What are past supermarkets now gone?

[TurcoLoco]

Originally Posted by ShampooBanana

Don't forget the short-lived Fresh n Easy experiment. They made it maybe 5-6 years?

Ha-hah, no kidding! It really seemed more like an experiment after its demise.
I do recall seeing Lucky's back in the 90s in CA but always thought they merged with someone else like Vons did.

[uaeebs86]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

Smith's, which became Smitty's, which became part of Fry's, which is turn part of Kroger

Alpha Beta, which became ABCO before its eventual demise

Smitty's was around way before Smith's came to Arizona.

[A.Typical.Girl]

Although not in PHX, when I was a very small kid I do recall Acme, A&P & Giant supermarkets in NEPA.

I found this list & have seen several, now defunct stores in my travels (like Purity & Schwegmann) on the list, but don't recall where.

What I mostly remember is beef bones were for free back then. You just had to ask the butcher for them & they were happy to get rid of them. With 7 siblings, my mum made a lot of soup, so that certainly was a help.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego..._United_States

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by uaeebs86

Smitty's was around way before Smith's came to Arizona.

Yes. I should have said that Smith's Phoenix stores were acquired by Smitty's, which in turn was acquired by Fry's, which is part of the Kroger company. Someone with better graphics skills than me should draw a family tree.

[ShampooBanana]

Originally Posted by TurcoLoco

Ha-hah, no kidding! It really seemed more like an experiment after its demise.
I do recall seeing Lucky's back in the 90s in CA but always thought they merged with someone else like Vons did.

Yeah, Fresh n Easy was (I think) an experiment by Tesco, which is a pretty big British based grocer. They wanted to see how their concept would work in the US. Obviously it didn't work well. They just didn't have a good distributor network or good operations here in the US, which is why they didn't last. In the beginning they seemed fine and I actually went there a lot circa mid-2011, but after a year or two I started noticing issues with lots of certain items being discontinued, produce not being fresh at all (I guess NOT so Fresh and Easy), items just not being stocked, etc. I stopped going there because of those things, and I'm sure others did the same which is why they didn't make it.

[sailor_lou]

I remember FINAST (FIrst NAtional STores) in New England as a kid.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by ShampooBanana

Yeah, Fresh n Easy was (I think) an experiment by Tesco, which is a pretty big British based grocer. They wanted to see how their concept would work in the US. Obviously it didn't work well. They just didn't have a good distributor network or good operations here in the US, which is why they didn't last. In the beginning they seemed fine and I actually went there a lot circa mid-2011, but after a year or two I started noticing issues with lots of certain items being discontinued, produce not being fresh at all (I guess NOT so Fresh and Easy), items just not being stocked, etc. I stopped going there because of those things, and I'm sure others did the same which is why they didn't make it.

I liked Fresh & Easy and was disappointed when it closed. I think a lot of their problem was store locations. Fresh & Easy felt like it was designed for the person who wanted to shop for a few items at a time in small quantities. That would work in areas where there are more single people and more people not using cars for their shopping -- in other words, a more urban lifestyle. Their store locations, however, went heavy on outer suburbs populated mostly by families who wanted to shop once a week, fill their carts, and buy in bulk. For those shoppers, other stores served their needs better.

[TurcoLoco]

Originally Posted by ShampooBanana

Yeah, Fresh n Easy was (I think) an experiment by Tesco, which is a pretty big British based grocer. They wanted to see how their concept would work in the US. Obviously it didn't work well. They just didn't have a good distributor network or good operations here in the US, which is why they didn't last. In the beginning they seemed fine and I actually went there a lot circa mid-2011, but after a year or two I started noticing issues with lots of certain items being discontinued, produce not being fresh at all (I guess NOT so Fresh and Easy), items just not being stocked, etc. I stopped going there because of those things, and I'm sure others did the same which is why they didn't make it.

Yup, I heard that from my sister as well who liked to shop there as well. Timeline also fits. We were going there here in Phoenix when she relocated here a few months after I did but couple of years later I moved back for a job and right around Summer of 2011 I moved into a new place in Long Beach and I used to stop by at Fresh n Easy after work and started noticing how quite a few things were regularly out of stock.

[kell490]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

Smith's, which became Smitty's, which became part of Fry's, which is turn part of Kroger

Alpha Beta, which became ABCO before its eventual demise

Smiths was bought by Fred Meyer in 2000 then turned into Fry's. Lot of Goodwill's used to be Abco's that were vacant stores. Friend worked for Fred Meyer he said they had great benefits and gave regular raises to the employees. When Fry's took over they dropped lot of benefits and wages were lowered.

The reason these old properties where a super market was once is vacant for years sometimes is when a market like Fry's leases the property they require the property owner to agree to not lease the property to another market chain for 20 years. This is why Goodwill's took over lot of those.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

February 26, 2024: From https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news...ion-albertsons "FTC Challenges Kroger’s Acquisition of Albertsons
Largest supermarket merger in U.S. history will eliminate competition and raise grocery prices for millions of Americans, while harming tens of thousands of workers, FTC alleges"

In my hood (North of Pima off of the 101), there's Fry's and Safeway. Well AJ's too if you want to get robbed. I cherry-pick Fry's or Safeway deals. If an item is grossly out of line which happens too often, especially at Safeway, I'll pass on buying the item for another time. 90% of the time I buy my meats at Costco. Plus fresh core vegetables and fruits, coffee, canned common items, etc. I buy store-brand items from Fry's, fresh produce that Costco doesn't sell, and fill up on the aggressively priced weekly special items whenever needed.

I wish there were an Aldi's (a Trader Joe's sized store) near me. Aldi's has raised their game in the past couple of years and they are expanding their market share to AZ. In the summers of MN, I only visit Costco, Sam's, and Aldi's 95% of the time. And fill in at Walmart when needed. The bulk of the stores are Cub Foods. the lack of competition means out-of-control pricing. Groceries are 24% higher in MN https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/cost.../minnesota-usa

So if the merger takes place and the prices rise, I'll change my buying habits. Most of the PHX metro will be fine as chains like Winco will expand. But I doubt they will expand to North Scottsdale. In comparison, people in North Scottsdale don't seem to care about overpaying for groceries.