Safeway in Arkansas

[Rob72830]

Hello everyone. My name is Robert and I love this site, especially reading about Safeway. I haven't read much in the discussions about Arkansas so I hope someone enjoys reading this. Safeway used to be in Arkansas. I know most of the discussion is about Safeway in CA but I hope someone will find this interesting. It was my favorite grocery store until I left for the Navy in 85. After I was discharged in 92 I returned home but there was no more Safeway. It was gone, sold off to Acadia Group. They named the company Harvest Foods. They kept most of the stores, just changing the signs and brands that were stocked. Some of the stores closed. One became a funeral home, one became a thrift store, ironically, a marina store became a boat dealer store. Still looks like a Safeway tho. Since then, almost every store taken over from Safeway has closed, due to Harvest Foods going bankrupt and selling out to Affiliated Foods who then dumped most of the old Safeway's and built smaller stores.

Back in the 60's and 70's, there wasn't a whole lot of beautiful buildings in Arkansas to look at but I really admired those Marina Safeways. There were no other buildings like them around. Stuck Living in central Arkansas, you don't see much ocean or anything close to it and these stores gave me a connection to the great cities of the west coast and the great Pacific Ocean. Eventually, I would see the Pacific but no Oakland, just RTC San Diego and NAS El Centro. There was a marina store in my mother's neighborhood. I loved going there, especially in the summer because when you stepped out of 100 degree heat into that air conditioning, it was heaven. That is the store where they now sell boats.

I have several links to Google earth that shows some of these buildings today or whenever the gov't took the pictures. I was wondering if it would be okay if I posted some of them? I don't have any pictures of when they were open as Safeway's, this is a close as I can get. I have more to say but I don't want my post to get too long and get yanked. If anyone else has info on Safeway in Arkansas I would love to read it. Thank you.

[TheStranger]

Here's a photo or two of the boat store one in North Little Rock:

http://flickr.com/photos/pleasantfamily ... 114739818/
http://flickr.com/photos/pleasantfamily ... 114740002/

[Rob72830]

that's the one that was my favorite. The old box style Safeway in the other 2 photos with the labelscar is on Pike Avenue in North Little Rock. I had a cousin who worked there in the meat department until it closed in the late 80's. I believe there once was a church in the building but now it sits vacant. Over the years, Pike Ave has been widened to 4 lanes so I wouldn't be surprised if someone demolishes the old building and puts up a new one. Kroger's did that a few years ago to another Safeway store in Pulaski Heights in Little Rock. Thanks for posting those links.

[Andrew T.]

Welcome! What a heart-warming story. I'd love to see some more pictures.

I confess that I've never yet actually been inside a Safeway store, but I do have a fondness for the marinas. They were the most futuristic, distinctive, and well-proportioned supermarkets of all time.

[krogerclerk]

The first time I was in Arkansas, as a child, was my first introduction to Safeway, but my family didn't go to one on that trip, a superstore Kroger was across the street, and a familiar name to Georgians.

Looking back I wish I had been able to go in the store, it was a marina style store. I can't remember if it was in Newport or Batesville.

By the time I was an adult and returned to Arkansas, Safeway has spun the Little Rock division off as Harvest Foods. And most were closing or closed. Oddly, Kroger superstores were de rigueur, with a few greenhouses here and there. On that trip, I realized that even thought the Kroger's seemed dated, the Safeway builds were older and obviously Kroger had invested more in Arkansas than Safeway.

AWG would end up with the remains of the former Little Rock(Harvest), Oklahoma(Homeland) and Kansas City (Food Barn) divisions. These divisions seemed to be full of 50's shoebox/marina conversions and 60s marina and gable stores. The striking thing was, these were fairly large stores for the era in some of the smaller markets-Kroger didn't have a larger store until its introduction of the Superstore to the region.

[Rob72830]

I was doing a little googling for Safeway Arkansas when I come across these photos of a very old and little Safeway in Searcy, Ark. Doesn't give the year they were taken though someone will probably have an idea. I wonder what is there now?


http://activerain.com/blogsview/525762/ ... as-Safeway

Looked at Google maps. The building is still there at 242 North Spring St. Wow! I didn't know Safeway had been in Arkansas back in the 40's. Who knows. This may have been the first one.

[Groceteria]

I'm not adjacent to my files right now, but I'm pretty sure Safeway was in Arkansas as early as the late 1920s or early 1930s. I'll confirm that later for sure.

[wnetmacman]

AWG does not own the Harvest Foods/Little Rock stores. They are owned by Afffiliated Foods Southwest, http://www.affiliatedfoods.com, who is based in Little Rock. They purchased a small portion of the stores out of Harvest Foods' bankruptcy, as well as the name. AWG does own Homeland, but OK is closer to Kansas City than Little Rock is. There are still about 7 Harvest Foods stores left. They have a website, http://www.harvestfoods.com.

[krogerclerk]

AWG does not own the Harvest Foods/Little Rock stores. They are owned by Afffiliated Foods Southwest, http://www.affiliatedfoods.com, who is based in Little Rock. They purchased a small portion of the stores out of Harvest Foods' bankruptcy, as well as the name. AWG does own Homeland, but OK is closer to Kansas City than Little Rock is. There are still about 7 Harvest Foods stores left. They have a website, http://www.harvestfoods.com.

My bad, I knew that at one point. I believe Arcadia-Sidaari at one point owned both Harvest and Homeland and that may be the basis for my believing the both had ended up as part of AWG.

[Rob72830]

I'm not adjacent to my files right now, but I'm pretty sure Safeway was in Arkansas as early as the late 1920s or early 1930s. I'll confirm that later for sure.

Thanks, I appreciate that. Maybe there would be some way I could run down any of the buildings if they are still standing and get some pictures. I am originally from Little Rock and it would be fun to see if any old Safeway buildings are still standing besides the old marinas and box stores. BTW, if you do a live search for 3330 Fair Park Blvd. in Little Rock you can see the only building left in Arkansas with the circle S on it. Its the old Safeway ice cream plant and for some reason they never took the sign off when Safeway sold out. Makes me wonder if Safeway still owns the building.

[Groceteria]

Safeway had a Little Rock division as early as 1929, but most of their stores were operating at that time under the Piggly Wiggly banner: 15 stores in Little Rock, three in North Little Rock, and one each in El Dorado, Camden, Stuttgart, and Smackover. The only towns with stores under the Safeway name were El Dorado (an additional location) and Monticello.

By 1933, there were more stores operating as Safeway. I'm not usre when they dropped the Piggly Wiggly banner in that area. In most other areas where Safeway operated the Piggly Wiggly franchise, they seem to have consolidated their stores under the Safeway banner by about 1935.

[Rob72830]

Wow! I didn't know safeway was in Little Rock way back then. Thanks for letting me know. I thought Safeway didn't come into the state until sometime in the 50's because all I saw growing up were the stores built in the 50's and later. Since I am only 47 and don't remember the 20's or 30's I wonder if the old Safeways were occupied by other stores that I may have seen as a kid? I am going to do some looking into this. I will be going down to Little Rock saturday to get some pictures at least.

I also want to add that the Harvest Foods website does not list all of their stores. Here is a link to one that isn't on their site but it is still operating and is also an old marina Safeway.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 22196,,0,5

Its kind of funny tho, appears that at one time Safeway had 3 stores on this stretch of 12th street. They were 1901 W. 12th, 3927 W.12th and 4110 W. 12th, the last two only 2 blocks from one another. Here are links to the other 2 stores:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 85788,,0,5

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 77467,,0,5

I am positive the 1st and 3rd stores are Safeway, I am not sure about the 2nd because it is awful close to the 3rd store. Maybe someone could look at it and tell me for sure. Maybe an old Kroger? Thank you

[tesg]

I'm certain that second store isn't a Safeway.

[Groceteria]

I'm certain that second store isn't a Safeway.

I'm also pretty certain it's not a Kroger. I don't know of Kroger ever having had stores that looked anything like that.

It's very close to a Safeway prototype, though, I'll admit. The only thing that's really off is that on most of the stores with a gable and extensions, the extensions sloped downward slightly rather than being perfectly level (see below). That and the proximity to the other store of the same vintage two blocks away are the only sticking points, though.

Maybe an independent or regional chain?

[Rob72830]

Thanks guys. You are probably right about this being an old independent. I can't recall anything specifically about this store being a Safeway, just some sort of feeling I am having. When I go down there, I will go by a get a picture anyway and if it is still a thrift store I will go in Maybe someone there would remember what it was.