Veteran
Was here this past weekend and saw this store. Was it originally something else? I thought the exterior was kind of Winn-Dixie-esque, but I think the interior is new. The refrigeration and checkouts looked to be of 1980's vintage. Across the street from this was a Goodwill in an old supermarket I guessed to be a Food Lion, but I'm not sure on that. (I guessed Food Lion because there's an operating Greenhouse Kroger across the street from that, and down the road there's an antique shop in a former Ingles so it wouldn't have been one of those chains)
Contributor
I'd guess the store in the photo was originally a Food Giant, since they were fairly prominent around Atlanta in the early 1980s. But if you suspect the Goodwill across the street was a Food Lion, then perhaps not.
On closer inspection, the store in the photograph appears to be a bit new for a former Food Giant. Perhaps it was always in independent?
On closer inspection, the store in the photograph appears to be a bit new for a former Food Giant. Perhaps it was always in independent?
Veteran
Well, I'm not sure if the Goodwill across the street was a Food Lion or not. It was definately a grocery store, though.
Veteran
Colonial would be another possibility. They loved corrugated metal on their store fronts.
Veteran
This link has a better exterior shot of a very similar facade on another supermarket building. http://www.white-spunnerassoc.com/Image ... Avenue.jpg
On the Quality Foods site, I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole facade of the store in the shot. You can't really tell from the picture I took, but the corrugated metal front is sloped, and there were rough cinder-block type columns at the ends of the slanted corrugated metal roofline, similar to the photo I linked to above.
On the Quality Foods site, I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole facade of the store in the shot. You can't really tell from the picture I took, but the corrugated metal front is sloped, and there were rough cinder-block type columns at the ends of the slanted corrugated metal roofline, similar to the photo I linked to above.
Great Pumpkin
This one's almost definitely a Winn-Dixie, but I think the first one could go Big Star as well. Too bad we don't have a wider shot.Daniel wrote:This link has a better exterior shot of a very similar facade on another supermarket building. http://www.white-spunnerassoc.com/Image ... Avenue.jpg
Veteran
This was an early 80's Food Giant, built just prior to Gwinnett really beginning its boom, and one of the last newly built Food Giants in the Atlanta area, being built after the SuperValu/Delhaize acquisition of the chain. The store across from the greenhouse Kroger is the Winn-Dixie, which was also an early-80's construct, having relocated from the Buford Mall, basically a Winn-Dixie and a discount/dime store, possibly Rose's, and a few small shops. Colonial/Big Star never had a big presence in Gwinnett aside from Norcross and Stone Mountain, near the DeKalb border and having four stores in neighboring Hall County. Gwinnett's population boom really hit its stride after Big Star and Food Giant were on the wane and A&P's sole centennial store in Lawrenceville had closed(Gwinnett would receive one of the first Futurestores in Snellville mid-decade).
The Winn-Dixie survived until the closing of the Atlanta operation, possibly because Kroger and the Quality Foods was the only immediate competition. Ingle's and Wal-Mart SuperCenter located closer to the Mall of Georgia area, Wal-Mart had stayed with a traditional Discount City until Mall of Georgia was built.
The Winn-Dixie survived until the closing of the Atlanta operation, possibly because Kroger and the Quality Foods was the only immediate competition. Ingle's and Wal-Mart SuperCenter located closer to the Mall of Georgia area, Wal-Mart had stayed with a traditional Discount City until Mall of Georgia was built.
Veteran
Ah! Thanks for clearing that up! I had a feeling it was an 80's build chain location, but not being from the area it was harder for me to guess exactly what chain it was! Is the interior original or was it remodeled when Quality Foods took over?
Veteran
It's not the original interior, unfortunately I can't recall the original decor. I gained some familiarity with the area from summer trips to Lake Lanier Islands as a teen, which at the time seemed distant from Atlanta. Gwinnett still was a land of red Georgia clay(read red mud), kudzu and cotton fields up until the early 80's. Buford's economy was driven by the Bona Allen shoe mill, which lent the town a similar feel to a southern cotton mill town. Nelson Brogdon Blvd(GA 20) and US 29(Buford Hwy) bypassed the actual town in the 1970's, leaving the old town fairly intact to its pre-Atlanta boom days. I've always had the impression that Gwinnett was economically depressed prior the rapid suburbanization that ocurred after the mid-70's and the appearance of many of the old downtowns seem to verify that the towns must have been more prosperous prior to the Depression and boll weevil.
You mentioned the store that looked like Food Lion, which was the Winn-Dixie. As far as Winn-Dixie's go, the store was relatively nice looking, actually well kept and in better shape than many later construct W-D's. It was not a common Winn-Dixie prototype, and the Food Giant/Quality Foods actually does look more like a Winn-Dixie than the Winn-Dixie did. Food Lion did have one Gwinnett store, Snellville, near to Stone Mountain, which didn't survive long- 2 or 3 years at the most in the early 90's. The closest Food Lions to the area are in Gainesville and Athens.
You mentioned the store that looked like Food Lion, which was the Winn-Dixie. As far as Winn-Dixie's go, the store was relatively nice looking, actually well kept and in better shape than many later construct W-D's. It was not a common Winn-Dixie prototype, and the Food Giant/Quality Foods actually does look more like a Winn-Dixie than the Winn-Dixie did. Food Lion did have one Gwinnett store, Snellville, near to Stone Mountain, which didn't survive long- 2 or 3 years at the most in the early 90's. The closest Food Lions to the area are in Gainesville and Athens.
Contributor
My guess would have been Food Giant, especially since the earliest locations for Tri-County Quality Foods were in former Food Giant locations. The first stores I recall were in Lawrenceville (Grayson Highway IIRC), Commerce, and Winder. The Buford store came a bit later. The very earliest stores simply replaced the Food Giant letters with Quality Foods and put a "Tri-County" in the oval medallion (found on the Food Giant stores of the time) adjacent to the other text. They even used the same yellow color as Food Giant in the early years. Some of the store locations were quite old, dating from the 70's and maybe earlier. Some locations had started off as Big Apple food stores.
Veteran
The Winn Dixie didn't look like a Winn Dixie at all! I wonder why they didn't use that prototype more often, it still looked like a nice store even though it's now a thirft shop.