Does anyone know how long ago "The Number" was a lottery game?
Veteran
At least I believe it was on 101st... Anyhow, judging by the rounded corner entrance I'm assuming this was a Fisher store once upon a time. It's still operating as an independent grocer, but I didn't venture inside on this occasion.
Does anyone know how long ago "The Number" was a lottery game?
Does anyone know how long ago "The Number" was a lottery game?
Contributor
I noticed that this store, "East Town Eagle", brought back the "Eagle Supermarkets" logo. I doubt it very much if someone would come into this store, thinking it's either a Giant Eagle or is connected with Giant Eagle. (I believe GE/Riser supplies the store). I do recall back in the 1980's where the Eagle Supermarkets co-op was forced to change their name to "Neighbor's Choice" in order to prevent confusion with Giant Eagle, which started opening stores in Eagle Supermarkets territory in the mid-1980's. It wouldn't be until 1997 when Giant Eagle took over the Stop-N-Shop owners' stores and American Seaway/Riser Foods. American Seaway/Riser was a longtime Eagle Supermarkets/Neighbor's Choice supplier.
Veteran
I think there was a time where Eagle wasn't supplied by Seaway. Holzheimer's, a small chain that eventually became a single store in Euclid was started by two brothers (one recently deceased), whose family had been part of Fisher Foods management. Seaway had been a minority partner in the Fazio/Costa group (Fazio & Costa had been part of the Stop-n-Shop co-op that Seaway supplied) that bought Fisher in the mid-60s. It was a complicate dtransaction and Costa eventually sued the Fazio brothers. The Holzheimers (one was neighbor of ours) wanted nothing to do with Seaway because of this--the brothers and their father were on the outs with the new management.
Holzheimer's started out as an IGA, which was very novel for Cleveland. They had a number of other affiliations over time, including Eagle for a number of years, but never affiliated with Seaway, until the remaining store was sold to the family that owned a Bi-Rite in Mentor; Bi-Rite was another Seaway-supplied co-op positioned a notch below Stop-n-Shop but comparable to most mid-market chains. I think Square Deal, a co-op which located almost exclusively in inner city, but not necessarily poor neighborhoods also was outside the Seway orbit. Eagle had a fair number of suburban stores--they and Bi-Rite tended to go into old A&Ps, with Eagles usually being smaller.
I don't know who supplied these non-Seaway chains; could have been Flickinger from Buffalo or the predecessor to Super Valu in Massilon. Super Valu, itself, had a good sized presence in Cleveland during the 60s in an odd collection of places and had a few stores until the early 80s. Never knew where they were based.
Holzheimer's started out as an IGA, which was very novel for Cleveland. They had a number of other affiliations over time, including Eagle for a number of years, but never affiliated with Seaway, until the remaining store was sold to the family that owned a Bi-Rite in Mentor; Bi-Rite was another Seaway-supplied co-op positioned a notch below Stop-n-Shop but comparable to most mid-market chains. I think Square Deal, a co-op which located almost exclusively in inner city, but not necessarily poor neighborhoods also was outside the Seway orbit. Eagle had a fair number of suburban stores--they and Bi-Rite tended to go into old A&Ps, with Eagles usually being smaller.
I don't know who supplied these non-Seaway chains; could have been Flickinger from Buffalo or the predecessor to Super Valu in Massilon. Super Valu, itself, had a good sized presence in Cleveland during the 60s in an odd collection of places and had a few stores until the early 80s. Never knew where they were based.
Contributor
"Does anyone know how long ago "The Number" was a lottery game?"
"The Number" was the original name for the Ohio Lottery's 3-digit daily number game. It is now called "Pick 3".
"The Number" was the original name for the Ohio Lottery's 3-digit daily number game. It is now called "Pick 3".
Contributor
rich wrote: I don't know who supplied these non-Seaway chains; could have been Flickinger from Buffalo or the predecessor to Super Valu in Massilon. Super Valu, itself, had a good sized presence in Cleveland during the 60s in an odd collection of places and had a few stores until the early 80s. Never knew where they were based.
Supervalu was based in Minnesota...they mainly supplied independents, but once owned the corporate "Twin Valu" stores in NE OH in the early 1990's. Fleming was the grocery supplier that had a Massillon warehouse, and went bankrupt a few years ago, mainly due to K mart's bankruptcy. Fleming supplied Super K mart and some Food 4 Less stores. I think they also supplied Catalano's Stop-N-Shop in Highland Heights after that store left Giant Eagle. Peter B Schmitt (out of Buffalo) once supplied Bi-Rite and Apple's. I think Bi-Rite uses Nash Finch as a supplier now...I was in the Slavic Village Bi-Rite on Fleet Avenue a while back, and saw "Our Family" store brands there.
Veteran
I ventured into this store today, and the interior is definately a recent castoff from some chain, but I don't know which one. The freezer cases and shelving are newish, and there were tons of pieces of old shelf tags left on them but I didn't recognize the style of them and didn't see any store brand products named. The checkouts were from a Big Bear store, as the lights had the Big Bear logo on them. I don't know if any of the other interior elements were transplanted from a Big Bear as I have never seen the inside of one. (The wall lettering was all lowercase Arial or a similar font painted red. It reminded me of early 80's Safeway signage, only theirs was italic and this was plain.)
There wasn't anything left inside from the store's days as Fisher, even the floor has been recently replaced.
There wasn't anything left inside from the store's days as Fisher, even the floor has been recently replaced.
Veteran
This was probably one of the stores sold by Fisher when the Fazio brothers and their investors bought the chain in 1965. Some stores like this were sold to the shortlived Nitt's chain, but this was not one of them. At that time, there was a 1950s Kroger operating nearby on E 106th, which went out of business a few years later and was vacant for many years. A&P built a smallish centennial at St. Clair at E. 103rd in the late 60s. This store wouldn't have attracted a chain when Fisher sold it or afterward; it probably had a series of independents.
The immediate neighborhood to the North is an old area built up in duplexes where my mother lived as a young girl. It was never a prosperous neighborhood and, in its heyday, people worked in small factories nearby or for wealthy people in the lakefront suburb of Bratenhal, which is a short distance North. That neighborhood was a drug supermarket the last couple times I was there. The area to the South was more prosperous and built up in middle class single family homes; both of my parents lived there as teenagers and this area was in good shape into the 60s. Parts of that area are still well-kept, although the area along Superior never really recovered from riots in '68. This would have been a tough area to run a super, esp. as time went on.
The immediate neighborhood to the North is an old area built up in duplexes where my mother lived as a young girl. It was never a prosperous neighborhood and, in its heyday, people worked in small factories nearby or for wealthy people in the lakefront suburb of Bratenhal, which is a short distance North. That neighborhood was a drug supermarket the last couple times I was there. The area to the South was more prosperous and built up in middle class single family homes; both of my parents lived there as teenagers and this area was in good shape into the 60s. Parts of that area are still well-kept, although the area along Superior never really recovered from riots in '68. This would have been a tough area to run a super, esp. as time went on.
Veteran
I agree. However, the inside does look much better than the outside. :)
While we are talking Fisher, here's a link to an old Fisher ad:
http://images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cdm4/ite ... 635&REC=14
While we are talking Fisher, here's a link to an old Fisher ad:
http://images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cdm4/ite ... 635&REC=14