Last week, the Daily Breeze's Sam Gnerre went through the archives and found photographs of old supermarkets, which inspired him to compile one of his many great Top 10 lists. He found the names of grocery stores that fed many households in the South Bay.
There was a time when supermarkets had names other than Ralphs, Vons or Albertsons, and a time when shopping at Whole Foods meant a whole year's salary and not just a whole paycheck.
Want to know whatever happened to such chains as Alpha Beta, The Boys and Smith's Food King? Their histories, along with other markets throughout North America, live on in Groceteria.
The site compiles a collection of photos and "commercial archaeology" from fans of grocery stores — a most ornery bunch. It also has a message board for fans to ask questions and share their own stories.
Grocery store fandom goes beyond Groceteria to the more photographically inclined. Flickr, the photo-sharing social network, has the group "Vintage Supermarkets, Grocery & Convenience Stores." It has a melange of old photos and present-day photos of older supermarkets extant and repurposed.
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