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Edmonds, WA: Former Centennial A&P?

Posted: 13 Mar 2011 00:46
by justin karimzad
This independent market looks a lot ike a former centennial A&P, but was A&P in Washington state at the time?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65359853@N00/5454927490/

Re: Edmonds, WA: Former Centennial A&P?

Posted: 13 Mar 2011 22:21
by Brian Lutz
Yes, there were A&P stores in the Seattle area from (at least) the mid-to-late Forties until about 1973 or so, so it's possible this could be a Centennial A&P.

HistoricAerials only goes back to 1980 on this location, but the building was there at that time, basically unchanged from what's there now. Can someone point me at a Google Maps link for a known Centennial A&P so I can compare?

Re: Edmonds, WA: Former Centennial A&P?

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 14:01
by marshd1000
I also believe that the former QFC in Lakewood was also a former A&P. It had a similar design.

Re: Edmonds, WA: Former Centennial A&P?

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 18:24
by tkaye
marshd1000 wrote:I also believe that the former QFC in Lakewood was also a former A&P. It had a similar design.
The QFC in Lakewood was built as a Lucky store in 1978. It was built with a colonial design to match the rest of Lakewood Center, likely the first suburban shopping center ever built in the region. The oldest phases date back to 1937. There was also a Tradewell built in 1951 on Motor Avenue near the Lakewood Theater... the sign pylon (now blank) remains.

Petosa's Family Market was an A&P that opened in 1968. They were on a building binge in the Seattle area at that time as, in addition to Edmonds, A&P opened two stores in Tacoma and one in Auburn.

As of 1969, A&P operated the following stores in the Seattle market:
NORTH
4328 Brooklyn Ave. N.E.
416 Northgate Mall
University Village
14516 15th Ave. N.E.
600 N.W. Richmond Beach Road
550 Fifth Ave. S., Edmonds
6308 Evergreen Way, Everett
1825 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham

SOUTH
523 Broadway E.
4732 California Ave. S.W.
1215 E. Union St.
10210 16th Ave. S.W.
131 S.W. 157th St., Burien
2929 27th Ave. S., Seattle
9201 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
2637 N. Pearl St., Tacoma
1809 Howard Road, Auburn

EAST
Bellevue Shopping Square
15625 N.E. 8th St., Bellevue (Crossroads)

WEST
320 N. 85th St.
506 First Ave. N.
645 N. Callow Ave., Bremerton
2237 N.W. 58th St.
I came across an article from April 1974 that indicated A&P closed five "economically unsound, older, smaller stores" before they completely left the Seattle area. These were the stores on Brooklyn Avenue, North 85th, both Bellevue stores, and the Bremerton store.

Re: Edmonds, WA: Former Centennial A&P?

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 02:58
by Brian Lutz
tkaye wrote: EAST
Bellevue Shopping Square
15625 N.E. 8th St., Bellevue (Crossroads)
Very interesting. I knew about the Bellevue Square store (the current Bellevue Square mall has a little area with some old pictures that show the A&P store) but I didn't know about the Crossroads one, as I've never seen mention of it before. The A&P ads I've found in the local papers generally didn't include lists of locations, and since it isn't part of Crossroads proper I doubt that it would have ever showed up in any of the old Crossroads ad supplements either. But now that you mention it, the old Crossroads store may have in fact been a Centennial as well, as can be seen in the current version of the building. I drive by the place all the time, but I've never made the correlation.

I do also recall seeing ads around 1971-1972 indication that the A&P WEO banner was applied to these stores before they closed.

Bing Maps link (you may have to flip the view around to see this clearly.)

Re: Edmonds, WA: Former Centennial A&P?

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 00:14
by submariner
That's extremely interesting. I don't think I've ever seen a Centennial out west. AFAIK they never built them in California, opting for more modern appearances. How rare are these centennials out west?