Grand Union

[nims57]

The Grand Union in Clifton, NJ was a former 40's A&P, and next to the very first Linens 'N Things.

[gu4ever]

Now what would any Grand Union store be with out it's very own Blue Ribbon Steer?
Attached is a photo of the Grand Union store in Swanton VT.
Along the wall behind the meat cases is a fantastic vintage graphic of the GU Steer!!

[gu4ever]

I recently visited Grand Union in Johnson, VT.
During my visit I spotted the Blue Ribbon Steer hanging way up above the meat case.
The blue ribbon attached to the steer is pretty cool, it's the Grand Union logo with the red dot on the letter A.

[gu4ever]

During my visit to Johnson Vermont I discovered the mini version of their slogan over the front entry of the store. This store is unique in that it has a floor plan from a classic 60's early 70's store. However it has the modern luxury wood paneling throughout and has a  "Clean Fresh and Good" glass canopy over the checkout. These design elements are usually found in the cookie cutter era of their floor plan designs of the late 70's early 80's.

This store also has been posted previously in regards to the flooring. The floors throughout this store are worn away in spots to the bare concrete. And I would agree to that post, worn out floors makes an otherwise really nice store feel grungy and dirty.

[gu4ever]

This is a larger sign located over the exterior as you approach the entrance to the store. This particular sign comes from the Saughertise New York store. This location is now closed and no longer in operation. :(

[gu4ever]

Went shopping at Grand Union in Storr CT yesterday. Here's a copy of the latest circuliar and a catering flyer from the deli. Along with a cool reusable green GU bag.

[AmesNewington]

Originally posted by gu4ever
Went shopping at Grand Union in Storr CT yesterday. Here's a copy of the latest circuliar and a catering flyer from the deli. Along with a cool reusable green GU bag.

Your photos of Grand Union (Family Markets) are wonderful. I have always wanted to see what their bags, store interiors, etc look like. Please keep posting more on GU. If at all possible, can you post pictures of the entire plastic bag and receipt from your visit to the Storrs, CT one.

One other question I have is what did the Storrs location look like inside? Was it big? Was it up-to-date, or did it look like the A&P it once was? I'd appreciate your experience there.

[gu4ever]

Here's the store front of the GU in Storr CT as of July 2009.

[gu4ever]

Close up of the store front sign.

[gu4ever]

This is the store front of the Grand Union in Amherst, NH.
It has a unique store front as the plaza was built just outside the historic district of Amhest Village.

[gu4ever]

Here is the store from a distance. The entrance/exit was on the left and right hand side of the center of the building with the yellow peak. The building extends to the left and right and had a natural brick exterior that had a covered walkway.

[gu4ever]

And here it is, the long awaited lighted aisle marker. Found at the Saranac Lake store in NY. Sadly this store was purchased by Tops Foods. And has recently been reaquired by CNS Wholesalers. Luckily the Tops retained the aisle marker however, inbetween each Aisle # and locator was graphics and slogans of the time of Grand Union. This will explain the big white voids seen in the picture. Originally the aisle marker was also lighted, however in checking it out, it appears not to be user friendly in maintenance. Which is why they probably are being removed in all stores. :(

[gu4ever]

Originally posted by DefunctStoreKing
what was the store brand for Grand Union?

Their private label was Grand Union with the red dot on the letter A. When they were sold to CNS Wholesalers they sold off all the private label brand and replaced it with "Best Yet" brand from CNS.
I've searched high and low for GU brand and have not been successful in finding anything. It has been about 7 years now since the conversion, so I'm not to surprised.

[AmesNewington]

Originally posted by gu4ever

Originally posted by DefunctStoreKing
what was the store brand for Grand Union?

Their private label was Grand Union with the red dot on the letter A. When they were sold to CNS Wholesalers they sold off all the private label brand and replaced it with "Best Yet" brand from CNS.
I've searched high and low for GU brand and have not been successful in finding anything. It has been about 7 years now since the conversion, so I'm not to surprised.  

Actually, before GU Family Markets went to "Best Yet" as their brand, for a while, at least around 2003 or even earlier, they had the "Red and White" brand. I remember it in the GU Family Market ads when they took over a few A&P stores in Connecticut, including one in Rocky Hill.

[gu4ever]

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=42.872594~-71.611296&style=h&lvl=17&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

This link is an aerial view of the grand union. You can click on birdseye and rotate the view to check out all 4 sides of the building. You can clearly see the frozen food loading dock on one side of the building and the general loading dock on the other side. When you rotate this to the front view you can see the high pitched roof and the yellow store front.

[Zayre88]

Grand Union in Essec Jct. VT years ago:

[gu4ever]

Back in 2005 I was assigned to category management for several different grocery store chains. Essex JCT, was one of my accounts. This store had a similiar layout to Northfeild, VT. or Northville and Corinth, NY except it was HUGE. I don't recall the number of aisles it had, except that the store was set with the extra deep shelving units. I remember management telling me that location was originally slotted for the "Mega Save" concept back in early 2000. They had sold down all regular product and was waiting on the mega save renovation. However that never happened. And they finally were told to relabel each category and place an order to replenish the sparse inventory in the massive store.

Thanks Zayree88 for posting this photo. ;)

[gu4ever]

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=rd9wrk8x225x&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=11857553&encType=1

This location in South Burlington was also a store that I did category management work. It was my FAVORITE store!! The store was MASSIVE and more MODERN then most store I had visited. The center window that is picture of the building housed an early horse drawn black wood covered tea cart. It was good size, and impressive in the front of the store.
The store has been taken over by price chopper. They did a great job sprucing up the interior and opening all the service departments again, like custom cut meats and seafood. Sadly I have not seen the tea cart at any other Grand Union location since the closing of South Burlington.

[gu4ever]

Towards the end of July I took a trip to the Adirondack Park in New York. My first location stop in the 4 hour drive was Bolton Landing. This was a unique store. The exterior surprised me, as it had a modern just built feel to it. The interior was a traditional layout, the signage had been modernized from years past and each aisle had an attached canopy over it that was lighted.
This community is not far from Lake George, so it has a strong tourism feel to it. The Grand Union was quite busy for an early morning weekday!!

[gu4ever]

The store is set back on the main street and the first thing you spot is the street sign amongst the trees and hedges.

[AmesNewington]

Originally posted by gu4ever
This is the produce department, I neglected to change the resolution on my camera phone, so all interior shots I took that day are small. :mad:

Any more photos from this location?

[BillyGr]

Originally posted by gu4ever
My first location stop in the 4 hour drive was Bolton Landing. This was a unique store. The exterior surprised me, as it had a modern just built feel to it. The interior was a traditional layout, the signage had been modernized from years past and each aisle had an attached canopy over it that was lighted.

I can shed (some) light on that one - this store had a bad fire a number of years ago (can't remember exactly, but I'd say mid 90's timeframe) and had to be rebuilt, which would explain the more modern design inside and out.

You also noted how busy is was - after the fire (which as I recall was during the busier summer season), the Grand Union folks brought in a tent that they set up in the parking lot and used as a temporary store (with not all, but the most popular items, including fresh, refrigerated & frozen) until it got too cold.  After that, for the colder months the town residents had to go to the next nearest store, seveal miles away in Warrensburg (which, of course was (and still is, I believe) a Grand Union.

Of course, I can't find anything online (even though I did stumble over a NY Times article heading about a GU expansion from 1951!), but this is as best I remember.

[gu4ever]

And Speaking of Warrensburg, that was my next stop on my GU trip. This location is a traditional foot print, produce is all on one wall, the deli is in the back with dairy running along the left side of the store. This store does have entrances/exits on the left and right of the store front windows. You can make out the anchors that held the original GU sign on the roof.

[gu4ever]

And my third visit of the day was in Chestertown. This store had a nice big parking lot and a very clean exterior. The store does look a little tiny, however it's a deepset store. I have no interior shots of this location because it was  modernized when tops took over, and the only traces of GU inside was the red wire racks used for the chips and bread products.

[gu4ever]

Close up of the store front including sign, windows and entry area. The location was VERY clean.

[nims57]

Did GU have stores in the Philadelphia area?

[gu4ever]

As of 2000 they had locations in Matamoras and Milford, PA.
If they did have other locations they would have been smaller stores or even main street markets.
It's interesting I was able to find info on the net about recent store from the 90's and 2000. Locations from the 80's and before that are hard to verify. For example:
NH showed 3 stores in W. Lebanon, Lincoln and Amherst.
However when I started poking around at the library I had older people in the community that said there were several location right here in Manchester. Searching microfilm proved through newspaper sales ad that in fact GU was right here in my  very own town at one time!!  ;D

[gu4ever]

Store visit #4 of my trip was to North Creek. Here is the store front from the parking lot.

[gu4ever]

Schroon Lake store in New York.

[gu4ever]

This is a really nice location, good size store, modern and clean. This is a close up picture of the store sign.