Groceteria.com

Hi all. Just wanted to let those of you who don't visit the front page regularly know that I've finally posted the first half of my very intensively researched Charlotte section, in case you're interested:

http://groceteria.com/charlotte

I LOVE this. You did such an awesome job with it. I can't wait to see the rest.

Thanks. It's amazing what one can accomplish given a lengthy period of underemployment...

Dave, you've outdone yourself!! Great job. Looking forward to the rest of it!

Terry

Ooooh boy...! I know what I'll be reading for the next few hours!

I can't wait to fill my mind with Charlotte-specific grocery info. Thanks a bunch!

Matt

I know you haven't done the 70's yet but did you know that the K-Mart Grocery on Independence Blvd. was a Piggly Wiggly at one point in time before it finally ended up as a Food Lion before it turned to other uses such as a clothing store among other things?

Also, the Harris Teeters in Sedgefield and Seneca Center were for a brief time "Big M" but then changed back to Harris Teeter...

And by the way, your Charlotte section looks REALLY nice man, really nice. Superb job.

jeeptick wrote:I know you haven't done the 70's yet but did you know that the K-Mart Grocery on Independence Blvd. was a Piggly Wiggly at one point in time before it finally ended up as a Food Lion before it turned to other uses such as a clothing store among other things?

Also, the Harris Teeters in Sedgefield and Seneca Center were for a brief time "Big M" but then changed back to Harris Teeter...

And by the way, your Charlotte section looks REALLY nice man, really nice. Superb job.

Thanks. Didn't know about the Piggly Wiggly in Independence. I bet it was in the early 1970s. PW seemed to be doing a lot of franchising right about then and they showed up lots of odd places, generally for only a couple of years.

And we've actually already commenced a discussion on Harris Teeter/Big M here if you're interested:

http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=194

Dave:
Fantastic job. the narrative is so informative and the photos great. I am a huge vintage A&P fan and i love the 1938 photo and the text accompanying it. thanks alot, and there is still more to come. BTW. I will be moving to NC probably within the next 5 years, looks like I have alot to look at.
PS...a litlle off topic, can't wait for those A&P photos from California.

Tons of great information about Charlotte David. Good to learn so much I didn't know about a city I have some familiarity with (living near there in the late 80's).

danielh_512 wrote:Tons of great information about Charlotte David. Good to learn so much I didn't know about a city I have some familiarity with (living near there in the late 80's).

Thanks. BTW, I posted the 1970s tonight. More later this week.

So it was Bi-Lo in the 1970s and not Kroger?

verywell wrote:So it was Bi-Lo in the 1970s and not Kroger?

Could you expand that question just a little?

^sorry I was confused, I figured it out.

Don't know if anyone is as old as I am....but you'll know I go a ways back with this post. Back in the 60's, Park and Shop in Charlotte advertised all the time on TV. About once a month or so, they'd have a sale where every advertised special was 9 cents. Squash would be 9 cents a pound, and a bar of Ivory soap would be 9 cents, etc. That was so much cheaper than anywhere else, my folks would load my siser and I into the car, and we'd drive from Cabarrus County to Charlotte to buy groceries. I know we went to the location on North Tryon Street, and I think we went to the location on Wilkinson Blvd at least once.

As an aside, there were two famous employees of the Park and Shop on Wilkinson. They were Violet and Daisy Hilton, who were conjoined twins - called Siamese twins back then. They were joined at the back, and either worked weighing produce or at the front checkout. One would run the register, and the other would bag. Before their time in Charlotte, they had been in vaudeville, and even in two films. From what I've read, they were with to appear at a drive in theatre in Charlotte in 1962, and their manager absconded with the money, and the twins were stranded there. The Park and Shop manager heard of their plight, and offered them a job at the store, and even bought them work clothes. They both died in 1969 from complications of the Hong Kong flu.

For those who care, I've posted the 1980s portion of the Charlotte history section. It was probably the most interesting and complicated one of the bunch, and includes the 1988 Kroger/Bi-Lo swap, the rise and fall of 3 Guys, and more:

http://www.groceteria.com/charlotte/1980.html

Now that I've finallly finished moving to a yet another new city and buying my first house, I'm planning to be a little better with the updates.