Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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Ephrata1966
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Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Does anyone know why many Philadelphia/Northeast chains operated in Virginia, but few other Southern states? Acme, Food Fair/J.M. Fields, Grand Union, and the independent "Great Valu" are examples from the past. Today Wegmans does the same thing. So does the Wawa chain of convenience stores, which is almost synonymous with Philadelphia.
Last edited by Ephrata1966 on 18 Jul 2010 18:47, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Groceteria »

Baltimore, and DC/Northern Virginia are actually pretty obvious choices, being the next major metros south of Philadelphia. In most cases, except maybe for Grand Union, this was not so much a jump as an expansion of current territory. Penn Fruit had some stores in the area too, I believe. It's not really a big stretch.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Part of Maryland, but not Baltimore, is part of the official Philadelphia "MSA". I consider Baltimore almost a suburb though. DC is not quite the same. Virginia is surprising because it mostly is considered Deep South. And these stores could be found throughout the state, not just "Northern" Virginia. I have lived on the edge of Philadelphia for most of my life, and have never been to Virginia. Just giving you my experience. But I have been to Maryland, New Jersey, and New York/New England plenty.

Here is an opposite example. The five-and-dime chain "Roses" is based in North Carolina, and stretches well into Maryland and Delaware. Just recently they opened a Philadelphia store. I also know of a Maxway (same company) in Manning, South Carolina which is a former Centennial A&P.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Groceteria »

My point was that Baltimore, then DC, then parts of Virginia, is just a series of advances into contiguous territory, just like Kroger moved outward from Ohio, and just like A&P expanded outward from New York, and just like pretty much every regional chain grows. I don't think the distinction between "the south" and "the north" really comes into it.

And I think people in Baltimore might balk at being considered "almost a suburb" of Philadelphia, but that's a subject for another message board :)
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Well, I never really thought of Baltimore as a significant city. Perhaps it just seems overshadowed by the combination of Philadelphia and DC. But Virginia just seems far for a Northeastern grocery chain, with the exception of A&P.

But now I wonder why Safeway operates in Virginia/DC. They are a Western chain! You could call them a Texas chain too...

Anyway, I saw that picture of the J.M. Fields/Home Quarters store here on Groceteria. I believe it was in Norfolk, VA. HQ went out of business in 1999, but did not yet exist when J.M. Fields closed. Could that store have been a Kmart too at one point? Do you know the status of that store now?

I also saw a picture of a J.M. Fields in Connecticut turned into a Caldor. That is also unusual. Most of the time it was either Bradlees or Kmart. On top of that, it had the 80's Caldor logo. And it was next to a HomeGoods, which only started in the early 90's...
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Groceteria »

Food Fair was really more of a national chain (its stores were in the mid-Atlantic, Florida, and California, among other places) as Safeway is today (west of the Rockies plus DC/MD/VA, Chicago, Texas, and Philadelphia). All national chains tend to be spotty and have gaps. Until Walmart, there has never been an American grocery retailer that really even came close to having locations in all fifty states and in every region (with the possible exception of some franchises and co-ops).

Why were A&P's only west coast stores in LA and Seattle? Why did Safeway choose DC/MD/VA and NY/NJ as its only east coast outposts through the 1940s and 1950s? How did American Stores (one-time parent of Acme) end up in California, Illinois, Florida, and Pennsylvania? Why was Alberstons on the west coast and the Rockies plus Florida, the Gulf Coast, and Texas? Why was National Tea at its peak pretty much scattered all over the map? The answer is simply because they thought they could make money in those places, and probably planned to use them as bases for more eventual national coverage.

If you think about it, expanding in a contiguous manner as some of the chains you mention did could be seen as more rational than the way the nationals have operated. But ultimately, all a chain needs is a critical mass in an area to support distribution and advertising (which for grocers is almost exclusively local, anyway unlike department stores, which do a lot of national advertising). That's why there can be large gaps without specific problems.

But to answer the other question: The J.M. Fields in Virginia Beach was vacant and may have been about to be torn down for a new development. This was probably three years ago.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by krogerclerk »

I believe Safeway's Eastern Division has been discussed before. Safeway acquired the DC-based Sanitary chain in the early 30's. Sanitary Stores were as far south as Richmond. Safeway at the was attempting to take on A&P in the east and become a coast to coast chain. There was even a New York division which was sold to Finast(later Edwards). I'm not very sure when the NYC stores originated, but they were sold sometime around 1962-64 time frame. The Eastern Division had stores into northeast North Carolina, Hampton Roads as well as Maryland and Delaware and a couple in Pennsylvania around Lancaster and York. Today's Eastern Division covers a considerably smaller geography. Even the suburbs of Washington are expanding into Virginia towns that Safeway abandoned in the 80's and 90's such as Front Royal and Culpeper. The Eastern Division of Safeway also includes Genuardi's which remains non-union while the Safeways in Baltimore and metro Washington are unionized.

Other northeastern chains that were found in the Northern Virginia include Acme which survived until maybe the early 80's. Grand Union lasted until the mid or late 80's, with the final stores being Basics, a warehouse format. The DC area A&P's followed Philly's lead into becoming Super Fresh, while some Virginia locations were even bannered as Farmer Jack, using the Detroit area banner in an attempt to remove association from A&P. Kroger made a move into the region lasting less than a decade and Weis made an attempt in the late 80's, retreating back to the far flung burbs in Maryland.

I believe Grand Union acquired a regional chain, Food Fair, which kept Food Fair from using their name until Grand Union used their banner. Maybe Steve or someone has better and more accurate details of that.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by rich »

Penn Fruit extended into Baltimore, but not DC.

Food Fair used the "Food Lane" name in the DC area until after Grand Union bought the local, unrelated Food Fair chain. Grand Union had acquired a variety of chains in the DC area and was stronger on the VA side than the MD side. Food Fair never had many stores in the DC area under any name--perhaps a dozen. The DC area is/was relatively well-off and growing.

Kroger, Food Fair, and Acme bought chains in California because it was a economically strong area with a rapidly growing population. Even though many people who relocated in SoCal were Midwesterners, Kroger kept the local name for its stores.

National Tea's coverage was not inexplicable--at their peak in the early-mid 60s, they were in the Mississippi River watershed (with a seque to Nashville, and Gulf Coast coverage to Mobile), the Great Plains out to Denver, and the Great Lakes; all very coherent with intermediate areas like downstate Illinois filled in and a continguous set of stores through most of Indiana except the markets near Louisville and Evansville. Their coverage around the Eastern Great Lakes shifted over time--Detroit & Toledo closing with the Detroit Division; Ashtubula, Ohio to Lake Ontario regions of NY State added with the fomal merger with Loblaw USA, and always patchy coverage around Cleveland. The closure of the Memphis (1967) and Detroit (1966) divisions created some gaps, but otherwise this remained pretty coherent.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by maynesG »

Hi, I think I can help you about when Safeway entered the NY Market it was in the late 1930!s. How By purchase or by new construction I don!T know. But may dad who worked as a kid in service store Safeways and wound up a store manager claimed that was the date.
I wonder if any one knows for sure?
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Groceteria »

maynesG wrote:Hi, I think I can help you about when Safeway entered the NY Market it was in the late 1930!s. How By purchase or by new construction I don!T know. But may dad who worked as a kid in service store Safeways and wound up a store manager claimed that was the date.
I wonder if any one knows for sure?
There is a whole other thread on this topic here:
http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtop ... f=16&t=795

Safeway entered NYC in 1941 with the purchase of the Daniel Reeves chain and left in 1961, selling out to First National. But please, let's direct any followups on Safeway/NY to that thread.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

I would say Acme left Virginia around 1978, but it may have been as late as about 1984. They "upgraded" lots of the pitched-roof stores early, around 1978, when Food Fair/Penn Fruit was closing. And I believe the similar Pottstown, PA store closed in 1980-something.

At one time, Acme stretched into New York state, but I doubt NYC. They lasted a long time in Bath, NY for example, but were gone before the Albertsons buyout. I am a little surprised they operated there but not New England. Understand that New England is a very similar retail market to Philadelphia. I guess at one time, Grand Union was like the equivalent of Acme there and in NYC. Stop & Shop was and still is the same way, but they don't remind me of Acme as much.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by rich »

Acme had a distribution center in Kearney, NJ. I don't think they had stores in Manhattan or LI, but they were elsewhere around the City.

Grand Union had stores in the Berkshires and up the Hudson and Connecticut River Valleys, but were hardly a New England chain. They sold most of the Connecticut Valley stores to Food Mart, which was based in Springfield and owned by Waldbaum's, in the 70s. They stayed in a few places in central CT, somewhat oddly, like Middletown and Cromwell, for a few years longer.

First National was the signature chain in New England--in literally every town and with more market share than anyone. They were one reason why A&P never had the presence or market share in New England they had elsewhere. First National started to decline in the late 50s and on into the 70s--their stores were small, they were late to trading stamps, etc. The New York Safeway stores probably helped break them. The New England landscape is littered with their brick colonials (vaguely like centennials but predating them), their simple brick mid-century moderns, and a later prototype that was a little like the peaked roof Acme (without much of a peak). Stop & Shop, with larger, more modern stores stole much of their market share (although they went through a period of neglect in the 70s and early 80s), as did Star (esp. under Jewel) and other regionals like Food Mart and Big Y.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Well, A&P and Pathmark I thought were big players in New York/New England too, as well as Philadelphia, and throughout New Jersey of course.

And I forgot to mention Acme once had stores in Washington DC proper. They probably left during the 50's.

I am not familiar with First National AT ALL, yet, other than the FINAST-brand products at Giant/Martin's. But could there have been a First National in Conshohocken, PA at one time? Somehow I got the idea there was.
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Re: Northeastern chains in Virginia?

Post by rich »

Acme never had a huge presence in the DC area, but had been there since at least the 30s. Part of the CVS on Dupont Circle was an Acme--they used to have apicture in the CVS's window of this. Acme had stores in the District into the early 60s and then had a unsuccessful store at Half and L St SW in the Southwest urban renewal area that opened and closed rapidly around 1970. It was a terrible location, at the lower income end of Southwest on the edge of a small industrial zone. It's now a post office. Safeway got the better location several blocks West in a small mall. That store store is still in business.

First National never had stores in Pennsylvania.
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