Remember Superior, the voluntary grocery chain whose affiliates ruled London from the 1940s to the 1960s? Just a couple posts upthread, I said...
As it turns out, Superior had more lasting power than I thought! A 1979 newspaper ad I found lists four Superior affiliates in London itself (none of which is Gates, oddly enough), and literally dozens of locations in the small towns that surround it:
Another interesting thing I discovered was that by 1979, Superior stores were supplied by Elliott Marr & Company...a division of the Oshawa Group. How long after 1979 Superior lasted, I don't know...but due to the Oshawa connection, it's likely that their stores were simply rebranded as EMA, Price Chopper, or Foodland instead of disappearing into the ether entirely. I wouldn't doubt that some are still operating as Foodland today.
OK, another interesting thing: Feast your eyes on the 1979-era Superior logo! And you thought Safeway had the only circle-S around. Maybe I should call this "the Circle-S from Hell"...
OK, I'll stop now.