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Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 18 May 2010 23:30
by StoreLiker2006
Here is an old photograph (credit: Chris Read) captured from a 1983 KGW-TV 8 (NBC) news story about Tri-Met:

Image

In the background is an Albertsons road sign (logotype is the 1976 one).

But ... what I don't know is if this particular Albie's points to the corner facing SE Holgate Blvd to the east, or if it faces SE Division St to the west. It would be very rare, though, if the two stores did still exist back in 1983-84 as many chains don't like building stores if they're not far away enough. These two locations would've been about 20 blocks away, and of course the original Eastport location facing east at the corner of 82nd and Holgate was aging, while the one at the corner of SE 82nd and Division (2323 SE 82nd Avenue) faced west and was newer.

~Ben

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 19 May 2010 16:58
by Super S
That is a tough one. I wasn't in Portland in 1983, but I have visited the long-gone 82nd & Division store. I would almost say it is that store, as I remember a tall bank sign with a time/temp display in front of the store, which might be what is above the head of guy with the tan colored coat in the picture. However, the Skippers throws things off. I haven't been in that area of 82nd for a few years, but it seems like the only fast food place nearby was a Burgerville or possibly an older McDonalds or Wendys. However, I also remember a tall sign for Izzy's Pizza near where the former Eastport store was in the distance. I might also add that there is a Skippers on 82nd still hanging on, closer to Clackamas Town Center, but I want to say it has one of the "anchor" signs. Not really anything near that building which resembles an Albertsons though.

I thought BOTH of the stores were old ones though. I want to say both were Albertsons Marina stores. The 82nd & Division one bore a strong resemblance to the closed store in The Dalles. And, I did visit the Eastport store a couple times when it was a thrift store. If the Divsion store was newer, it wasn't by much.

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 19 May 2010 18:56
by StoreLiker2006
Super S wrote:That is a tough one. I wasn't in Portland in 1983, but I have visited the long-gone 82nd & Division store. I would almost say it is that store, as I remember a tall bank sign with a time/temp display in front of the store, which might be what is above the head of guy with the tan colored coat in the picture. However, the Skippers throws things off. I haven't been in that area of 82nd for a few years, but it seems like the only fast food place nearby was a Burgerville or possibly an older McDonalds or Wendys. However, I also remember a tall sign for Izzy's Pizza near where the former Eastport store was in the distance. I might also add that there is a Skippers on 82nd still hanging on, closer to Clackamas Town Center, but I want to say it has one of the "anchor" signs. Not really anything near that building which resembles an Albertsons though.

I thought BOTH of the stores were old ones though. I want to say both were Albertsons Marina stores. The 82nd & Division one bore a strong resemblance to the closed store in The Dalles. And, I did visit the Eastport store a couple times when it was a thrift store. If the Divsion store was newer, it wasn't by much.
My parents both contend that the photograph has the street of SE 82nd Avenue facing north. I also admit it now because the Albertsons sign in the background appears to be slightly different than the Albertsons sign which points to the 82nd & Division St location, where that one is on a single white pole. That white pole appears to be absent on this one.

Actually, the 82nd & Division St Albie's was something else prior. The same complex which housed that store also contained a K-Mart.

Also: Still, if this case was true back in 1983 (be it mine or your views; hopefully mine), then please let me go OT and also point out that later on Burger King had opened its Johnson Creek restaurant (9400 SE 82nd Ave) sometime in the early 1990s, which is only 20 blocks north of the Clackamas Town Center (11590 SE 82nd Ave) location. Oddly, both locations still exist to this day, along with their Eastport store (3830 SE 82nd Ave).

Furthermore, Safeway had operated two stores in Vancouver, Wash., on Mill Plain Blvd. The oldest of these was at 5411 E Mill Plain Blvd, which opened in 1971 in the McLoughlin Heights area. 15 years later Safeway opened another store on the corner of this road and 136th Ave (13503 SE Mill Plain Blvd), housed at the Columbia Square complex, which also contained a G.I. Joe's from 1989-2008. Then, in 1991, Safeway relocated its McLoughlin Heights area store to 6701 E Mill Plain Blvd, which was a former Albertsons store.

Safeway's original Mill Plain & 136th location barely saw 10 years, closing down in March 1996 and moving to the other side of the corner (13719 SE Mill Plain Blvd).

~Ben

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 20 May 2010 12:02
by Super S
82nd is somewhat strange regarding store locations. There are four Walgreens, and both Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart have stores located relatively close together. Regarding that photo, if that is the Eastport store, there is now a Walgreens where that Skippers was at.

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 20 May 2010 19:57
by tesg
If it is one of these two locations, I think it's the SE 82nd and Holgate.

If you Street View 4360 Cascade Hwy and point north, the building next to the US Bank sign appears to be the same one behind the Albertson's sign.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 3,,0,-8.51

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 20 May 2010 20:18
by StoreLiker2006
tesg wrote:If it is one of these two locations, I think it's the SE 82nd and Holgate.

If you Street View 4360 Cascade Hwy and point north, the building next to the US Bank sign appears to be the same one behind the Albertson's sign.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 3,,0,-8.51
If that's what I think it is, then, thank you! Until someone else familiar with early 1980s Portland knows different.

~Ben

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 22 May 2010 00:59
by Super S
I'll have to agree with that. The bank building is a dead giveaway, and in the street view picture, the newer building is where the old Albertsons once stood. I actually drove by there once as they were demolishing that old Albertsons and the rest of that mall. Oddly enough, the new Albertsons that opened as a part of the Eastport redevelopment closed several years ago.

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 22 May 2010 01:10
by StoreLiker2006
Super S wrote:I'll have to agree with that. The bank building is a dead giveaway, and in the street view picture, the newer building is where the old Albertsons once stood. I actually drove by there once as they were demolishing that old Albertsons and the rest of that mall. Oddly enough, the new Albertsons that opened as a part of the Eastport redevelopment closed several years ago.
And I'd suppose that whatever year Albie's shut down their (original) Eastport location, that it would have moved to SE 82nd at Division St (2323 SE 82nd Ave).

~Ben

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 23 May 2010 15:22
by tesg
You know what? Now that I think about it, the sign hanging off that building that looks like it says "JS" is actually the old US Bank logo of United States Bank of Portland, which later became part of what is US Bank today.

That building has been a US Bank branch for a VERY long time.

Re: Were There Two Albertsons on SE 82nd Avenue in 1983?

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 02:29
by StoreLiker2013
After having done some research on The Oregonian Historical Archive, the Albertson's on 4330 SE 82nd Ave. originally opened for business on January 19, 1961, and it was initially remodeled in 1971.

In late 1985, Albertson's told customers who shopped at the Eastport Plaza store it would shut the doors of this location on January 1, 1986. 10 months later, they had indirectly replaced this store with the one on 12102 SE Division St. (which closed in early 2012) at the newly-constructed Division Center, which itself was a Fred Meyer between October 13, 1959 and November 19, 1985.

The Albertson's on SE 82nd & Division originally opened for business in late 1978 or early 1979. Previously it was one half of a Baza'r store.

Therefore, between 1979 and 1985 there were indeed two Albertson's stores along SE 82nd.

~Ben