Old supermarkets!

[Scarlett]

Does anyone here remember any old supermarkets that now don't exist? Such as Key Markets? Or Victor value? I'm sure there were many more! In the 60s and 70s how did they differ from today, other than the pricing gun?

[spudqueen]

Maypole and Gem (which I think turned into Asda). It wasn't just the pricing gun that was different - so were the tills, the checkout girls (and yes, they were mainly women) had very nimble fingers putting the price of every item into the till instead of scanning them. Also, peoples attitudes were different to shopping in supermarkets then. Now we think nothing of popping to the supermarket weekly, twice weekly, or even more often. Back in the 70's people went monthly rather than weekly (or my family did anyway).

[ermintrude35]

..carrier bags were a penny!....

trollys were NOT a pound

cardboard boxes were available for you to carry your shopping home in


...I can't seem to remember fruit and veg in supermarkets back in the 70s ....maybe it's just me...can anyone confirm this?

...all the freezers were huge chest freezer types...

[Ethel]

Monthly shopping was not common in the 70s, spudqueen.

Your family must have been posh, with a car and a big freezer.

[Booldawg]

I worked at a Liptons in 1985 when I left school.

[Booldawg]

Liptons were re-branded and changed their name to Presto in about 1986. They were owned by the Scottish Argyle Group.

[innithou]

there was a CATERS in Chelmsford...

[moon_unit]

Presto's which then became the local safeways which then became morrisions

[unrulyjulie]

we had a Mac market when i was a kid. It then became International followed by gatweway before it became what it is now, sommerfields.

[POLLIANNA]

We had a pic and save up here.

[coffeeboy]

Pinks (Portsmouth)

[missrandom]

Beejams!

[legend758duo]

woolco , vg , alldays , morning noon and night , capital frozen foods , clydesdale electrical , pizza land .

[johnnyinspai]

Actually fruit and veg was prevelant throughout many of the smaller supermarket chains in the 70's. Cater Brothers were considered to be the market leaders in this firld in the south of England, with around 30 branches in places like Bromley, Putney, Reading, Morden, Croydon, Canning Town, Edmonton....... They had a huge distrubution warehouse in Selinas Lane Dagenham and delivered daily to all their shops. They were taken over by Debenhams in 1972 and expanded throughout the 70's until being sold in 1979 to Presto... Key Markets also, as well as Wallis supermarkets were also leading their supermarket businesses with fresh food sales as a platform. The 80's saw most of these names vanishing from the High Street as the big boys continued to swallow them up....

[POLLIANNA]

Bring back Capital Freezer Shop.

[molly malone]

In Scotland we had William Low which got bought over by Tesco, come to think of it I wish they hadn't.

[thugulike]

Who remembers Lennons?

[walkdontrun]

What F.J Wallis who had offices in River Rd Barking and wereone of the first big price cutters in the South. Melia supermarkets was another small chain.

[saltpot]

Just picked this up, On William & kates wedding day, Ive done a bit on Supermarkets &
i see Wallis & Cater mentioned, Well for those that don.t know Francis Wallis & Leslie Cater were killed in an aircrash over the Pyrynees (now you want the date)
I doing Dewhurst (now gone)owned by the Vestey family , They had a chain of Supermarkets in the home counties Downsway,Has anyone heard of or know what happened to them,They could have bee based in St Albans herts

[wanderer1955]

FJ Wallis Supermarkets

[Aramis318]

Hi Scarlett
I used to work for Key Markets in Upton Park, East London, 1964/65 Great days for a 17 year old hard work but a good bunch of guys and girls