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I found a pic labled Safeway in Downey California


Gary

Gary,

Just how old was this store seen in the picture I saw?

Ben (StoreLiker2005)

StoreLiker2005 wrote:Gary,

Just how old was this store seen in the picture I saw?

Ben (StoreLiker2005)

Hi

The site the pic came from says N/A for a date in the picture but judging from the cars in the lot it should be somewhere between 1961-1964

Gary

GaryED44 wrote:

StoreLiker2005 wrote:Gary,

Just how old was this store seen in the picture I saw?

Ben (StoreLiker2005)

Hi

The site the pic came from says N/A for a date in the picture but judging from the cars in the lot it should be somewhere between 1961-1964

Gary

I recognized this store from the sign to the far right before I saw the Downey, CA caption. Problem is, I can't remember where it was, or if it was still a Safeway in the early 80's or something else. It still had the smaller sign hanging below, very much like how it was in the picture.

The LA Times reports a Safeway opening in Downey on Florence Ave at Old River School Road. Not sure if it's this store, but the date is December 3, 1959. Could be.

Probably. A satellite view on <maps.google.com> shows what looks exactly like what would correspond to the roofline of the shopping center in the picture, including the Safeway building having a gabled roof and being deeper than it is wide. A view from <maps.a9.com> shows that the facade of the former Safeway building has been remodeled, and is currently occupied by a latin market; "Amapola Super Deli & Market" at 7420 Florence ave. I would post pics from a9 maps, but the last time I did I sucked at it so I won't. I recommend typing "Florence Ave & Old River School Rd, Downey, CA" on <maps.google.com>, clicking on "hybrid" at the top right of the screen, and zooming in to see the shopping center, on the lower right corner of the intersection. Then, zoom out so you can see its location. On <maps.a9.com>, type in "Downey, CA" and click "map". Zoom out if necessary to find the location, then put the cursor on Florence ave near Old River School Road, zoom in, and play around with it until you see Amapola market and the shopping center.

The address is correct, this Safeway was listed in an artical in the Times dated May 10, 1959 under "Building Hits All Time High in Downey". It cost $162,000 to build. I used Microsoft TerraServer to look up the address and was able to compare the building to the one in the picture.

Here is a picture of the (a?) Downey store from the LAPL photo database:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics48/00058752.jpg

And you can see this store in the background at 3rd and Vermont:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033787.jpg