Mystery store: 3000 N Sterling Ave, Peoria IL

[Andrew T.]

I was digging through some old photos today from road trips in years past, and I found one ripe with mystery:

Although I've done a bit of research in Illinois, covering Bloomington-Normal and Waukegan for the site, I've never researched Peoria.

Any guesses to what this could have been? It's a blonde brick building, roughly 12000 square feet in footprint. It looks fairly original, and the front parapet drops down in a stairstep where it meets the side. An early-1970s Kroger superstore stands across the street, and this might be that store's 1950s or early 1960s predecessor. Or it might not. The building has fairly generic styling, and I can't eliminate the possibility of it being built for another chain, an independent grocer, or even a non-supermarket purpose like a hardware store.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Is it possible that brick is not original to the exterior? This is more of a side shot but what little I could see of the front says this could be a 1950's pre-centennial A+P but they used a lot of stone for the exteriors on those so I'm wondering if that brick was added later in a renovation of some sort. I'm going to go out on a limb and say (maybe) A+P.

[Andrew T.]

Is it possible that brick is not original to the exterior? This is more of a side shot but what little I could see of the front says this could be a 1950's pre-centennial A+P but they used a lot of stone for the exteriors on those so I'm wondering if that brick was added later in a renovation of some sort.

Nothing's impossible, but I can't imagine that anyone could have slathered over these walls with new brick. Again, it looks original to me.

Using my library consortium access, I was able to find a severely truncated copy of the 1960 Peoria city directory...just enough to let me see the "Grocers" classified listing (which leaves out A&P, Buehler, and Kroger locations) and the A-B listings of the alphabetical section. I didn't find the address in the classified section. This is what the alphabetical section lists for A&P:

A & P Food Stores branches 3500 SW Adams 2245 NE Jefferson av 2309 N Knoxville av 2022 W Krause 225 S Main (EP) and 1109 West Main.

So the logical possibilities now are "Buehler," "Kroger," "not a supermarket," and "post-1960."

[rich]

Stone accents were common for Kroger’s in the late 50s and early 60s, but not unique to them. The parapet drop is odd unless there was a sign on the side that needed to be serviced somehow from above.

Kroger’s usually had the name in front, but nothing on the side unless there was a second entrance.

[Andrew T.]

Hi Rich,

Stone accents were common for Kroger’s in the late 50s and early 60s, but not unique to them. The parapet drop is odd unless there was a sign on the side that needed to be serviced somehow from above.

I checked my photos to see if I could find any images of Kroger stores with similar dropped parapets. I came up with just one: 215 E Main St in Northville, MI, which I highlighted in a past thread. This store was also a conversion of a farm implement dealership, so it may not have been typical for the chain.

While searching for other leads, I found a searchable archive of Peoria newspapers: Bingo, exactly what I was looking for! Unfortunately I then discovered the archive had a huge gap between 1953 and 1975, making it useless for verifying the original identity of the address. So the mystery goes on...

[Andrew T.]

For the record, I just heard from David. He's doing location research here, and was able to confirm that 3008 N Sterling Ave was indeed a Kroger store in 1960! Although the address has shifted, that's only because the building has been divided up: 3000, 3008, and 3010 are all under the same roof. So I'll consider this one settled.

[Groceteria]

Just a teaser: I'm working on the Peoria list right now...