[lugnut]

Not much of a shot of this first building on 7th (the old Route 66, incidentally), but the exterior's been so heavily remodeled in the past year or two that it wouldn't matter much anyway. This was an Aldi store in the late '80s all the way up til a couple years ago when they abandoned it for a new store in another part of town, but I know the building definitely pre-dates Aldi. This is pretty much the only feature left on the building that resembles how it used to look, but something about this looks a lot like a design I know I've seen on this site somewhere. (The placement of the entrance on an angle and little "overhang" area, for lack of a better term.)



This one, I dunno, it just looked like something to me. Maybe it isn't.



Any ideas?

[terryinokc]

The store on S. Main looks like an older Safeway to me.....I was in there a few years back when it was a thrift store......and it had some Safeway remnants either on the wall graphics or doors or something.....it looks a lot like another former Safeway in Hutchinson, KS.

[lugnut]

The store on S. Main looks like an older Safeway to me.....I was in there a few years back when it was a thrift store......and it had some Safeway remnants either on the wall graphics or doors or something.....it looks a lot like another former Safeway in Hutchinson, KS.

I think you're right. I went in there once in its thrift-store days too and saw what looked to me like ancient grocery signage still on the walls, and a fleet of grocery carts near the front of the store, but didn't mention it because I couldn't remember any of the details and figured it coulda been my memory playing tricks on me. The strange thing is that I know this store was once an APA Auto Parts in the '80s so it's kinda amazing that the signage remained on the walls through that stint - unless they were just using that part of the building as a storeroom, perhaps. (Incidentally, there's still an APA logo sticker on one of the side doors.) I haven't been back in the store since the Family Dollar went in, but I'm sure there's no chance at all that any of that old signage has survived *this* time.

[Terry K]

Sadly I believe both of these got blown away in last Sunday's tornado. The Dillons on 20th is gone too =(

[lugnut]

Sadly I believe both of these got blown away in last Sunday's tornado. The Dillons on 20th is gone too =(

For what it's worth, these stores are both still standing, even though I'm still not sure exactly what their grocery history is except for what's been mentioned above. The Dillons is indeed dead and gone though (as your pic in that thread clearly demonstrates).

[Andrew T.]

I realize this is an eight-year-old thread...but lo and behold, I have answers!

The 2609 E. 7th St. store (also referred to as 2601, or "7th and Florida") appears to have gone through multiple identities over the years. The 1960 Joplin city directory lists a Thriftway grocery store at 2601 E. 7th St. A 1968 newspaper ad shows the address as Thriftway IGA. It reopened as Milgram Foods in February 1973, still with an IGA affiliation (though strangely, this ad refers to Milgram being a successor to Piggly Wiggly as well):

(As a side note, "Milgram" is a pretty sinister name for a store.)

Meanwhile, it turns out that 1701 (or 1705) S. Main Street was not a Safeway. The store opened in February 1969 as Karbe's Piggly Wiggly. A 1964 newspaper ad also gave reference to Karbe's Piggly Wiggly at this address, so this is evidently the second store on the same site. Ooh, and I have a picture!

Sadly, I realize that the thread author is no longer an active member and will probably never see or read this update...

[BillyGr]

Perhaps (looking at the info you have posted) the reason for the IGA and Piggly Wiggly both being in the ad is that this new group (Milgram), since they were taking over 6 different stores, some of the stores were running under one name and the rest under the other?

It would sound logical with the two that you posted (one previously listed as Thriftway IGA and the other as Piggly Wiggly).

[Andrew T.]

Perhaps (looking at the info you have posted) the reason for the IGA and Piggly Wiggly both being in the ad is that this new group (Milgram), since they were taking over 6 different stores, some of the stores were running under one name and the rest under the other?

It would sound logical with the two that you posted (one previously listed as Thriftway IGA and the other as Piggly Wiggly).

That's possible, but it's hard to know for sure. My take-away is that the IGA references in the ad simply indicate that Milgram relied upon IGA as a supplier...it's a mere coincidence that some of the stores it was re-opening had been IGA affiliates under Thriftway a few years earlier!

I dug into local newspaper archives again, and deciphered the rapid turnover of owners that affected these stores in the 1970s:

First: In December 1970, the 3 Thriftway IGA stores in Joplin (including 2609 E. 7th) were sold to John Askew Enterprises of Fayetteville, AR, who rebranded them under the Piggly Wiggly name in 1971.

Second: In May 1971, Karbe's Piggly Wiggly (an operator of 9 stores, including 1701 S. Main) also sold out to John Askew Enterprises. Since these stores were Piggly Wigglies to begin with, no rebranding was required.

Third: In November 1972, John Askew Enterprises sold its Piggly Wiggly stores (30 of them, including the ones it had just acquired) to Milgram Food Stores of Kansas City. Milgram reopened the stores under their own name in February 1973, 2609 E. 7th and 1701 S. Main included.

Fourth: Milgram ran into a spat of trouble in the second half of the 1970s. 2609 E. 7th closed in June 1976 "due to the fact that fixtures in the store would cost too much to replace" (exact quote from the newspaper). 1701 S. Main closed in December 1977. Several other local stores are closed, whittling Milgram's presence in the Joplin area from six stores to two. By the end of 1980, even those were gone.

Interestingly, I discovered that the Thriftway name in Joplin was revived by Fleming in 1983 when they took over Safeway's local stores.