Sioux Falls, SD chain grocery/supermarket locations

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Andrew T.
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Sioux Falls, SD chain grocery/supermarket locations

Post by Andrew T. »

Yet another state filled that I've never actually stepped foot in:

Sioux Falls, SD chain grocery/supermarket locations, 1925-60

The grocery history of South Dakota's largest city is somewhat interesting. For starters, it's one of the few places that neither A&P nor Safeway ever competed in (unless it was part of a post-1960 expansion I don't know about). The first sizable chain to stake a presence there was an outfit called In Serve Out, which was absorbed by (or morphed into) Red Owl by 1930. By 1935, two strong competitors emerged: Economy Center and Sunshine. Economy Center led in store count in the early 1940s, but ceased to exist late in the decade. Red Owl continually waxed and waned, and by 1955 Sunshine was the city's largest grocer. And guess what? The company still exists today.

Other points:
  • A "Kwik-Chek" store operated at 1700 W. 33rd St. in 1960. I'd bet my life that this had absolutely nothing to do with the Winn-Dixie Kwik-Chek chain whatsoever.
  • National opened up shop in Sioux Falls in the late 1950s, during one of their many disastrous expansion drives. They couldn't have lasted long there, but they did leave behind an intact pylon-style building at 910 E. 10th St. This was the most interesting artifact I found in the city:
    national.jpg
  • There's an article about 519 S. Minnesota Ave., a long-lived Red Owl location, here. It turns out that the store was built in 1939, expanded in 1959, robbed three times in 1961 and 1962, converted to a warehouse format in 1976, and ceased to exist as a supermarket a year later.
"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
Andrew Turnbull
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Re: Sioux Falls, SD chain grocery/supermarket locations

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Andrew T.
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Re: Sioux Falls, SD chain grocery/supermarket locations

Post by Andrew T. »

Wow, another city filled in and finished off! A bit interesting to see how Getten's debranded their Red Owl stores in the 1970s...then they went out of business! Makes me wonder how much their (lack of) brand equity had to do with that.

The Hy-Vees at 4001 W 41st St, 4001 S Louise Av, and 4101 S Louise Av all resolve to the same general location: The Empire Mall. The current store looks fairly large and modern, so there's bound to have been at least one rebuild or relocation in that stretch. But whether it coincided with a number change, it's hard to say.
"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
Andrew Turnbull
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Re: Sioux Falls, SD chain grocery/supermarket locations

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

Safeway apparently did have a presence in Sioux Falls: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/02/18 ... 382856400/
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Re: Sioux Falls, SD chain grocery/supermarket locations

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retailfanmitchell019 wrote: 01 Oct 2021 19:05 Safeway apparently did have a presence in Sioux Falls: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/02/18 ... 382856400/
You inspired me to give Sioux Falls another look. With a little digging, I managed to find another article, which says: "In March,1984, the third Hy-Vee location opened in the old Safeway building at the northeast corner of 33rd and Minnesota. Safeway was there from 1980 to 1982." No telling if this was the only Safeway store that ever existed in the city; but if it was, this must have been one of their shortest-lived expansion markets ever!

The store building stands here, and it doesn't look like it's been modified much if at all. The green panels below the windows are a nice touch!
"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
Andrew Turnbull
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