Grocery Stores that were formerly something unique

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » 05 Jan 2006 00:06

We have two Bristol farms. This one was a restaurant off Sunset. I cant remember the name:

And the former Chasens Restaurant in Beverly Hills is also a Bristol Farms market:

Bristol Farms Grocery Store/Supermarket located on the corner of Beverly and Doheny in West Hollywood is a great place to visit. Opened in November 2000 at the site of the former Chasen's restaurant. This supermarket is a Hollywood landmark, in addition to being a unique store to shop in. Bristol Farms provides the finest assortment and highest quality of fresh and specialty foods from around the world. The Produce department is the nicest around and the Bakery department has a scrumptious assortment of cookies, cakes, pastries and breads. While your shopping take advantage of the indoor cafe. The Bristol Cafe has a wonderful variety of sandwiches and snacks. Bristol Farms has kept a portion of the original high back leather booths that once resided in the restaurant, sit and enjoy your lunch or snack while gazing at many of the old time celebrity photographs on the walls. Bristol Farms is located at 9039 Beverly Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048. Phone: 310 248-2804, wwww.bristolfarms.com Hours 7:00 AM to 12 AM Daily

danielh_512 · Post by **danielh_512** » 05 Jan 2006 03:27

Owned by Albertson's, right?

Steve Landry · Post by **Steve Landry** » 05 Jan 2006 09:02

Hey Jeff, the Bristol Farms on Sunset & Fairfax was another gourmet grocery store before it was Bristol. I can not remember the name. Before THAT, it may have been a restaurant (possibly before 1985?).

Yes, Daniel, it is owned by Albertsons.

:)

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » 05 Jan 2006 20:48

yes, It was something before the market, but was too long ago to remember.

I need to take pictures of the former Chasens on Beverly.

runchadrun · Post by **runchadrun** » 07 Jan 2006 21:39

That Bristol Farms on Sunset and Fairfax was a Security Pacific Bank and then a Kinko's before becoming a Bristol Farms.

Steve Landry · Post by **Steve Landry** » 08 Jan 2006 11:57

Ummmmmmmm, no, not exactly.

The interesting building you speak of that is now a Kinkos is farther east (I think the minor cross street is Stanley?). I believe it may be across the street from the Indian restaurant Dar Marghrib << spelling? Or, the Samuel French book store.

:)

Bristol Farms is on the southeast corner of Fairfax. Before Bristol Farms, it was another gourmet grocery store. The name escapes me. Now, before even THAT, it may have been a restaurant.

:)

runchadrun · Post by **runchadrun** » 10 Jan 2006 22:55

I stand corrected on the bank and Kinko's thing. It's down the street.

On Bristol Farms' web site it says " In June of 1999, the company acquired a small store that was a Hollywood landmark, Chalet Gourmet, and brought it into the Bristol Farms family." Perhaps that's what you're thinking of.

Steve Landry · Post by **Steve Landry** » 11 Jan 2006 10:28

Ahhhhhh, yes! That was the name, Chalet Gourmet. Thank you :)

There was more than one Chalet Gourmet. Bristol bought them all.

Thanks again!

Dean · Post by **Dean** » 12 Jan 2007 03:30

The former May Company (or Robinsons) across the street from UCLA was divided into a number of stores...including a RALPHS, BEST BUY and LONGS. Go into LONGS...which is on the verrrry top. It maintained the skylights.

runchadrun · Post by **runchadrun** » 12 Jan 2007 09:26

Dean wrote:The former May Company (or Robinsons) across the street from UCLA was divided into a number of stores...including a RALPHS, BEST BUY and LONGS. Go into LONGS...which is on the verrrry top. It maintained the skylights.

It's a former Bullocks and briefly a Macy's before closing. There's also an Expo Design Center (a Home Depot division) on the other side of the store facing Weyburn and it's the former lowest level of Bullocks. I believe the Longs is the former Bullocks tea room and they are currently doing a lot of work on repairs of the parking area, which is the Ralphs roof. Longs is never very busy and I'm surprised they have stayed in business, especially since there are a Rite Aid and CVS (not a former Savon) on Westwood Blvd at street level (and a CVS/former Savon on the other side of Wilshire), and a 24-hour pharmacy inside Ralphs. The main advantage for Longs is that they have parking, which is always at a premium in Westwood.

Best Buy is much smaller than the typical BB store and it tailored to the college market so you don't see a lot of big TVs and no major appliances. A lot of CDs, DVDs, computers, and portable electronics though.

Ralphs (which is a Fresh Fare format) has two entrances, one on the east side of the building next to Besy Buy and one on the north side facing Le Conte. The Le Conte entrance is where the self checkout lanes are and it's near what I think is the only salad bar in Westwood. There are tables on the patio where you can eat your lunch.

I work on the north end of campus and walk to Ralphs at least once a week for the exercise.

Post by **Groceteria** » 12 Jan 2007 11:00

Of particular interest:

-- Harris-Teeter in downtown Charleston SC, housed in an old railroad warehouse or freight depot.
-- Harris-Teeter at Cameron Village in Raleigh, in an old Sears store.
-- Cala on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco, in a former car dealership.
-- A location on South Boulevard in Charlotte NC started as an A&P, then became a Circuit City and then returned to its roots as a Food Lion.
-- Publix in downtown Columbia SC in an old factory or warehouse building.

Warehouse conversions were common, especially in the early days. The first King Kullen, regarded by many (if not necessarily by me) as the first supermarket was in a converted warehouse.

rich · Post by **rich** » 12 Jan 2007 21:28

There was a long running Kroger on Buckeye Road in Cleveland that was in an ice house they converted in the 50s.

Askating rink was turned into a strip mall anchored by an even longer running Pick-n-Pay supermarket in Cleveland, also in the 50s, near Cleveland Clinic on Euclid Ave. Despite riots and decline in the neighborhood that store lasted until about 1990 and one of its two competitors lasted almost as long.

The old Tivoli movie theatre and surrounding shops recently have been redone to include a Giant supermarket in the Columbia Heights section of Washington, DC. The Giant is new construction added to the historic building.

A Harris-Teeter is going to a space near Florida Ave. NW, in Washington DC that has housed nightclubs, a theatre and storage.

justin karimzad · Post by **justin karimzad** » 12 Jan 2007 22:36

The Alpine Market (formerly a Centromart that opened in 1960) at 2850 N California st. in Stockton, CA was originally a trolley house;
http://www.groceteria.com/stockton/gall ... mage6.html

tesg · Post by **tesg** » 13 Jan 2007 01:54

They don't get much more unique than Ream's longtime location in Provo, Utah.

It was a big turtle-shaped concrete dome that originally opened as an ice skating rink. It was built for just $75,000 in 1961.

Pics and an article on this fascinating structure here...

http://www.monolithic.com/gallery/comme ... index.html

runchadrun · Post by **runchadrun** » 11 Feb 2007 23:31

I completely forgot about this until i drove by it yesterday. On Venice Blvd near the intersection of Robertson there's a shopping center with Albertsons, CVS, Office Max, and Ross among others. Originally the building was the Globe A-1 pasta factory which closed in 1987. When the shopping center opened it was a Lucky and Sav-on but they were separate stores. It's a wedge-shaped parcel with CVS at the vertex so it's a strange shape inside. Based on the liquor license information, Lucky opened in 1998.

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=6985781

Some history on Globe A-1 and the building: Globe A-1 started in 1902 and was bought by Pillsbury in 1940 then sold to local owners in 1955. Borden bought the company in 1986 and closed the plant in 1987, moving production to Phoenix to consolidate production with Anthony's Pasta, another LA-based pasta company Borden had bought. I don't know when the factory in question was built. By 1989 the building was used as a Rolls-Royce dealership and the General Services Administration leased about 1/4 of the space to store artifacts for the Reagan Library. In 1994 there was a plan to turn it into a Recreation World with mini golf course, batting cages, and billiards but that never happened. There was an Armstrong Garden Center in back where the railroad tracks were.

There's a beautiful moasic that is still on the wall that you can see if you are facing west on Venice Blvd and look up. http://www.palmsvillagesun.info/GlobeA1.html