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Big Lots Western/Slauson

Posted: 03 Jun 2007 00:32
by steps
Was this location a Safeway? For some reason it just reminds me of a Safeway. As far back I can remember it has always been a Pic N' Save but it just looks like it was a grocery store at one point...or am I wrong?

Posted: 03 Jun 2007 06:47
by Tortuga One
Do you mean the store across from the Food4Less/Home Depot Shopping Center?

Yes it was a supermarket. I know it was an ABC Supermarket in the past. From approximately the late 1970's until the early 1980's, it was an ABC Supermarket. Shortly after the supermarket closed, it became a church. I believe it returned to being a supermarket (Back to ABC ??) after the church left the building. Finally, it was converted to a PicNSave, who renamed it Big Lots.

The ABC Supermaket Chain was puchased by Boys Markets at some point in time. Prior to that location being an ABC Supermarket, I do not have any information.

Posted: 03 Jun 2007 13:40
by steps
Tortuga One wrote:Do you mean the store across from the Food4Less/Home Depot Shopping Center?

Yes it was a supermarket. I know it was an ABC Supermarket in the past. From approximately the late 1970's until the early 1980's, it was an ABC Supermarket. Shortly after the supermarket closed, it became a church. I believe it returned to being a supermarket (Back to ABC ??) after the church left the building. Finally, it was converted to a PicNSave, who renamed it Big Lots.

The ABC Supermaket Chain was puchased by Boys Markets at some point in time. Prior to that location being an ABC Supermarket, I do not have any information.
Yes that's the one but sorry to tell you I know for a fact it was never a ABC Market. My mom worked for ABC During that time and she knows all the locations and she told me that Big Lots was never a ABC Market.

Posted: 03 Jun 2007 15:02
by greebs
This store has a Slauson Address (1815 W Slauson Ave) yet faces Western Ave. I'm wondering if the address was changed when Pic-N-Save moved in as i have seen this done on many stores.

Posted: 04 Jun 2007 12:55
by runchadrun
I'm not sure if this is the same store, but a very short 6/12/1966 article in the LA Times says that a 19,000 sq ft Better Foods store at the corner of Western and Slauson had its groundbreaking.

I didn't find a whole lot about Better Foods, except that they were purchased by Loblaw in 1965. There are a couple of posts in this thread about it:
http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtop ... ght=loblaw

Posted: 04 Jun 2007 14:55
by steps
I don;t know if that is the store of not. I am trying to remember what was a cross the street from that store when I was younger (in the 1980's) which doesn't help much since all this was before I was born. I believe there was a Dryers ice cream factory (or Bryers) across the street from there during the 1980's. Before 1987 I don't know what was there.

Posted: 21 Jun 2007 14:13
by rjlawrencejr
runchadrun wrote:I'm not sure if this is the same store, but a very short 6/12/1966 article in the LA Times says that a 19,000 sq ft Better Foods store at the corner of Western and Slauson had its groundbreaking.

I didn't find a whole lot about Better Foods, except that they were purchased by Loblaw in 1965. There are a couple of posts in this thread about it:
http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtop ... ght=loblaw
You folks are good at searching out stuff. Yes, the Big Lots at the corner of Slauson/Western was originally a Better Foods market. There was another Better Foods up the street at Western and Santa Barbara (now MLK) (I can still remember riding the school bus in the mid-70s and seeing a poster in front of the store advertising a "Pretty Legs" contest at some nearby club).

I don't have fond memories of Better Foods like I do Alpha Beta, but we would go to the Santa Barbara/Western location sometimes beause it was right down the street from our church on Santa Barbara and Budlong. Also, I think Better Foods had the least expensive money orders and so my father would go there. The only other location I remember well is one in Carson on Avalon and 223rd.

Posted: 21 Jun 2007 14:15
by rjlawrencejr
steps wrote:I don;t know if that is the store of not. I am trying to remember what was a cross the street from that store when I was younger (in the 1980's) which doesn't help much since all this was before I was born. I believe there was a Dryers ice cream factory (or Bryers) across the street from there during the 1980's. Before 1987 I don't know what was there.
Yes, where the shopping center is now there was a large dairy plant of some kind. I thought it was Jerseymaid.

Posted: 23 Jun 2007 00:57
by steps
rjlawrencejr wrote:Yes, where the shopping center is now there was a large dairy plant of some kind. I thought it was Jerseymaid.
Jersey Maid was on Vermont/Slauson where the GAINTE Supermarket is now.