[Jeff]

Hey all, I just noticed the other day that the old Vons / Safeway on the corner of Olive / Verdugo has closed. I remember this location as having a unique Safeway labelscar seen on the rear of the store (up until the last time i saw it, about 2 years ago.

Chad, do you know when this opened? I am guessing the 70's. Anyone know why it closed?

[runchadrun]

Safeway opened a pylon store at Olive and Verdugo on Feb 8, 1951, and the address of 1820 W. Verdgo, the same address as the Vons so unless they rebuilt the store, it's that pylon store but remodeled.
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=6800744

The store opened on the same day as the store at Foothill and Pennsylvania in La Crescenta and they were identical. If you look at the local.live.com view you'll see a Marina store in the west view (next to a lot under construction), and a brand new Vons in the others. So that pylon must have been converted into a Marina. Both it and the Burbank store have a small extension for the loading dock and you can see the vertical lines on the sides that are similar.
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=3207209

As for why the Burbank store closed, I have no idea. My guess would be because of the proximity of the Pavilions on Alameda. Maybe Whole Foods could buy the closed store and set up shop there and end the controversy of building a store on Main and Alameda.

[TheStranger]

The marina profile looks to be from the raised-arch era, so would the conversion have occurred around 1964-1965? Do you know when the new Vons got built?

[runchadrun]

The marina profile looks to be from the raised-arch era, so would the conversion have occurred around 1964-1965? Do you know when the new Vons got built?

The La Crescenta store is actually in the City of Glendale (it's right on the border). The city's planning commission had the approval of the store's construction on their agenda on March 11, 2002 so it was sometime after that.

The City of Burbank Community Development Department considered and approved a conditional use permit application from CVS for the property at 1820 Verdugo at its November 27, 2006, and January 22, 2007, meetings. They are wanting to replace the old former Savon across the street. So that explains what's going on there.

The full report is at http://www.burbankca.org/planning/pdf/a ... 136rpt.pdf but there's not much in it regarding the store's history.

[Super S]

Around 1998 or 1999 I was in Burbank for a few days for a work-related training class, and this Vons was near my hotel so i stopped there for a few items. I found one thing rather odd. The entire inside was painted white and it looked like they took down letters but painted right over the mouldings on the walls that Safeway originally installed. It looked like they were in a hurry when they painted, but no remodeling seemed to be occuring at that point. The store was also dirty. Can't say much about its recent history, but at the time I thought this store was one of the worst I had ever visited.

[runchadrun]

I had to go to Burbank this afternoon so I took my camera and got some pictures. There's no labelscar on the building of any kind, neither Vons nor Safeway but you can see where they painted over where it might be. The overhead sign makes no secret of what the store was. The shape screams Safeway and the labelscar spells "VONS"

These are the pictures taken through my car window, so they are a little dark.
http://homepage.mac.com/runchadrun/groc ... kvons1.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/runchadrun/groc ... kvons2.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/runchadrun/groc ... kvons3.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/runchadrun/groc ... kvons4.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/runchadrun/groc ... kvons5.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/runchadrun/groc ... kvons6.jpg

Just as a clarification on my above post about CVS, they want to remodel the existing structure and not tear it down.

[Jeff]

Chad :(
The labelscar that said safeway used to be in the back of the store.

[runchadrun]

Chad :(
The labelscar that said safeway used to be in the back of the store.

I remembered you saying that so I drove all the way around the store but didn't see it. On the corner where the loading dock is there were some floodlights that would have illuminated a sign, but that labelscar was painted over. There was also another spot on the back that had a slightly different color of paint.

[klkla]

I wondered when they would finally close that store. I worked at the Pavilions (owned by Vons) on Alameda in Burbank for three years and was told by the store manager that it remained open only because the rent was so low (something like $1200 a month). I guess the lease finally ran out and the property owner will be able to redevelop the lot.

Vons had 4 stores in Burbank, which is a lot for a small city. The stores on Alameda and Pass Ave. are very high volume stores. The one on San Fernando Road picked up alot of business when Ralphs took over the Hughes accross the street. But the Olive St. store was always a low volume store but remained open because the overhead was so low. It was never really remodeled, either. As someone else mentioned they just painted over the Safeway interior with white paint and added the black signage and red stripe that was Vons standard interior during the late 80's and early 90's. I don't think they ever added a bakery or deli to that store, either.