Pay 'n Save in Vancouver, BC

Seattle's Pay 'n Save drug store's blue and green signs were a prominent part of the (American) Northwest's retail landscape from Alaska to Wyoming.  I was surprised to read that the drug store chain had stores north of the border in in the 1970s.  However, a check of some Vancouver area phone directories confirmed this.  I found a few stores in the Lower Mainland, starting with the 1973 phone directory and ending with the 1980 Vancouver directory.  In 1973, three stores are listed:

• 2331 E Hastings, Vancouver, BC
• 1444 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver, BC
• 5125 Victoria, Vancouver, BC

While really just a drug store, for some reason they are listed as 'Pay 'n Save Department Stores'.  Also, please note that it's possible that these stores were open before 1973; this is the first directory I had access to, where they are referenced.

The 1977 Fraser Valley directory lists three additional locations:

• 22390 Fraser Hwy, Langley, BC
• 10206 128th St, Surrey, BC
• 8037 120th St, Delta, BC

The 1978 and 1980 Vancouver directories list only the E Hastings location.   This is the last reference I found, so it seems that Pay 'n Save left the market around that time.

It's entirely possible other stores existed.  If so, I will update the map.

Looking at this 40 years in the future, Pay 'n Save's Canadian operation seems unlikely to have had any chance of success. Their locations seem marginal at best.  Canadian competition, in the form of Shoppers Drug Mart and London Drugs seems like it would have been tough.  (They are both strong retailers today, though I suppose it's possible they were not quite as with it back then.)  Plus, Target Canada shows us that branching out in Canada wasn't necessarily as simple as putting up a sign and opening for business.  Still, this is an interesting footnote in the Pay 'n Save story.  I wish I could have visited one of these Vancouver-area stores!

Pay 'n Save's Portland stores

Pay 'n Save drug stores were a fixture in Washington state, and other parts of the Pacific Northwest from the 1960s through the very early 1990s.  The chain's blue and green logo was a familiar part of the retail landscape from Alaska to Wyoming.  The chain was eventually acquired by Thrifty Drugs, which was acquired by PayLess Drugs, which itself was acquired by Rite Aid.

I had always been under the impression that Pay 'n Save had no Oregon stores,  In reality, the chain operated up to three stores in the Portland areas from approximately 1964 to 1981.  The stores were located at Lloyd Center, Eastport Plaza and in Beaverton.

The earliest reference to the stores I can find in the Portland phone directory is 1964, where two locations are listed:

• Eastport Plaza:4100 SE 82nd Ave, Portland
• Lloyd Center: 1421 Lloyd Center, Portland

(Please note that I don't have access to a complete collection of phone directories, so it is entirely possible these stores opened earlier than 1964.)

By 1974, and additional store was listed in Beaverton:

• Raleighwest, 6555 Beaverton-Hillsdale Rd, Beaverton

However, by 1979, this location was no longer listed.

By 1981, only the Eastport location remained, and this is the last reference I can find in the phone directories available.

I would guess that Pay 'n Save had planned a larger store network in the area, but this never became a reality.  I would also guess that strong local competition (from both PayLess Drugs and Fred Meyer) made this hard to achieve.  It's also possible that the financial problems the store chain experienced later in the decade contributed to the decision to abandon the Portland market.  These problems were ultimately responsible for the sale of the chain to Thrifty Drugs in the mid-1980s, not that long after the Eastport store closed.

While offering good value, Pay 'n Save was a fairly standard drug store, broadly similar to PayLess.  The chain probably didn't really offer anything extraordinary that would have caused Portland shoppers to abandon the local competition they were used to shopping, and come to Pay 'n Save instead. 

Pueblo grocery stores, St Thomas, USVI

It snowed today, and it made me think of sunnier places, like St Thomas, Unites States Virgin Islands.  St Thomas is the location of Charlotte Amaile, a busy town and a major cruise ship port-of-call.  The grocery store chain with the largest number of locations is Puerto Rico's Pueblo, with a grand total of four; two on St Thomas and two on St Croix.

Pueblo's stores are a bit worn around the edges, but are well stocked.  They contain a wide variety of grocery items, along with health and beauty, hardware, etc.  The store even sells a cheerful yellow reusable shopping bag. 

The location closest to the cruise ship terminal is pictured above. A map of the St Thomas locations is shown below.

View Pueblo locations, St Thomas, USVI in a larger map

Piggly Wiggly, Portland area locations, 1965

Through the mid 60s, there were several Piggly Wiggly stores in the Portland, Oregon area.  When I saw my first P.W. in the 1970s, I thought the name was one of the funniest things I'd ever heard.

Piggly Wiggly was the nation's first true self-service grocery stores. The chain was the first to provide check-out stands and mark the price on every item in the store. There are still over 600 stores, in 17 states, though none today in Portland.

A map of Portland area locations in 1965 can be found below:



View Piggly Wiggly locations 1965 in a larger map

Shoppers Drug Mart USA

I live in Seattle, and as a result, make it Canada a little more frequently than the average American. Even on the shortest day trip, I usually find myself inside a Shoppers Drug Mart at least once. Shoppers (operating as Pharmaprix in Quebec) is the largest drug store chain in Canada.

In the early 1980s, the chain Shoppers Drug Mart operated some stores in the US. The four stores in the Seattle area were located in the northern and eastern suburbs. The company acquired at least two locations of the local Olson’s Drug Stores, around 1981. Ultimately, they operated four stores through the middle of the decade, when the company left Seattle. Three of the stores were acquired by local company Bartells by 1985, and are still operate today.

The company used their familiar mortar and pestle logo for the stores, though the tag line in the phone book was different from the one used in Canada. During that time, the company used ‘You’re gonna be happy’ north of the border, but Seattle area shoppers were enticed with ‘Near enough to save you money’, which seems like an absolutely terrible line.
Sadly, with only four stores, I’m sure their TV commercials featuring Bea Arthur weren’t aired on Seattle stations, though some live on through You Tube!

The location of the stores can be seen on the map below:


View Shoppers Drug Mart USA locations in a larger map

Seattle area A & P locations, 1970

Until the early 1970s, there were several Seattle area A & P locations, including Bellevue Square, University Village and Northgate Mall.  The Broadway QFC started off life as an A & P store.  In one of the hallways in Bellevue Square, there's a picture that showing the store.

By 1975, all locations had vanished from the area. Here's a map of these locations:


View A and P locations, 1970 in a larger map

Hello

The focus of this blog retail geography.  Right now, I define retail as:

- banks (including savings and loans and credit unions)
- department stores
- grocery stores
- pharmacies
- shopping centers

This list, however, could evolve over time. I primarily focus on chains, though this does include local chains, and I will seek to include independent stores as well.

The blog will take a map based approach, and should lead to some fun and interesting browsing.