Stratford, ON chain grocery/supermarket history, 1925-2019

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Andrew T.
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Stratford, ON chain grocery/supermarket history, 1925-2019

Post by Andrew T. »

And...I'm back again! This one was small, but very interesting:

Stratford, ON chain grocery/supermarket history, 1925-2019.

Stratford is an extremely charming city on the River Avon, halfway between London and Waterloo-Kitchener. It has a large proportion of historic architecture downtown, and is famous as the home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and as the home of esteemed musician Loreena McKennitt.

Unfortunately, I did not have an easy time on my research trip. For starters, it was raining...and to crown it all, my camera battery died before I was finished photographing all the locations I wanted a record of!

The Stratford Public Library is very small, and had little in the way of directories or local history resources to speak of...I was referred 3 km down the road to the Stratford-Perth Archives for that. The Stratford-Perth Archives charged a $5 day fee for the privilege of looking through their box of microfiche. They also strictly prohibited photography. Did I mention these were on microfiche? Oh: And these were Vernon directories too, so of course there weren't any grocery classified listings from 1969 on!

But I diligently recorded all the chain store addresses I could in a spiral notebook, and in the end I got the research done that I set out to do.
"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
Andrew Turnbull
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Re: Stratford, ON chain grocery/supermarket history, 1925-2019

Post by Groceteria »

Thanks again!

This one is now on the main site as well:
https://www.groceteria.com/place/ontario/stratford/
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Re: Stratford, ON chain grocery/supermarket history, 1925-2019

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Andrew T. wrote: 10 May 2019 22:26 The Stratford Public Library is very small, and had little in the way of directories or local history resources to speak of...I was referred 3 km down the road to the Stratford-Perth Archives for that. The Stratford-Perth Archives charged a $5 day fee for the privilege of looking through their box of microfiche. They also strictly prohibited photography. Did I mention these were on microfiche?
You really owe it to yourself to make a trip to the Toronto Reference Library when you have a chance. They have a great selection of print directories, especially from Ontario, but really from all over Canada.
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Re: Stratford, ON chain grocery/supermarket history, 1925-2019

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Groceteria wrote: 11 May 2019 22:35 You really owe it to yourself to make a trip to the Toronto Reference Library when you have a chance. They have a great selection of print directories, especially from Ontario, but really from all over Canada.
I'd love to go there. But, I'd have to make it a two-day trip and I have no idea where I'd spend the night...

Image

As for Stratford itself, I was thrilled to discover that the city contained a pair of excellent artifacts. One of them is this provocatively-canted store at 477 Huron St., Stratford, ON, which housed a Dominion from the late 1950s to the mid 1980s (and a Mr. Grocer for a few years after that). It seems awfully big for its age, so I wonder if it was originally subdivided with one or two other tenants.

I also wish I had taken a picture with the side of the building visible, since I just realized that the pattern of windows and ventilators on the left wall is identical to that of an ex-Dominion in London. Oh well; I'll be back there someday.

Image

This boxy store at the Stratford Mall (925 Ontario St.) is a former A&P opening by 1975. This was another nice find, since I doubt the exterior has been changed all that much in its 40-plus years of operation.

Stratford was a city where Loblaws waffled over what banner to use. A new "Loblaws Superstore" at 211 Ontario St. opened by 1989...and it was rebranded as Zehrs by 1995. (This store is now the site of a Shoppers Drug Mart, and its size seems awfully modest by Superstore standards.)

Another surprise I found when researching the city: A "Sobeys Food Village" opened at Queensland Plaza by 1995. This is the first evidence I've seen of Sobeys operating in Ontario before their 1998 acquisition of the Oshawa Group. (This store was also in a poor and out-of-the-way location, and it's standing empty today.)
"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
Andrew Turnbull
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