When a name returns from the dead, it can be cause for celebration.
Yesterday, we opened our Sunday paper, got the ads out, and saw an ad for a new supermarket in a neighboring village. "Welcome to Grand Union", it said.
The name may not mean much to you unless you lived in the Northeast United States, but this company has quite a history.
The Grand Union supermarket chain originated in Scranton, Pennsylvania (also home to "The Office") as the Jones Brothers Tea Company in 1872. This little history box in the ad above picks up the story, but really doesn't tell all of the story. At one time, back in the 1930's, Grand Union was one of the largest grocery chains in the United States.
There was one in my New York City neighborhood; growing up in the 50's and 60s. My Mom, and later I, shopped there.
Does anyone remember trading stamps? Grand Union helped to pioneer them.
My spouse worked for Grand Union as a senior in high school.
The very first store we shopped in when we arrived where we now live in the Southern Tier of New York was a Grand Union. It closed about 20 years ago.
By then, Grand Union had fallen on hard times.
Between 1995 and 2000, it went through bankruptcy three times. In 2001, the remaining stores were bought up by a chain called Tops, and the brand ceased to exist.
Until now. Because of Tops merging with another Northeast chain called Price Chopper, and there being Tops and Price Chopper stores close to each other (including that village near me), part of the approval of the merger required 12 Tops stores, 11 in New York and one in Vermont, be divested.
These 12 stores are now Grand Unions.
I never would have thought I would see the Grand Union name again.
I might just be tempted to check it out.
Do you remember Grand Union?
...I remember the name well. It's good to see it being revived.
ReplyDeleteOf course I remember. I thought they’d disappeared forever. But the reincarnation isn’t happening around here.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember Grand Union but if I were you I would definitely check it out.
ReplyDeleteWe never had them. At least in my corner of Canada. And now I'm wishing we did! Do check it out!!!
ReplyDeleteNo, I've always lived in CA or OR. I do remember trading stamps. My friend's mothers collected Green Stamps, but my mother collected Blue Chip Stamps. I wonder why? Different grocery stores, or did the shopper get a choice? Because ALL the other moms (or so I thought) had Green Stamps, I thought they were cooler!
ReplyDeleteThere not around here. Or I haven't seen one.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
They were Big Star stores in Georgia.
ReplyDeleteI helped with their 2002 bankruptcy, where they needed to write down the cost of their fixed assets. I did a OOT of work on that. That's one hell of a lot of shopping carts. Spent a good deal of time in Wayne, NJ back then...
Grand Union... hmmmmm.... being from the center of Chicago nope not sure!!! Plus I never took trains until the middle of my life when I took a train from west of Chicago to get to downtonw when I started working downtown and I lived in Aurora.... sorry!
ReplyDeleteThey did not have them in my area. It's nice to have an old name come back, though.
ReplyDeleteI remember Grand Union- in the Cherrywood shopping center. Until FC Whitney got built closer- and then Bohacks, it was where we shopped. And, they offered S&W Trading stamps
ReplyDelete