Fayetteville, AR and the Frankenstein Safeway

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Andrew T.
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Fayetteville, AR and the Frankenstein Safeway

Post by Andrew T. »

I've been to Arkansas exactly once in my life, and I wouldn't have gone there at all if I hadn't had a convention to go to. My travels took me to the northwest corner of the state...home to Rogers, Bentonville (of Wal-Mart fame), Springdale, and Fayetteville (home to the University of Arkansas).

I have a preference for researching cities I've been to, so all of these were a shoo-in when it came to picking places. Unfortunately I don't have access to Rogers or Bentonville directories, while Fayetteville turned out to be pitifully small in breadth and scope. (I still need to check on Springdale.) Nevertheless, I posted my findings here:

Fayetteville, AR chain grocery/supermarket history, 1939-59

It turned out that Fayetteville was a place that both Kroger and Safeway operated in...albeit at different times. That wasn't the most startling or interesting thing I discovered, though. Take a look at this!
safeway.jpg
This is 612 N. College Ave., a Safeway store that opened between 1950 and 1955. The building has a prominent barrel roof, and likely originated as an early pylon store with ridged brick details on the side, like this one in Maryland. At some point, though, a 1960s Marina facade was grafted onto the side of the store; perpendicular to the original roofline, no less!

Currently the building houses a roller rink, which seems oddly appropriate. If you look carefully, the original 1950s ridged brick details are still visible in the upper-right corner of the side wall.

Unfortunately (as so often is the case), I didn't know this store existed when I visited the city, so I missed out on my chance to photograph it and check out the interior.
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Andrew Turnbull
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Re: Fayetteville, AR and the Frankenstein Safeway

Post by wnetmacman »

I'm sure you know this, but the Market Street Safeway in San Francisco is a similar Franken-Safeway. There, though, they went with the rounded side to open up for the marina roof.
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Re: Fayetteville, AR and the Frankenstein Safeway

Post by Andrew T. »

Arguably, Market Street was remodeled seamlessly enough that it doesn't look like a Frankenstein.
But, back to Arkansas...
"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."
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Re: Fayetteville, AR and the Frankenstein Safeway

Post by Groceteria »

I'd really love to have seen what this thing looked like inside when Safeway was still in there.
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Re: Fayetteville, AR and the Frankenstein Safeway

Post by Groceteria »

This one has been added to the site and mapped now:

http://www.groceteria.com/place/us-arka ... etteville/

Thanks! Another new state!
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