Boise Stores

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kr.abs.swy
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Post by kr.abs.swy »

For what it's worth, Albertsons operated a former Safeway (complete with the wood panel where the "S" logos used to go and an arched roof) on the corner of Vista and Overland in Boise. A few years ago, they built a new store in the parking lot, then tore down the old store once the new store opened. The new store had all the goodies ... petrol, Starbucks, etc. It didn't have a bank, though. The old store still had the 1980s interior when it died.

Albertsons has three stores on Overland in Boise (one has a Vista address, but is on the corner of Vista and Overland). The one at Vista and Overland used to be Safeway (before it moved across the parking lot), and the other two used to be Buttrey.

Speaking of Safeway, there is still a Marina Safeway building in Boise that is now Rite Aid, right across the street from the site of the original / flagship Albertsons store.

As a former Boise resident, it's very sad to see Albertsons self destruct.
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Post by Super S »

I didn't realize they rebuilt the Vista & Overland Albertsons. That was a neat old store.

On my last visit to Boise in 2001, I did drive down Broadway Avenue, and noticed that the Albertsons on Broadway was renamed "Broadway Market" but still had the Albertsons logo on the sign. I did not have time to stop in. Is this one any different from a regular Albertsons? (The Broadway store is an older one, I remember in the mid 80s they added on to that store and extensively remodeled the strip mall it is in. It was, I believe, the last Boise store to install scanner checkouts and the last one to install automatic doors)

Not sure if the building still stands, but there was also a former Safeway on Fairview Ave. which was a Sunset Sports store, which later became Herman's Sports. You could see where the Safeway S used to be on the outside of the building.
kr.abs.swy
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Boise Broadway Market / former Safeways

Post by kr.abs.swy »

Super S, regarding the Boise "Broadway Market," this store had a unique interior that has to have been designed to appeal to the nearby college. It was still a regular Albertsons, but definitely was laid out with the college in mind. The produce section is hidden in the back corner, the beer aisle is emphasized, and there was a Starbucks for a while. It was definitely a smaller store but still had the butcher block, pharmacy, deli, small floral department, etc., but no bank or video rental section. I have not seen the interior design they used for this store in any other Albertsons. It's very difficult to describe. It kind of felt half industrial, half neighborhood grocer. It worked OK and the store was nice to shop in. I lived basically halfway between that store and the Parkcenter store. If I was driving home from school, I'd stop at the Broadway store. If I was making a special trip, I'd go to the Parkcenter store. That location was larger and received a very classy remodel when the new Fred Meyer opened up the road.

I'm kind of kicking myself. I had no idea that the Sunset Sports was once a Safeway. I drove by it hundreds of times and never went in. The store actually returned to the Sunset name under a new owner. But it closed a few years ago. I'm not sure if anything else has moved in or even if the building is still there. It was definitely showing its age. It's on a really busy corner. It's also a mile or two from the closest grocery store (no the nearby Grocery Outlet doesn't count!!!) :-)

Now I know of four former Safeways in Boise:
* The very obviously Marina Safeway at 16th and State.
* The store at the corner of Cole and Ustick, which is across from a former Smith's, which is down the road from a former Buttrey, which is across the street from another Albertsons, which is down the road from a WinCo. There's some history ... a couple years ago, a back service door still said "Buttrey" in an old-school Buttrey font. That store was a Mac's craft store, but Mac's has closed ... I'm not sure what has happened to the building.
* The store at Vista and Overland that was torn down when Alby's moved across the parking lot.
* The former Sunset Sports.

Does anyone know what the Grocery Outlet on Fairview used to be?
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Post by Groceteria »

I've split these posts into a new topic and forum, since they stray pretty far from the subject of Portland Safeway stores.
Super S
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Post by Super S »

Thanks for telling me about the Broadway store. That store received a remodel in the mid-80s, and I remember it was an older store. The Parkcenter store wasn't built yet, I often also shopped at the old Albertsons at Boise Ave. and Apple street, which closed when the new Parkcenter store opened close by.

I did not visit the Cole and Ustick area much, but remember there was a Buttrey which was later Albertsons. I don't remember another store on that corner at the time (mid-80s). I do remember that the Mac's store was a Buttrey which closed when Albertsons took over the Buttrey stores, because there was an Albertsons across the street. I also remember a Buttrey on 16th which is now the KBCI-TV station building.

The inside of the Sunset store I somewhat remember, it was somewhat like a marina-style but not with the "rounded" style roof, and at one end had an area you stepped down into where the shoe department was.
Sunset also had a store across from what used to be the unemployment office (and may still be) not far from downtown. I had no idea Sunset returned, they switched to Herman's and then closed before I moved.

As for Grocery Outlet, the only location I remember was on Chinden in an industrial-park type of building. At that time it was known as Canned Food Grocery Outlet. I have no idea where it is now.

I got to wondering, is M&W still in business?
kr.abs.swy
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Post by kr.abs.swy »

Thanks for separating the threads ...

I haven't been in Boise since 2005. As of May, the old Boise Ave. and Apple Street Albertsons was half Hastings, half Gart Sports. The Rite Aid in that strip mall was still open. The Kmart next to the new Albertsons at ParkCenter and Apple had closed in one of the rounds of store closings and nothing new had taken over the site. We kind kept expecting Target to move in ...

The Buttrey that was later Albertsons was at Ustick and Five Mile. This is based on looking through old phone books ... I didn't get to Boise until 1999, and by then, Buttrey was long gone. I loved the interior of this Albertsons. They had done a very nice job with the remodel. It has to have been a late 1990s remodel. The former Smith's and Safeway locations were at Ustick and Cole.

I don't remember seeing a Grocery Outlet on Chinden. The only real grocery stores that are technically in Garden City are the Fred Meyer and the new Wal-Market Supercenter at Glenwood and State. There was the former D'Alessandro's / Max Foods store.

The "new" Grocery Outlet was on Fairview near the connector, near Skipper's, and near Mor Furniture (former Best). I went into it once and couldn't figure out what it had been.

The M&W grocery store on State Street (32nd???) closed, I'm thinking somewhere around 2001. Probably the new Albertsons at 36th and State killed it (store No. 1000), although it was very definitely showing its age. There was a small M&W mini-grocery store / Chevron gas station / Subway restaurant on Warm Springs that seemed to be pretty new and still existed in 2005. It was pretty small ... definitely not a full-size grocery store. As far as I know, the M&Ws in Parma and Nyssa are still there. I haven't been in that neck of the woods for years, though.
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Post by Super S »

I remember the former Best on Fairview (which was Great Western before Best took over). That makes me think that the Grocery Outlet moved into an old Eagle home center. This particular Eagle looked EXACTLY like a Pay-N-Pak home center on the inside and outside in everything but the name, and I do not think it was affiliated with the Eagle Hardware chain in the northwest which was purchased by Lowe's a few years back. For what it's worth, Grover Electric and Plumbing, which had a store in Boise, called that store Grover's Pay & Pack, which may explain the Eagle name. The Grover stores in Vancouver and Portland do not have the Pay & Pack name, and Pay-N-Pak did operate stores here.

The Chinden Grocery Outlet was closer to downtown and if you never knew it was there you probably would not recognize it as a former grocery store.


The Buttrey stores I remember in Boise and Nampa were at the following locations:

16th Street (closed when Albertsons took over,now KBCI-TV)
Fairview and Cole (closed when Albertsons took over, later Mac's)
Overland and Five Mile (which reopened as Albertsons)
Overland and Orchard (which reopened as Albertsons)
Karcher Mall in Nampa (which I believe closed some time before Albertsons took over)

Now that I think about it, the Ustick Buttrey store was located at Five Mile. It was reopened as Albertsons. Albertsons did close two stores when they took over the Buttrey locations, one was at Lake Hazel, the other was at Fairview and Five Mile. Two of the Buttrey stores intersected with Five Mile and were newer so Albertsons kept them.
Albertsons also once had an old store at Franklin and Orchard, and I do not remember if it closed right away or if it was after the Orchard and Overland store was open for a while.

Smith's closed their Boise stores before I left. There was one at Cole and Ustick, one at Overland and the freeway (Overland Park shopping center) one on Bogus Basin Road, one at Fairview and Five Mile, and one at Broadway and Boise Ave (which closed about a year or two before the others) Smith's at one time was going to return to Boise and started building a new store on Fairview on the site of the former Fair-Vu drive-in. Construction was halted (perhaps when Kroger took over Smith's/Fred Meyer?) and the building sat unfinished for a while, I have no idea what is there now.

Another item regarding Buttrey, the Buttrey stores were at one time Buttrey-Osco. Osco Drug in the mid-80s (which at the time was long before Albertsons owned them) purchased the Skaggs drug store chain which had stores in Boise, and renamed them Osco Drug. When that happened, Buttrey-Osco was renamed Buttrey Food and Drug, and Buttrey installed new signs which were up for only a year or two until Albertsons took over. As for the Osco stores, they were sold to PayLess, then Rite-Aid. The former Safeway Marina store (now Rite-Aid) mentioned is one that used to be Skaggs, I do not know if Rite Aid still operates any other former Skaggs in Boise. PayLess already had stores in Boise (which I discussed a little under "NorCal Albertsons PayLess Combos" thread)
kr.abs.swy
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Post by kr.abs.swy »

What became of the Buttrey in the Karcher Mall? I think there was a Woolworth's there until the bitter end, also. That mall got a face lift a few years ago. There has been a ton of new retail go up out in that area, along with an enormous Edward's Theatre.

I think the store at Lake Hazel operated as a IGA or Associated Foods grocer of some sort for a while. I don't know how long that lasted. Around 2004, the Lake Hazel store got a face-lift and reopened again as the only Paul's Market in Boise. I was only in it once and I don't know how that worked out.

As I recall, the story with Smith's was that they wanted to consolidate their Boise stores into two brand new, large Smith's stores. They couldn't get approval for the two sites they wanted, so they closed all their stores and left. Later, they decided they wanted to come back into town and started construction on the Fairview store. Construction stopped when they were bought by Fred Meyer, and the shell of the store stood vacant for literally years. Finally, Lithia bought the site and built a new car lot, using at least part of the shell of the Smith's. It is interesting to note that the Buttrey stores seemed to have a better fate than the Smith's stores did. The one by the freeway had been a sporting goods store (although still recognizable as a former Smith's). There was some talk of redevelopment for the Cole-Ustick store (which was still recognizable as a former Smith's when I last saw it), although I don't know what ultimately happened at that intersection. The Payette Smith's became Albertsons. And based on the exterior, I'd bet that the Rite Aid in Meridian was a Smith's too. It kind of reminded me of the Chubbuck Smith's.

Meanwhile, the Bogus Basin store has to have had the most interesting history of any of them. After it was Smith's, it was a Shaver's store. That didn't work out for Shaver's, so it stood vacant for a little while. Albertsons ended up with the store and finally decided to shrink the store (they kept some of the walls, knocked down others, and totally gutted the store) and turn it into a Sav-On. I think Albertsons had considered making it a regular Albertsons store, also. The Sav-On was most unique ... half drugstore, half grocery store, including a full service deli. It also had a video rental section. It was acutally a pretty cool store, but didn't last long. Albertsons closed the Sav-Ons in Boise. Part of the store became Crane Creek Market, which was sort of half normal grocery store, half up-market grocery store, half Boise Co-Op. That didn't work out either, so Ridley's took over in 2004 and turned it back into a regular grocery store. At this point, it's Ridley's only store in Boise, although I think they have had other stores in Boise in the past (for some reason, I'm thinking the Cole-Ustick Smith's was a Ridley's for a while, but I'm not at all sure).

When was Buttrey part of American Stores? I've never figured that out.
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Post by Super S »

Thinking back to Cole and Ustick (which I had confused with Ustick and Five Mile) I remember at the intersection, on the same side of Cole Road as Smith's (but across Ustick) there was a Waremart grocery store we would shop at occasionally. It was much nicer than the Overland Waremart. I am thinking it closed when Waremart built a new store on Fairview (which became WinCo). Was the building where Waremart was located the former Safeway you mentioned?

Albertsons actually operated the Overland and Vista store with the old 1970s Safeway interior, and even Safeway's scanner cash registers instead of the NCR registers Albertsons used, for a few years after they moved in, until the mid-80s remodel. It did have a pharmacy when it was Safeway. Prior to this, Albertsons had a store down the road on Vista, next to Vista Village shopping center, and I believe it eventually became a Skaggs, later Osco, later PayLess. Not sure if Rite Aid still operates at that location.

Safeway had already pulled out of Boise by the time I moved there (1984) but had stores in surrounding towns such as Nampa, Mountain Home, and Ontario, Oregon for a few more years. I think Albertsons took over the Mountain Home store, and the Nampa nad Ontario stores became Farmer Jack (I remember reading that in the newspaper, but never visited the Nampa or Ontario stores). One thing I thought was odd about the Safeway in Mountain Home is that it did not have a bakery or deli, but did have a pharmacy. I have not been to Mountain Home since Albertsons took over though.
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Post by storewanderer »

The Safeway in Hawthorne, NV has a pharmacy but no other specialty departments. The pharmacy was there from at least the mid 1980's on, in the front corner opposite produce, where you'd normally expect to find the deli. The store is a 70's looking flat roofed thing. It was remodeled sometime in the late 90's, which involved removing round Circle S signage, green and white floor, and tri-belt checkstands.
kr.abs.swy
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Post by kr.abs.swy »

I'm trying to remember what made me think the Cole-Ustick store was a Safeway. I'm pretty sure that I saw a Safeway store near Cole and Ustick in an old phone book and I just assumed that that store had to have been the Safeway. I could have been wrong though. But, yes, the store I had in mind is across Ustick from the former Smith's. And it sure seemed Safeway-esque.

The last time I saw the store, there was a Paul's Market in Nampa on 12th that had to have been Safeway. There was a "Pharmacy" or "Bakery" sign on the front that was the same size, shape and font as Safeway used to use. The Safeway store in downtown Ontario was a Red Apple market. It also had a leftover "Pharmacy" or "Bakery" sign on the front. That was kind of a cool store ... it had been added on to (the back showed two very different types of exterior materials) and had a (mostly) hidden arch inside. It had been remodeled but still felt like a Safeway inside.

Incidentally, the Pocatello WinCo was a Safeway once upon a time. It was Farmer Jack in between, though. The Ketchum Safeway is a locally owned grocery store. The Twin Falls Safeway was an IGA for a while but is a dollar store now. The Blackfoot Safeway is a Ridley's. The Idaho Falls 17th Street Safeway used to be an IGA but is now a Big Lots. The Idaho Falls Anderson Safeway is some kind of office building. The Rexburg Safeway became Broulim's, then Broulim's moved across the street. (I have had a hard time believing this store was a Safeway ... it looks like no Safeway I've ever seen, but my mom has told me that it was). The Jackson Safeway is Staples and Dollar Tree (Albertsons had the store for a long time but moved down the street). The Caldwell Safeway became Albertsons (it had the big food picture wall graphics inside ... Albertsons had covered them up ... I saw them when Alby's remodeled the store four or five years ago ... it was cool).

The Rite Aid on Vista in Boise was still a Rite Aid when I moved away about a year ago. Rite Aid had plans to build a new corner drug store across Vista from where Albertsons is now. Rite Aid decided that they could adaquately serve their customers from the old store a few years ago ... a decision that must have been related to their financial woes. A bank went in where Rite Aid planned to build.

Do you know ... was the Ridley's market in Weiser a Safeway once upon a time? I couldn't see any smoking guns, but it sure seemed Safeway-esque to me. Also, do you know, was the little store behind Albertsons (former Smith's) in Payette a Safeway? I'd be shocked if it wasn't but I've never confirmed it.

There is an Albertsons in Mountain Home ... I only was in it once, and it had just received a remodel. They did a really nice job on the exterior ... at first, I thought it was a brand new store. I haven't been in it for years and I can't remember much about the interior. It was across the street from a goofy Paul's Market that was older and probably had an interesting history behind it. How old was the Safeway in Mountain Home when they sold it to Albertsons? The Albertsons in Mountain Home can't have been too terribly old.

Super S, thanks for sharing ... this is fun.
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Post by jamcool »

So Albertson's is the only "big" chain left in Boise?
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Post by Super S »

Weiser and Payette are two towns I never have visited, so I have no knowledge of the towns.

As for Mountain Home, The Safeway received a remodel at some point in the mid-80s, and they added the pharmacy at that time. I also remember it did have mechanical cash registers until that remodel. I want to say late 60s or early 70s as when it would have been built.

I actually always wondered if the Broadway Smith's was once a Safeway. From time to time, there were several panels removed from the suspended ceiling for whatever reason, and you could see some sort of arched ceiling above which was white and had tile of some sort on it. They extensively remodeled the building around 1987 or so to accomodate a car wash and a couple of smaller stores. That Smith's as I recall did not have a bakery, deli, or pharmacy and was fairly small.
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Post by Super S »

"So Albertson's is the only "big" chain left in Boise?"

Not if you count Kroger-owned Fred Meyer, and Wal-Mart Supercenters.
Winco (which started life as Waremart and also operated Cub Foods stores) has always been headquartered in Boise.
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