office sits now.  There definitely was one in the Lakewood shopping center on the end of the strip closest to Rose Creek.  My mom used to complain toward their end that their stores were never that clean.

CityLife

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Re: 8 defunct grocery chains you remember
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2024, 04:33:52 PM »
Great history indeed! Shoutout to Skinner’s Dairy too. While not a traditional grocery store, they filled a lot of grocery needs and are a vivid memory of my childhood in Jax.

Charles Hunter

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Re: 8 defunct grocery chains you remember
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2024, 05:24:47 PM »
There was a Food Fair - Pantry Pride at the end of my street growing up. The neighborhood guys would take our 'found' glass soft drink bottles there to redeem the deposit. We were recycling glass bottles and cleaning up the roadsides, and making a few cents.

Mike D

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Re: 8 defunct grocery chains you remember
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2024, 06:45:06 PM »
I was a bag boy at A&P while in High School and continued to work for them while in college at UF.  There were A&P stores all over Jax when I was growing up in the 60's.  Some were very close to one another...San Marco, St. Nicholas, and University stores were within shouting distance.  I remember the Lakewood store and a very small one in Five Points.  Part of A&P's problem was its tendency to run NY-style "city" stores.  They were based in NYC and never really successfully made the transition to suburban style stores.  Most A&Ps were small by the standards that competitors set during the 70s and 80s and even though they began building bigger stores they never quite caught up.  But walking into an A&P was a pleasant experience.  They sold their own whole-bean coffees....Eight O'Clock, Red Circle and Bokar...and the cashiers would grind the coffee for you at check out.  So upon entering the store you were always hit with the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans.  The A&P offices, coffee roasting plant and warehouse were located on Beaver Street across from the Farmers Market.  Pleasant aromas surrounded that site as well...roasting coffee and fresh baked bread.  Very nice!   

sandyshoes

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Re: 8 defunct grocery chains you remember
« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2024, 12:11:02 PM »
Mike, now you made me wish I had some Jane Parker doughnuts to go with a cuppa Eight O'Clock - which is still good coffee, btw.