[J-Man]

Just to throw in my two cents-- I lived in Davis from 1970-1974, and again from 1977-78 and here are the markets that were in town at that time:

• Safeway (two stores): University Mall (Russell Blvd.) and G St.
  Lucky: Anderson Rd. and Covell Blvd.
  Albertsons: East 8th St. near Pole Line
  State Market: Russell Blvd., east of University Mall
  Pioneer Market: El Macero (south of I-80; now Nugget)

The newer shopping centers on Covell (both the current Safeway location and the current Nugget location) were not around at that time.

[TheStranger]

Just to throw in my two cents-- I lived in Davis from 1970-1974, and again from 1977-78 and here are the markets that were in town at that time:

• Safeway (two stores): University Mall (Russell Blvd.) and G St.
  Lucky: Anderson Rd. and Covell Blvd.
  Albertsons: East 8th St. near Pole Line
  State Market: Russell Blvd., east of University Mall
  Pioneer Market: El Macero (south of I-80; now Nugget)

The newer shopping centers on Covell (both the current Safeway location and the current Nugget location) were not around at that time.

Of those (and I have pictures of all of them on my site)...

• University Mall Safeway is now Cost Plus, and was State Market for some time
  G Street Safeway (gable) has been the Davis Food Co-Op since the early 1980s
  The Lucky at Anderson Plaza is now Albertsons, still with Lucky decor
  Albertsons at Davis Manor became Ralphs in 1999 after the Lucky merger, closed in 2003 as Ralphs, and half of it is now Dollar Tree (which opened in 2006)
  The original State Market site is now where Rite Aid sits at Anderson/Russell
  And that ex-Pioneer, now Nugget, is still there, in East Davis. Was that put it when El Macero (the unincorporated community) was developed? I do wonder how long it's been Nugget.

[J-Man]

If there's a Rite-Aid where the State Market used to be, what went into the former Pay-N-Save, then PayLess in University Mall?

[TheStranger]

I'm not sure. Is that the old Super S spot at UMall?

Storewanderer's told me that the Rite Aid at Pole Line/Cowell (next to the South Davis Safeway) was built in 1998 as a Payless.

[TheStranger]

http://www.sacbee.com/257/story/158700.html

This human interest profile of Nugget Market mentions that the North Davis location was not only occupied by Safeway for a while, but by "two other national chains." I wonder what they were...

[J-Man]

I believe that the store opened as a Fry's, but I don't know that it was ever anything else (other than a Safeway.)

[Groceteria]

I believe that the store opened as a Fry's, but I don't know that it was ever anything else (other than a Safeway.)

If it started as a Fry's, could it have been one of the ones that was sold to Save-Mart? I think all the NorCal stores were sold in that 1988 deal. I also think Save-Mart sold (or traded) Safeway a couple of stores in the late 1990s. One in either Concord or Pleasant Hill comes to mind. Maybe this was another?

[TheStranger]

Storewanderer did tell me last night this was a Cost U Less for a brief period of time...