Continuing around, next up is the produce department, one of the few places where Save Mart's decor has almost completely overtaken Grocery Palace. There are still plenty of interesting leftovers to see, however! There's also an awkward amount of dead space on the left side of the department -- I wonder if Save Mart removed one aisle from Albertsons' original setup.
It has been a while since I've shopped at an authentic Grocery Palace that hasn't been Krogerized or Safewayized (or simply redone by Albertsons themselves in the case of the Troutdale Safertsons), but it does look like Save Mart did take the aisle out that would have been on that open side of the produce aisle. This configuration is almost the exact opposite approach of what Food Town did to Grocery Palace #1 as Food Town installed a wall on the open end to create a produce corridor which more room for produce displays. Food Town does sell more produce than the average supermarket though, but this does kind of make the produce department feel like a 1970s Safeway (or many other 1970s supermarkets) with enclosed produce rooms! Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/qtkyfGUcPLY1iTBWA
ReplyDeleteEven the Albertsons stores that I've seen that still have Grocery Palace have had some changes over the years, so I'm not super familiar with how they would have looked originally. That Food Town setup looks quite strange -- like you said, it makes it look like a store from several decades earlier, especially with the angled single-deck displays along the new wall!
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