Restaurant Chains that closed some markets and are much alive in others

[kendancy66]

Safeway and Winn-Dixie both had local establishments during my childhood, but neither are in the area now (I believe Safeway has a presence in northern Virginia, but Winn-Dixie has shrunk tremendously in the past 10 years).

I am familiar with both of these food chains, because I lived in Alexandria, VA in 1960's with Safeways and in North Carolina in 1970's, which had Winn Dixie. 

One Safeway question I had was this:  Was Safeway the first grocery chain they came up with the Quonsett hut shaped building they had for their older stores?  The Safeway store in VA that I remember with this type building was on Fort Hunt Rd near Hollin Hall neighborhood.  Also a building like that on Little River Turnpike just west of  I-395, now in use as a different business, but probably was once a Safeway.  But in California, I have seen two Vons stores like this.  One is on PCH at Sunset Blvd, and one on Oranage Ave in Coronado near San Diego.


Safeway is an active brand in California, especially in the north.  Vons is the brand in the south which is owned by the same company.  (they take each other's membership cards)  I don't know who bought whom, offhand.

Also Pavillions grocery store is part of Vons, therefore part of Safeway

[mcdonaat]

Some of us are cult followers of restaurants. I eat Whataburger because it's pretty darn good, but I've resorted to Jack-in-the-Box for a week or two... so that I won't get tired of Whataburger. I've noticed that Whataburger seems to hold its own in Lafayette, Beaumont, Shreveport, but no Baton Rouge locations other than the one on Siegen Lane. I do enjoy trying new places that I see on TV, but never actually get to eat. Hardees and White Castle being the two that tease me.

[cpzilliacus]

I was very surprised about 10 years ago going into a Von's in Bishop (the northern extent of their range, I would surmise) and seeing Safeway brands and having them accept my Safeway card.

When my wife and I were in Southern California some years ago, the Von's near Marina del  Rey happily accepted her Safeway card that she had been issued at a Safeway store in Arnold (near Annapolis), Maryland.

[TheStranger]

Safeway and Winn-Dixie both had local establishments during my childhood, but neither are in the area now (I believe Safeway has a presence in northern Virginia, but Winn-Dixie has shrunk tremendously in the past 10 years).

Safeway is an active brand in California, especially in the north.  Vons is the brand in the south which is owned by the same company.  (they take each other's membership cards)  I don't know who bought whom, offhand.

Safeway is the owner; it's the predominant brand, except they own other brands in the midwest. In northern California and much of the west - including where I live - it's big. (Except, it sold nearly all its stores in New Mexico since I lived there).

When I was a kid in southern California, Von's and Safeway were separate but Safeway bought the southern California Von's some time back. I was very surprised about 10 years ago going into a Von's in Bishop (the northern extent of their range, I would surmise) and seeing Safeway brands and having them accept my Safeway card. Ralph's, another big brand when I was young, was bought by Kroger. My first job was at a Lucky store, which I understood was bought by Albertson's (which has since undergone its own issues), and I was very surprised in my trips to California the past couple of years to see Lucky Stores with the same logo again.

The Lucky brand was revived in the Bay Area by Save Mart on stores they bought from Albertsons (most of which were part of the original Lucky brand).  In Sacramento, they chose to expand the Save Mart brand there instead of restoring the Lucky name on the ex-Lucky/ex-Albertsons locations.

As for Safeway/Vons...

Safeway originally divested its Southern California division in 1987 to Vons (one of many regions Safeway had pulled out of that year, as a result of a buyout by KKR) - but gained an ownership stake.  This ownership stake was increased to 100% in the mid-nineties and Vons is now a wholly-owned subsidiary.  This results in original Safeways in SoCal operating under the Vons name, but now selling Safeway products once again.

The round-roofed buildings so familiar to the Safeway chain are all based on a design first pioneered at two San Francisco locations - the Marina Boulevard location not far from the Golden Gate Bridge, and the now-rebuilt unit at 7th Avenue near Golden Gate Park.  (The design in fact is called "Marina" after the former, as it is probably the most iconic store of the entire chain).  Several other San Francisco locations used the shape - a now-demolished Columbus Avenue location patterned after the 7th Avenue store, the chain's flagship at Market Street not far from the Central Freeway, the recently remodeled Mission/30th store (complete with vintage circular logos!), and two that are no longer Safeways, the Bayview location that Kroger's FoodsCo operates in, and the Bayshore Boulevard location that was once a MacFrugals and is now a showroom for garden monuments.

[SP Cook]

Rax:  IIRC, the corporation went under and the remaining stores all belong to one of the franchisees who bought the rights to the name for pennies in the bankruptcy auction.

Shoney's:  Shoney's has gone bankrupt twice and is circling the bowl for the thrid time.   At one time it had that diner type deal in a certain area.  It over-expanded into areas where it was not known and at the same time other similar chains went into its areas.  And it cut the food quality to homeless shelter level.

Albertson's:  Also went bankrupt.  Now it is two seperate companies that are unrelated.  In the west, the old management took over, in the south, its just a brand of the SuperValu outfit.

GD Ritzy's:  Still one in Huntington, WV.  Across the street from Cabell-Huntington Hospital/Marshall University Health Science Campus, which is in the hood.  Limited number of fast food outlets right there, selling to the staff.  Wouldn't dare walk any further than across the street in that area.

[1995hoo]

Safeway closed their Central Virginia stores by 1994. I remember all the ones in Charlottesville closing when I was a student; the one at Barracks Road was replaced by something called "The Grocery Store" (no longer there). Safeway never left the DC area, although Harris Teeter and Wegmans have been moving in and increasing the competition.

I remember there being one Jack-in-the-Box in Northern Virginia when I was a kid, located in Merrifield at the corner of Gallows Road and US-29. We never ate there and then they had an incident at one of their locations where people got ill from the food and so after that our mom would NEVER take us there (and it closed shortly afterwards; it was a Taco Bell for many years until recently, when the building was torn down as part of an urban-renewal type thing in that suburban area).

To me the classic example of a chain that closed almost everywhere but survived in a few places is Roy Rogers. Almost all of the ones outside the highway rest stops closed in the late 1980s/early 1990s after Marriott sold them, but a few owned by other people survived. There's one about two miles from my house that never closed and does a thriving business; I know of another about 15 minutes in the other direction, a third near Leesburg, Virginia, and two in Maryland (one near Gaithersburg, the other in Frederick). Supposedly the company that owns these restaurants is looking to rebuild the Roy Rogers brand.

(When Marriott sold it off, most of the DC-area locations became Hardee's "featuring Roy Rogers Recipe Fresh Fried Chicken" and it was a disaster. People stopped going because it wasn't just the chicken they liked at Roy's. Hardee's did have a better breakfast menu and after a few months they switched them all to be "Roy Rogers featuring Hardee's breakfast," but the damage had been done and most of them became McDonald's in fairly short order.)


Another chain that I believe pulled out of a region is Krispy Kreme–apparently they pulled out of New England because the people there think you're required to go to Dunkin' Donuts.

[Stephane Dumas]

Some KFC stores in the Eastern Townships (Southeastern Quebec) had closed their doors in 2011.

St-Hubert used to have some retails in Southern Ontario but they closed as well. Here a vintage ad from 1989
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJboLzWogLM

[Brandon]

Another chain that I believe pulled out of a region is Krispy Kreme–apparently they pulled out of New England because the people there think you're required to go to Dunkin' Donuts.

Krispy Kreme's weren't bad, but there are better, local donuts to be had.

[Jim]

H.B. (edit: and now a couple others) mentioned Krispy Kreme.  They expanded pretty aggressively into the northeast, arriving here probably early 2000's.  I am a big fan of their doughnuts (especially hot off the conveyor belt), but this is such a solid Dunkin' Donuts region, it was going to be a tough battle.  And the expansion came at the same time there was such an anti-carb push.  They've been gone from at least the immediate (Capital District) area for several years now.

[Road Hog]

There used to be a Shoney's in Denton, Tx. Not anymore.
Krystals moved in to the Dallas area in the previous decade. Most of them closed. I really like them. I'm thinkin that their lack of sucess could be due to the fact that their food is overpriced, and gives you gas and the s%&ts.

I'm afraid the same fate will befall In-N-Out Burger in DFW. Definitely not overpriced and I love their burgers, but they came into the market hard and heavy a year ago and I fear they may have overbuilt in certain areas of the Metroplex while neglecting other areas like Denton County and Mesquite.

[cpzilliacus]

Safeway closed their Central Virginia stores by 1994. I remember all the ones in Charlottesville closing when I was a student; the one at Barracks Road was replaced by something called "The Grocery Store" (no longer there). Safeway never left the DC area, although Harris Teeter and Wegmans have been moving in and increasing the competition.

But if I recall correctly, there's still a Safeway in Culpeper (not that terribly far north of Charlottesville). 

I remember there being one Jack-in-the-Box in Northern Virginia when I was a kid, located in Merrifield at the corner of Gallows Road and US-29. We never ate there and then they had an incident at one of their locations where people got ill from the food and so after that our mom would NEVER take us there (and it closed shortly afterwards; it was a Taco Bell for many years until recently, when the building was torn down as part of an urban-renewal type thing in that suburban area).

I have stopped there many times (in its Taco Bell form).   I thought that building got razed as part of a project to build a grade-separated interchange at the place where U.S. 29 crosses Va. 650 (Gallows Road).

To me the classic example of a chain that closed almost everywhere but survived in a few places is Roy Rogers. Almost all of the ones outside the highway rest stops closed in the late 1980s/early 1990s after Marriott sold them, but a few owned by other people survived. There's one about two miles from my house that never closed and does a thriving business; I know of another about 15 minutes in the other direction, a third near Leesburg, Virginia, and two in Maryland (one near Gaithersburg, the other in Frederick). Supposedly the company that owns these restaurants is looking to rebuild the Roy Rogers brand.

(When Marriott sold it off, most of the DC-area locations became Hardee's "featuring Roy Rogers Recipe Fresh Fried Chicken" and it was a disaster. People stopped going because it wasn't just the chicken they liked at Roy's. Hardee's did have a better breakfast menu and after a few months they switched them all to be "Roy Rogers featuring Hardee's breakfast," but the damage had been done and most of them became McDonald's in fairly short order.)

Speaking of U.S.  29, there's been talk of a new Roy Rogers in Burtonsville, Montgomery County, near the U.S. 29 (Columbia Pike) and Md. 198 (Sandy Spring Road) interchange.  But Montgomery's hide-bound planning approval process (and some (unknown to me) citizen activists expressing "serious concern" (I despise that phrase)) could slow or stop  it.

Another chain that I believe pulled out of a region is Krispy Kreme–apparently they pulled out of New England because the people there think you're required to go to Dunkin' Donuts.

Health food (not!).

[Takumi]

Safeway closed their Central Virginia stores by 1994. I remember all the ones in Charlottesville closing when I was a student; the one at Barracks Road was replaced by something called "The Grocery Store" (no longer there).

I remember "The Grocery Store" as well. It didn't last long, and with its generic name it's almost impossible to find information online for it.

[Roadgeek Adam]

There used to be a lot of Ponderosa Steakhouses here in the Northeast. Most, if not, all are gone.

[ctsignguy]

Well, lessee...for 6a and his lady, i think there was a Hardee's in Circleville just off the US23/US22-OH 56 exit...at least it was there last year when i went to the Pumpkin Show

Last RAX in Columbus was on OH 161, it was torn down in a 'remodeling', and replaced by a Chipotle's

Only one Ryan's Steak House left in the country that i know of....across from Westland Mall on US 40, and a far cry from its glory days

Eaten at A&W in Toronto, not bad, havent eaten yet at the A&W in Columbus....but DID buy a gallon of root beer!

Ponderosa is pretty hard to find now...i remember in a college back in the late 70s  for a speech tourney, the local Pondersoa was advertised by the host speech club as 'selling genuine USDA beef, but it seemed to have died from natural causes....'

I think LUM'S is extinct now....stumbled upon one of the last ones off NY 17 back in 2001, and they were not selling hotdogs or Ollieburgers any longer....

[The High Plains Traveler]

Albertson's:  Also went bankrupt.  Now it is two seperate companies that are unrelated.  In the west, the old management took over, in the south, its just a brand of the SuperValu outfit.

Actually, Albertson's Inc. was bought by SuperValu, the Minneapolis-based owner of chains such as Cub Foods. Their deal included a consortium of Cerberus, a private investment firm that used to own Chrysler, and a real estate company, who took the stores in the part of the country that SuperValu didn't want to operate in. A large number of underperforming stores were closed at the close of the transaction (about half the Colorado stores) and marketed as commercial property by that property firm. Cerberus-owned stores are in the Rocky Mountain states and southwest and, I think, southeast? They still operate as Albertson's and even stock store-brand items distributed by SuperValu.

Kind of ironically, SuperValu is now circling the drain financially, and Cerberus has apparently been in talks to buy the rest of the Albertson's stores. I'm kind of surprised Cerberus hasn't flipped the stores yet, since that's what private investment firms do, but these are tough times for all grocery chains trying to withstand the assault from WalMart.

[1995hoo]

I believe there is a Ponderosa still operating in the Pantops Shopping Center just east of Charlottesville, Virginia, just off US-250 near the VA-20 intersections (yes, "intersections," as there is an extremely brief concurrency).

....

I remember there being one Jack-in-the-Box in Northern Virginia when I was a kid, located in Merrifield at the corner of Gallows Road and US-29. We never ate there and then they had an incident at one of their locations where people got ill from the food and so after that our mom would NEVER take us there (and it closed shortly afterwards; it was a Taco Bell for many years until recently, when the building was torn down as part of an urban-renewal type thing in that suburban area).

I have stopped there many times (in its Taco Bell form).   I thought that building got razed as part of a project to build a grade-separated interchange at the place where U.S. 29 crosses Va. 650 (Gallows Road).

....

I know the interchange has been proposed for years, but I don't know whether it's actually likely to happen as part of the current urban-renewal type work, which I believe is called the "MOSAIC project" (it's something Gerry Connolly was pushing for years and I don't know all the details–a guy I work with does, but I tune out when he talks about it because it invariably turns into political ranting and raving that does not interest me). I know they recently repaved the road through there, which suggests to me the interchange might not be funded yet–VDOT tends not to repave when a reconstruction is imminent. BUT on the other hand they tore down the longstanding Johnston's Auto Body that was on the corner there for as long as I can remember (literally–I recall going to the old A&P and Dart Drug stores at Merrifield with my mom in the mid-1970s and Johnston's was there even then).

[roadman65]

Bonanza was one that was big in the NY- NJ- PA markets and closed in the 1980's.  Back in 96 I found one on US 113 in Milford, DE that was still operating, but I have not been that way since, so it might be gone now.

Rustler Steak House was a chain in the Mid Atlantic market, but many of them became Sizzler back in the mid 80's.  I remember one that was visible from the NJ Turnpike where NJ 47 intersects, but no interchange to get to it.  From Streetview I see it is a 50's cafe of sort and was one that did not become Sizzler obviously.  It might of been the company went belly up, and Sizzler bought the some of the buildings, but not the business.

[DTComposer]

I'm not sure of the exact ownership situation, but Sambo's, which once had hundreds of restaurants, is now back down to its original location in Santa Barbara. IIRC, the restaurant wasn't originally named after the children's book, but it used that character as a marketing tool, then found itself in trouble when it was decided the character was very un-P.C.

I know a bunch of the locations became Seasons (which I think was the same owner) while others were sold to Baker's Square, Denny's, etc.

[Revive 755]

* Hardees seems to have pulled outside of Chicagoland

* Taco John's pulled out of many towns, but seem to thrive in Iowa and Nebraska.

* Del Taco pulled out of St. Louis (only had two locations), but seems to be doing well out west.

* I've heard Zantigos was taken over by Taco Bell, but there seems to be a thriving population of them around Minneapolis.

* For a little while Wendys pulled out of the St. Louis area, but seems to have made a slow comeback.

* I've heard Ponderosa pulled out of Chicagoland.

* Pancheros closed their only locations in the St. Louis and Chicago metros, but seems to be thriving in Iowa and elsewhere in Illinois.

* Krispy Kreme is down to two locations in Chicagoland, but the one on Devon east of I-290 may not exist much longer; the lot it is located on is for sale.

[kphoger]

Does anyone know how White Castle is doing?  The chain was founded in Wichita, yet there are no White Castles in Wichita.

[hbelkins]

This area was Frisch's Big Boy territory. Shoney's came in several years ago and it confused people that two different restaurants had the Big Boy mascot.

Ryan's continues to do well in certain areas. My sister-in-law worked at the one in Richmond, Ky. when she was going to college. I ate at Ryan's locations in Illinois and Indiana back in the spring when I went to Joliet. There's also one in Bristol, Va, where I've eaten several times.

White Castle is doing well. They opened a store in London, Ky., a few years ago. Don't know if they have anything farther south on I-75 or not.

There was a G.D. Ritzy's in Lexington in the 70s and I think it survived into the 80s, but I never ate there.

Ponderosas are still around. Whatever happened to Western Steer and Western Sizzlin?

Whatever happened to Taco Tico? I used to eat at the one in Morehead, Ky. when I was in college.

[Roadgeek Adam]

I have the closest Ponderosa to me being Binghamton

[roadman65]

I'm not sure of the exact ownership situation, but Sambo's, which once had hundreds of restaurants, is now back down to its original location in Santa Barbara. IIRC, the restaurant wasn't originally named after the children's book, but it used that character as a marketing tool, then found itself in trouble when it was decided the character was very un-P.C.

I know a bunch of the locations became Seasons (which I think was the same owner) while others were sold to Baker's Square, Denny's, etc.

How does Aunt Jemima then be allowed to market?  Or what about Nabisco Cream of Wheat.  I think somebody had it in for them.

I remember Sambos were all throughout Florida just as Lums used to be.  Although, I do remember a Lums in Portsmouth, NH along Bypass US 1, so it was a regional chain obviously.

Then Quincys Steakhouse were all over Florida, sold its chain to someone else who then filed bankrupcy.  However, on US 52 in Florence, SC the Quincys is still open using the original menu.

Shoneys used to be part of the Big Boy Chain, then later dropped it in the late 80s.  They only have to this day a few left as they have had financial problems over the past fifteen years. 

Big Boy, seemed to have closed many franchises except in Michigan where I have seen them plenty.  Marriot had a Big Boy franchise that they sold along with Roy Rogers.  It was called Bobs Big Boy and was in MD, DE, and NJ and even along the toll roads including MD House.  I do not know who has Bobs and what name it is bannered now under.

Long John Silvers purposely hates NJ for some reason and will not open a store there spite KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut are in the Garden State that are also owned by Pepsi.  An employee of the Long Johns in Wilson, PA told my aunt that LJS refused to pay the high taxes that NJ has and therefore would not cross the Delaware River.  Then why are their sister stores paying NJ taxes?

[Takumi]

Whatever happened to Western Steer and Western Sizzlin?

Both are still around (although I'd never heard of Western Steer). The closest Western Sizzlin to me is in Charlottesville (there used to be one in Hopewell and one in Chester when I was a kid, but both have been demolished and replaced with other restaurants), and Western Steer seems to be no further north than I-40 in North Carolina.

[1995hoo]

....

White Castle is doing well. They opened a store in London, Ky., a few years ago. Don't know if they have anything farther south on I-75 or not.

....

The one seen in Saturday Night Fever was a block away from my grandparents' house. Every time I watch that movie it transports me back to being a kid because so much of it was filmed in their neighborhood. But that White Castle closed in the late 1980s. The last one I saw was in Elizabeth, New Jersey, not far from the stub end of I-278. Never seen one in DC, Virginia, or Maryland except for when I see their products in the grocery-store freezer case (which doesn't count, IMO).

....

Big Boy, seemed to have closed many franchises except in Michigan where I have seen them plenty.  Marriot had a Big Boy franchise that they sold along with Roy Rogers.  It was called Bobs Big Boy and was in MD, DE, and NJ and even along the toll roads including MD House.  I do not know who has Bobs and what name it is bannered now under.

....

I recall Bob's Big Boy. There was one across the street from my high school (it's now a Wendy's). The name "Bob's" lives on in Northern Virginia lore because there is a slug line (place where people line up to hitch rides in the HOV lanes) in Springfield, Virginia, that is known as the "Bob's" line even though the Bob's Big Boy closed some 20 years ago. That location became a Chi-Chi's for a while and then the building sat vacant. There is now some kind of Chinese or Korean fast food on the same spot in a new building, don't recall what it is even though I drove past there yesterday. This all leads me to conclude that at least in the DC/Virginia/Maryland area there is no Bob's Big Boy chain anymore because there is no consistency as to what is located in their old spaces.