This store seems to have been built in a transitional period for Albertsons -- the exterior is very much what I would expect from a 90s-built store from the Blue & Grey Market or Awnings era, but it actually originally had
Grocery Palace inside, with the full standard interior to go along with that. There are also some interesting details here, including the glass blocks that you can sort of see in this picture between the door and the giant soda display, that don't seem to have ever been a standard thing for Albertsons. I had originally thought this was an older store that got a major, somewhat strange remodel during the Grocery Palace era, but the 1999 build date makes me think that it was actually a very early Grocery Palace build.
Yeah, some of the first Grocery Palace stores from 1999 used the typical mid-90's Albertsons exterior design - I've found a few stores like this one built in Florida as well. The 1999-built Grocery Palace Albertsons in Homestead, FL has a similar glass block treatment like this store next to its entrance (which was an exact copy of the mid-90's style entryway), and that's the only one with glass block I can think of in FL, so that must have been a very short-lived element from the early Grocery Palace days: https://maps.app.goo.gl/zyNjUj1qfhCJ8XDcA
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is strange to hear the glass blocks were unusual in other areas because they were pretty common here. Granted, many of our Albertsons stores were built in around 1999. For an example of a glass block overload at a Texas Albertsons, check out this Krogertsonsmart in Garland (Dallas), TX. Yes, this is a Krogertsons in a former Kmart! Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/z7MPuL7Rv19YtbC78
DeleteThat's pretty much what I was thinking. It's too bad the glass blocks didn't make it into the final Grocery Palace design, since they look pretty nice!
DeleteThose Texan Grocery Palace stores look quite different from both the 90s design and the normal Grocery Palace look I'm used to! Albertsons was really into regional variations at the time, especially in the Southwest (which got special versions of both Grocery Palace and Industrial Circus), and I guess the Texas design for Grocery Palace exteriors included the glass blocks from the early prototype stores.