Retro Ingles

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parkave231

Retro Ingles

Post by parkave231 »

David, I saw a recent posting where you mentioned going in a....classically-styled Ingles in Asheville. Which made me think: Does anyone know how many of these are still out there?

When I was at school in Greenville, SC, we had two very close by to campus -- one on Poinsett Highway, and one in Traveler's Rest. Sadly, both closed with the advent of the new store at Cherrydale, about a mile or 2 south of the Poinsett Highway store.

I always loved to go to these stores! They are indeed a step back in time, and it really makes me wonder how they've survived so long without a remodel. I distinctly remember hearing The Who's "Squeezebox" being played as Muzak.....(of all the bands to cover...)

I would assume that these are fading rapidly, but since I've seen 2, I would assume that this was the "standard" Ingles format during the 1970s, and as such, was just wondering what the current status was (if any).

Thanks!

Matt
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Re: Retro Ingles

Post by Groceteria »

parkave231 wrote:I would assume that these are fading rapidly, but since I've seen 2, I would assume that this was the "standard" Ingles format during the 1970s, and as such, was just wondering what the current status was (if any).
Actually, I was told that the prototype pictured in my journal actually belonged to some former Winn-Dixie stores that Ingles purchased...
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THE CLASSIC INGLES

Post by todd »

Grew up in upstate SC and had the classic Ingle's across the street from my high school. It was cool and funky. A lot of orange and stuff. They had that cool sign that said "The best meat in Town." I also went into the Ingle's you mentioned in Traveler's Rest. Most of those were the "standard" but most are gone now. Funny, I worked at Winn Dixie in high school so I always just went there by instinct. Those old WD's are a relic also.
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Post by danielh_512 »

Ingles was a chain that started late (in the 1960's), but I'm not sure if their orange and yellow stores (the ones they're most famous for) are acquisitions or not. I'd have to do research on Winn-Dixie in Western North Carolina, but I don't believe they divested any stores in that region in the 60's or 70's. Kroger left that area in the 70's I believe, Bi-Lo and Food Lion were just entering by the late 70's, and Winn-Dixie would have been already entrenched. I remember reading Ingles started with some acquisitions, but I always figured more on some local operators in Western North Carolina, which would not have been a cheap operating ground for large chains considering the road systems weren't developed real well then, and food would be a long haul from either Charlotte or Knoxville warehouses probably.

Winn-Dixie was building much smaller stores at the time than other operators, including Ingles. I would say it is doubtful they were of a Winn-Dixie prototype. I remember these all too well (I used to spend some time in Asheville, the HQ area), and the stores were really not stores I'd have shopped at. "The Best Meat in Town" slogan intrigues me though, since Winn-Dixie was always known for quality meats, if nothing else, being a possible sign.
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Post by todd »

The orange & yellow Ingle's stores of the 70's were their original look ...some are still around, usually sitting empty somewhere.
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Post by Edric Floyd »

todd wrote:The orange & yellow Ingle's stores of the 70's were their original look ...some are still around, usually sitting empty somewhere.
There is one in Stockbridge, GA (South of Atlanta) on HWY 138 sharing a shopping center with Wal-Mart. Ingles closed this store after WAL-Mart built a supercenter across the street. An independant grocery store briefly used the old Ingle's space but the store in its original Ingle's color scheme from the 1970's sits empty.
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Re: Retro Ingles

Post by ajsanjua »

A seventies era orange and yellow Ingles still exists, or rather existed when I visited Sylva (S. of Cherokee) in 2005. It might still exist today...
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Re: Retro Ingles

Post by carolinatraveler »

Ingles was founded in Asheville in 1963, with a single store on Hendersonville Hwy just south of the Biltmore section of Asheville. This was a very distinctive building with canted windows all across the front and a neon sign at the roadside that was duplicated for all of the first 60 or so location. Within a couple of years Ingles had opened several other Asheville locations, and in 1966 the company purchased three former Colonial Stores locations (Bob Ingle had worked for Colonial in the early 60s). This purchase gave them three additional Asheville locations (Merrimon in the Grace district, Tunnel Road, and at Patton and Haywood in West Asheville), plus locations in Morganton, Marion, and Black Mountain. Afterwards, Ingles concentrated on developing shopping centers in small towns in Western North Carolina, all of which included an Ingles Market. All of these were the classic red-yellow-orange stores of the late 60s and early 70s. Sometime about 1974 the red-yellow theme was modified with a white "frame" stucco surface that became the chain's standard design into the 1980s. In the late 1980s Ingles began redeveloping its centers, expanding their stores into adjacent storefronts and remodeling the entire site into a brick finished front. When I left Marshall in 1998, the Ingles there, #28, was one of the oldest intact locations. It has since been replaced. Other intact early sites at that time include #11 in Hendersonville, #12 in Shelby and #14 in Franklin. I know that Shelby has been remodeled since that time, but I think Franklin may still be intact. Expansion into South Carolina in the 1970s saw construction of the "framed" style red and yellow fronts, and I'm told several of them can still be found around Spartanburg and in Anderson, SC. If anyone is interested in tracking the older stores, I have a numerical list that can be emailed.
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Re: Retro Ingles

Post by Groceteria »

BTW, the Ingles that started this thread (from this post on the main site) has closed and relocated to a new building down the street.
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Re: Retro Ingles

Post by carolinatraveler »

Hey Ingles fans. I passed through Statesville this morning and the Ingles (#78) at the US 64 West Statesville exit still has the red-orange-yellow fascia, with the wide white frame. This shopping center dates from the mid-1970s and originally was home to this Ingles and a Sky City discount store. There were a number of Ingles-Sky City centers, both Asheville owned, with the centers owned by Ingles. In most cases the Ingles has been enlarged into the Sky City space and remodeled. But the Sky City space here is currently by a large Southern States farm and home store, thus not making a similar remodel possible (at least until the lease runs out). Also noticed a vintage Ingles neon-flashing arrow sign at the US 64 Morganton location (Ingles #129), in front of a rare surviving example of one of their stores with the angled pylons and each end of the fascia. This is one of the earliest designs after the red-orange-yellow era.

Wayne Henderson
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Re: Retro Ingles

Post by Edric Floyd »

This is the "retro" Ingle's supermarket in Winder Georgia. Next door was space for a drug store but sinage in the windows indicate it was a former Dollar General store.
Original Ingles in Winder Georgia. Photo taken 8/21/2010. New replacement Ingle's store built next door
Original Ingles in Winder Georgia. Photo taken 8/21/2010. New replacement Ingle's store built next door
A larger NEW Ingle's was recently built next door to the original building and includes a pharmacy and an Ingle's fuel center was built in the front of the parking lot.
Original Ingles in Winder Georgia. Photo taken 8/21/2010. New replacement Ingle's store built next door
Original Ingles in Winder Georgia. Photo taken 8/21/2010. New replacement Ingle's store built next door
Original Ingles in Winder Georgia. Photo taken 8/21/2010. New replacement Ingle's store built next door
Original Ingles in Winder Georgia. Photo taken 8/21/2010. New replacement Ingle's store built next door
It's safe to assume the original Ingles building will be demolished sometime soon. But many Ingle's locations now have the "new" store built in the same parking lot as the older original building and the original building sits vacant even with its original signage still intact.
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