QFI
Posted: 11 Nov 2006 07:46
A little bit of background here: The QFI store in South San Francisco, at El Camino and Westborough, was the first supermarket I ever went to as a kid, and one that my family would go to quite often in my early childhood. Alas, the old QFI/Cala paper bags that were in my family's garage are long gone (though I think we still, somewhere, have kept a 1980s Gemco plastic bag...)
I have a few shots of the currently closed store here: http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/ssf.htm
Anyway, Yucaipa killed the QFI name in favor of Bell Markets around 1992-1993, and the SSF store suffered, even through Ralphs/Kroger ownership. (my family started going to Pak 'n Save on Gellert instead, as well as Safeway on Chestnut once in a while) After the years of decline, the unit finally closed down in 2004.
So during my long look at the back issues of Chain Store Age magazine, imagine my amazement to see that very store profiled quite nicely in a 1965 edition. Also, in the June 1959 edition (page 10c), is a photo of the store only a few months after it had opened:
From the October 1959 issue of CSA, pages 168 and 171, is a quick blurb on the new store:
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa ... -oct59.jpg
Here's all four pages of the July 1965 CSA (pages 38-41) profile of the South San Francisco unit - a story which notes that QFI had seven locations at the time:
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/65qfi1.jpg
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/65qfi2.jpg
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/65qfi3.jpg
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/65qfi4.jpg
A shot of a canned ham display in the San Mateo location, from the December 1964 Chain Store Age issue (page 12):
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/smqfi-dec64.jpg
I know that this site has a few shots of a San Francisco unit: http://www.groceteria.com/stores/qfi.html
I also know of one other QFI location from the same era (and for that matter, design) as the SSF unit, now an Office Depot at Millbrae Square - across the lot from a remodeled Safeway marina in the same center- a few miles south on El Camino Real. Office Depot has its signage up on the old QFI/Bell pylon.
I have a few shots of the currently closed store here: http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/ssf.htm
Anyway, Yucaipa killed the QFI name in favor of Bell Markets around 1992-1993, and the SSF store suffered, even through Ralphs/Kroger ownership. (my family started going to Pak 'n Save on Gellert instead, as well as Safeway on Chestnut once in a while) After the years of decline, the unit finally closed down in 2004.
So during my long look at the back issues of Chain Store Age magazine, imagine my amazement to see that very store profiled quite nicely in a 1965 edition. Also, in the June 1959 edition (page 10c), is a photo of the store only a few months after it had opened:
From the October 1959 issue of CSA, pages 168 and 171, is a quick blurb on the new store:
And the accompanying photo from page 171 of that October edition:The newest Quality Foods supermarket, a 35,000-square-foot unit in South San Francisco, divides its wines into four sections on a 35-foot, 4-shelf gondola and has signs overhead to recommend when each type should be served. White dinner wines are suggested with chicken, veal, ham, and sea foods; red dinner wines with beef roasts, steaks, other red meats and Italian dishes; dessert wines for after-dinner drinks, punches and parties; dry and medium sherries for cocktails, appetizers, mixes and cooking; and cream sherries for desserts. A section adjoining the main gondola is used to show specialty wines, such as vermouths, champagnes, and Kosher lines.
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa ... -oct59.jpg
Here's all four pages of the July 1965 CSA (pages 38-41) profile of the South San Francisco unit - a story which notes that QFI had seven locations at the time:
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/65qfi1.jpg
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/65qfi2.jpg
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/65qfi3.jpg
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/65qfi4.jpg
A shot of a canned ham display in the San Mateo location, from the December 1964 Chain Store Age issue (page 12):
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/smqfi-dec64.jpg
I know that this site has a few shots of a San Francisco unit: http://www.groceteria.com/stores/qfi.html
I also know of one other QFI location from the same era (and for that matter, design) as the SSF unit, now an Office Depot at Millbrae Square - across the lot from a remodeled Safeway marina in the same center- a few miles south on El Camino Real. Office Depot has its signage up on the old QFI/Bell pylon.