"End of the line" supermarkets

[retailfanmitchell019]

Here's some additions:


United States:

National/semi-national:
Super Saver Foods (various incarnations under American Stores/Albertsons)

California:
Better Food Markets (SoCal division of Loblaw)
Boys Markets (was consolidated under the Ralphs name, along with Alpha Beta)
Hughes Markets
Louis Stores (Bay Area division of Loblaw)
Market Basket (Kroger's first SoCal division)
Petrini's (Bay Area upscale chain sold to Provigo Inc. in 1989, defunct by 1996)
QFI (sold to Cala Foods in 1973)
Sage's Complete Markets (Inland Empire chain)

Interior West:
Buttrey Food & Drug
Miller's (Denver chain bought out by National, converted to Del Farm in the 70s)
Foodway (New Mexico chain bought out by Winn-Dixie in 1976, sold to Smith's two years later after a labor strike)

Upper Midwest:
Applebaum's (Twin Cities chain eventually sold to National, then sold to Gateway Foods of Wisconsin and rebranded as Rainbow Foods)
Chatham (Metro Detroit chain, went bankrupt in 1987)
Carter's (Mid-Michigan chain, went bankrupt in 2006)
Eagle Food Centers (Midwest division of Lucky Stores, sold to an investment firm in 1987, parted out to Hy-Vee, Jewel, Kroger in 2003)
Kohl's Food Stores (Wisconsin division of A&P, parted out to other buyers in 2003)
Rainbow Foods (parted out by Roundy's in 2014 to Supervalu affiliates, with the last Rainbow closing in 2018)
Red Owl (sold to Supervalu in 1988)

Mid-Atlantic/Tidewater:
Clemens Markets (suburban Philadelphia chain, sold to Giant-PA in 2006)
Giant Open Air (Hampton Roads area chain sold to Farm Fresh in 1986)


Canada:

National:
Dominion
Lofood (Sobeys discount banner before Oshawa acquisition)
Piggly Wiggly
Price Chopper (Oshawa Group/Sobeys discount banner)
Oshawa Group (which was the third largest Canadian grocer- they franchised the IGA name everywhere in Canada, except British Columbia, sold to Sobeys in 1998)

West:
Woodward's Food Floors

Ontario:
Commisso's Food Markets (all but one of the stores sold to Sobeys in 2003)
Dutch Boy (Kitchener/Waterloo area chain owned by Oshawa Group)
Food City (Ontario chain owned by Oshawa Group)
Gordons (former Midwestern Ontario division of Zehrs, a Loblaw banner)
Knob Hill Farms (built the largest supermarket in the world at one point, at a monster 340000 sqft!)
Loeb (Ottawa-area chain owned by Provigo, then sold to Metro when Loblaw bought Provigo in 1998)
Miracle Food Mart (Ontario division of Steinberg, sold to A&P in 1989, converted to Ultra Food & Drug)
Mr. Grocer (a Dominion banner, was the remains of Dominion stores not sold to A&P in 1985 as the result of union-busting; chain later sold to Loblaw)
The Barn (A&P upscale banner in Ontario)
Ultra Food & Drug (successor to Miracle Mart, banner used outside of Greater Toronto Area)

Quebec:
Steinberg

Atlantic:
Village Food Stores (New Brunswick chain sold to Loblaw in 1994)
SaveEasy (Atlantic Provinces "small store" banner of Loblaw, converted to other formats by 2016)

[pseudo3d]

You're also missing Eisner Foods, who was at the time of their demise a division of Jewel; Skaggs Alpha Beta and Alpha Beta. S-A-B in Texas and Florida became Jewel for a time in the 90s before being sold off to Albertsons.

Eisner converted to Jewel-Osco, Skaggs Alpha Beta/Alpha Beta were converted to either Jewel-Osco (sold in Texas but continued in NM before being rebranded as Lucky), Lucky (a few following the court decision), or Ralphs.

Here's some additions:

Disqualified: Super Saver (at least the 2000s version--renamed to Lucky), Boys Market (renamed as Ralphs), Hughes Market (same), Buttrey Food & Drug (renamed to Albertsons), Red Owl (one franchised store in operation, all others renamed as Cub), Giant Open Air
Possible additions: Louis Stores, Market Basket-CA (original incarnation), Petrini's, QFI (part of Cala/Bell), Sage's Complete Markets, Miller's/Del Farm, Foodway, Rainbow Foods (includes Applebaum's), Carter's Foods, Kohl's Food Stores
Ambiguous: Eagle Food Centers (did the post-2003 "Eagle Country Markets" continue operating the store, or did it close first?), Clemens Markets (did Giant-PA close them during conversion?)

Can't speak much for the Canadian stores, though glancing over some of them were renamed ("Original" Dominion) but some of them weren't (Steinberg's).

[Steve Landry]

https://www.groceteria.com/wp-content/u ... inder1.pdf

Treasure trove of information!

Also, how about Westward Ho Markets in Los Angeles and beyond in California?

So does Hills Supermarkets (before and after Food Fair) in the northeast not count?

And Fox Markets (before and after Food Fair) in California and Nevada not count?

Side note: Food Fair operated in California under many names and arrangements.

Food Fair, Big Apple Discount, Crown Discount, Disco Foods, Pantry Pride, Super Fair Discount Supermarkets, White Front Stores, Fox Markets, J.M Fields Department Stores.........................ummmmm WOW?

[pseudo3d]

I created an updated list of stores (Version 3).

TEXAS (EXCEPT WEST TEXAS) / LOUISIANA / SOUTHEAST
AppleTree Markets (last two stores went independent, closed)
BI-LO (includes RedFood)*
Big Star Markets*
Bruno's (includes successor Belle Foods)
Earth Fare (original run)
Florida Choice*
Gooding's
Lewis & Coker
Rice Epicurean Market (includes Rice Food Stores)
Schwegmann (includes That Stanley!, Canal Villere, Real Superstore)
Seessel's*
Sweetbay Supermarket (includes Kash n' Karry)
The Family Mart*
Weingarten*
Welcome*
Xtra Super Food Center

MIDWEST / MICHIGAN
Big Bear Stores*
Carter's
Dahl's
Dominick's (includes Omni Superstore)
Farmer Jack*
Hamady Bros. (includes Chatham)
Hiller's Market (Kroger closed them during conversion)
Kohl's Food Emporium*
Marsh Supermarket
Rainbow Foods (includes Applebaum's)
Thriftway*

NORTHEAST / MID-ATLANTIC
Best Market
Bottom Dollar Food*
Genuardi's*
Grand Union (original run)
Laneco*
Mars

SOUTHWEST / WEST TEXAS
ABCO Foods Desert Market*
Foodway*
Furr's*
Megafoods

CALIFORNIA / WEST COAST / ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Alexander's
Better Food Markets *
Big Bear Markets (of California)
Cala Foods (includes Bell Markets, QFI)
Fox Markets*
Larry's Market
Louis Stores*
Market Basket (of California)*
Miller's (includes Del Farm)*
Petrini's
Sage's Complete Markets

NATIONAL/SEMI-NATIONAL
A&P (includes Super Fresh, Pathmark, and Waldbaum's, though some SoCal stores disconnected earlier and converted to Fazio's Shopping Bag)
Auchan (The Houston ones closed. The Illinois one converted to Omni, but again, dead-end at Dominick's)
FedMart
Fresh & Easy
Gemco*
Leedmark
Pantry Pride (includes Penn Fruit, Food Fair, Wooley's, Hyde Park, Hills)

CANADA
Steinberg

Additions: Welcome, Xtra Super Food Center, Kohl's Food Emporium, Rainbow Foods, Auchan, Leedmark, Sage's, Petrini's, Market Basket-CA, Louis Stores/Better Food Markets, Alexander's, Canada section, Bottom Dollar Food, Gemco, Miller's/Del Farm, and Foodway.

Other Notes: Renamed "CALIFORNIA / WEST COAST" to "CALIFORNIA / WEST COAST / ROCKY MOUNTAINS"

A * indicates that they were a division of a larger company at the time of their demise and was sold off instead. These include Grand Union (Weingarten, Big Star), SEG (BI-LO), Kroger (Florida Choice, Market Basket-CA), A&P (The Family Mart, Farmer Jack, Kohl's Food Emporium), Penn Traffic (Big Bear), Winn-Dixie (Thriftway, Foodway), Safeway (Genuardi's), Albertsons (Seessel's), SuperValu (Laneco), Fleming (ABCO Foods, Furr's), Loblaws (Louis Stores, Better Food Markets, Miller's), Fox Markets (Food Fair). Welcome is a special case since it was originally owned by Kroger and sold to Delchamps, though Delchamps closed it in 1995 with no replacement or rename.

And Fox Markets (before and after Food Fair) in California and Nevada not count?

It is a non-exhaustive list.

[Super S]

One that comes to mind is Kienow's in Portland, Oregon.

[pseudo3d]

https://www.newspapers.com/article/detr ... /25961537/
This article seems to indicate Chatham was converted by Great Scott, which means that those Chatham stores could still have converted to Kroger safely. Did Great Scott close down the Chatham stores when buying them?

[TheStranger]

With regards to Cala (Bell/QFI) - would the shortlived Delano's IGA that took over in 2007 count as a successor chain? (That chain then imploded in 2010 and I know at least two locations in SF have since become Grocery Outlet, specifically Geary and South Van Ness)

[pseudo3d]

With regards to Cala (Bell/QFI) - would the shortlived Delano's IGA that took over in 2007 count as a successor chain? (That chain then imploded in 2010 and I know at least two locations in SF have since become Grocery Outlet, specifically Geary and South Van Ness)

Looks like yes, but they closed in 2010 either way.